Night. Silence. A boy asleep.
Kael lay curled under thin blankets, moonlight brushing his face.
But tonight, something was different.
Tonight… he dreamed.
Dreamscape
He stood in a field of white flowers, untouched by wind or time.
The sky was soft violet, the air warm like a forgotten hug.
He looked down at his hands—clean, unscarred, no shaking.
A whisper touched his ears.
> "Kael…"
His heart froze.
That voice… it was impossible.
He turned—
And saw her.
A woman, radiant with gentle eyes and hair like the first snow. Her smile was the kind people only smile once in their life.
She stood beneath a willow tree, arms open.
> "My son," she whispered.
Kael stumbled forward.
> "M-Mother…?"
He was a child again.
No magic. No demons. Just a scared boy who had waited his whole life for this moment.
She knelt, pulling him into her arms.
And he broke.
Tears he didn't know he had poured from him.
> "Why did you leave… why did you die… I needed you. I was so alone…"
She stroked his hair.
> "I never left you, Kael. I was in every tear you cried. Every step you took when the world tried to bury you."
Kael gripped her tighter, terrified she'd vanish.
> "They all said I was weak… useless… that I should've died instead of you…"
She cupped his cheeks.
> "Listen to me, my little star."
"You are stronger than anyone I've ever known."
"And even if the world can't see it, I do. Always."
She leaned in, her lips at his forehead.
> "Sleep now. Just for a moment."
And then… she sang.
Azrion's Mind – The Inner Realm
The song pierced Azrion's shadows.
He stood in the dark mountains of his inner world, suddenly still.
> "What is this… sound?" he whispered.
He'd heard screams, wars, the cries of dying gods—
But this?
This was peace. Love. A warmth he had never tasted.
It was so simple, so soft…
It hurt.
> "Is this… what a mother sounds like?"
He knelt, eyes shut, letting the lullaby drift through him like wind through old bones.
For the first time in centuries, Azrion wept.
Back in the Dream
Kael's mother smiled as she faded.
> "Wake up, Kael. There's a world waiting for your fire."
And just like that, the field was gone.
Reality
Kael opened his eyes, his cheeks wet.
But for the first time in years…
He wasn't sad.
Azrion's voice came, quiet… shaken.
> "I heard her… Your mother…"
Kael touched his chest.
> "She called me her little star…"
A pause. Then Azrion whispered, with a voice unlike anything before:
> "I'll protect you, Kael. Just like she would have."
END OF CHAPTER 5