The moment Elias' fingers brushed against Lyra's, the Dreamscape recoiled.
A violent force ripped through the world, and suddenly, everything collapsed into a storm of shattering light.
Elias felt himself being pulled apart—not just his body, but his mind, his memories, his very essence. He fought against it, struggled to hold onto reality, onto her—but the Dreamscape was relentless.
Then, in an instant, it was over.
Silence.
Elias found himself lying on a cold, smooth surface, gasping for air. A heavy fog coiled around him, distorting the space. He pushed himself up, his body aching, his vision blurred.
Where was he? Where was Lyra?
A faint whisper reached his ears.
"Elias..."
His heart clenched. He turned sharply, scanning the mist, his breath unsteady. The fog parted just enough for him to see a shadowed figure standing a few feet away.
Not Lyra.
This presence was different—wrong.
The figure took a step forward, the mist slithering around it like living tendrils. Elias could barely make out its shape, but it was familiar in a way that made his stomach twist.
Then it spoke.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Elias froze. The voice—it was his own.
The figure emerged fully from the fog, and Elias was met with the impossible sight of himself.
A perfect mirror image, yet not. This other Elias bore deep cracks across his skin, as though he were made of fractured glass. His eyes burned with an unnatural glow, filled with knowledge Elias did not yet understand.
"You are breaking the cycle," the fractured Elias murmured. "But do you even know what that means?"
Elias clenched his fists. "Who are you?"
A slow, unsettling smile spread across the other's face. "I am what you become if you fail."
The air shuddered. The ground beneath Elias warped, splitting into endless reflections, each one showing glimpses of different realities—different versions of himself, of Lyra, of everything he had ever known.
And in every one of them, the fractured Elias stood at the end of the path.
Watching. Waiting.
Elias' blood ran cold.
The Dreamscape was not just shifting—it was showing him the truth.
The cycle was breaking.
And something far worse was waking up.