By the third morning after the Awakening, Vaelcrest had stopped pretending that the world was normal.
There was no point.
The town had changed too quickly.
The people had changed.
The land had changed.
Even the sky seemed to belong to something older than humanity.
Eryndor stood on the eastern wall, looking beyond the golden barrier.
The forest had become almost unrecognizable.
Trees that had once been ordinary now towered over one another, their branches reaching toward the crimson Moon even though daylight had returned.
Some carried luminous leaves.
Others had developed flowers that glowed faintly beneath the morning light.
There were creatures everywhere.
Birds watched from branches with intelligent eyes.
Small beasts moved in groups rather than randomly.
Even insects appeared more organized.
The Awakening had not simply given intelligence to life.
It had given life a new direction.
Eryndor rested one hand against the wall.
His Core responded.
He could feel the energy flowing through the barrier.
It was enormous.
Yet it was not endless.
The golden barrier surrounding Vaelcrest was an ancient remnant of the Void Domain.
It protected the region, stabilized the space within it, and prevented many dangers from entering.
But it was not invincible.
Eryndor remembered what the horned beast had said.
The barrier will not protect you forever.
He still did not know what had made it say those words.
A presence approached from behind.
“You’ve been standing there since sunrise.”
Eryndor turned.
Aldren carried two cups.
“You need to stop watching the forest.”
Eryndor accepted one.
“Why?”
“Because every time you stare at it, something strange happens.”
Eryndor smiled.
“That isn’t my fault.”
“I’m not convinced.”
They stood together.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then Aldren looked toward the horizon.
“How long do you think this will last?”
Eryndor knew what he meant.
“The Awakening?”
Aldren nodded.
Eryndor thought carefully.
“It won’t end.”
Aldren’s expression darkened.
“What?”
“The Awakening wasn’t a storm.”
Eryndor looked at the changing world.
“It was a beginning.”
Aldren sighed.
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
Eryndor almost laughed.
Then something changed.
The energy in the air shifted.
His Core pulsed.
The golden barrier brightened.
Every awakened creature in the forest suddenly stopped moving.
Eryndor’s smile disappeared.
“Do you feel that?”
Aldren shook his head.
“No.”
Eryndor looked east.
Something was approaching.
Not physically.
Energetically.
A pressure moved across the forest.
The trees bent despite there being no wind.
The golden barrier trembled.
Then a sound came from beyond it.
A howl.
Not the howl of a wolf.
It was deeper.
Older.
Powerful enough to make the ground vibrate.
Every beast in the forest lowered its head.
Eryndor stood straight.
Aldren gripped the wall.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know.”
Another howl followed.
This time, the golden barrier flashed.
A crack appeared across one section.
It vanished almost immediately.
But Eryndor had seen it.
His eyes narrowed.
Something had tested the barrier.
And it had been strong enough to make it react.
The guards began shouting.
“Everyone back!”
“Get away from the eastern wall!”
“Raise the weapons!”
Eryndor jumped from the wall.
He landed lightly.
His body moved more naturally than it had before the Tower.
The Core inside him was still weak.
But it had changed his foundation.
He looked at the guards.
“Don’t attack unless something crosses the barrier.”
The captain stared at him.
“And if it does?”
Eryndor looked toward the forest.
“Then we find out what it wants.”
The ground trembled again.
A massive shadow appeared between the trees.
Slowly, something emerged.
It was a wolf.
But calling it a wolf was almost an insult to what it had become.
Its body was enormous.
Silver-black fur covered its frame.
Ancient-looking markings covered its legs and chest.
Two enormous horns curved backward from its head.
Behind its shoulders, faint spectral shapes resembling wings appeared and disappeared.
Its eyes were deep blue.
And unlike the creatures Eryndor had encountered before, this one carried a presence that felt unmistakably powerful.
The beast stopped several dozen meters from the barrier.
Eryndor recognized it.
The horned wolf from the previous day.
But it had changed.
Its Bloodline had evolved.
Eryndor’s eyes narrowed.
The beast looked toward him.
Human.
The voice entered his mind.
Eryndor remained calm.
“You’re stronger.”
So are you.
Eryndor glanced at his chest.
His Core was still only one.
“Why are you here?”
The beast looked toward the sky.
Because they are coming.
“Who?”
The beast did not answer.
Instead, it looked toward the western horizon.
Eryndor followed its gaze.
Nothing was there.
Then the sky darkened.
Not because of clouds.
Something was blocking the light.
A gigantic shape passed above the clouds.
It was too far away to identify.
But it was enormous.
A shadow crossed the land.
Then disappeared.
Everyone in Vaelcrest froze.
The beast spoke again.
The sky-born have awakened.
Eryndor looked upward.
The Cosmic Race.
He remembered the black Sun.
The red Moon.
The colored stars.
Natural cosmic bodies were not merely celestial objects anymore.
Some had awakened.
Others had remained mindless.
And some could be corrupted.
Eryndor suddenly understood something.
The Awakening was not occurring at the same speed everywhere.
Different beings were reaching consciousness at different times.
And the stronger their foundation, the greater their potential.
A distant roar shook the sky.
Then another.
Something answered from the opposite direction.
The horned beast lowered its head.
The world is choosing its rulers.
Eryndor frowned.
“Rulers?”
Every awakened race will seek its place.
The beast’s blue eyes focused on him.
Some will seek peace.
Some will seek territory.
Some will seek worship.
Some will seek dominion.
“And some will seek destruction.”
The beast remained silent.
Eryndor already knew the answer.
“Corruption.”
The creature’s expression changed.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in its eyes.
You know of it.
Eryndor froze.
He had not expected that response.
“What do you know?”
The beast looked toward the forest.
Not enough.
It paused.
But the old creatures remember.
Eryndor’s attention sharpened.
“Which old creatures?”
Before the beast could answer, something struck the golden barrier.
The entire region shook.
A wave of energy passed through the town.
People screamed.
The barrier held.
But a dark mark appeared on its surface.
Eryndor stared at it.
Corruption.
He knew immediately.
It wasn’t enough to breach the barrier.
But it had touched it.
Something outside had already begun testing the defenses of the Ten Domains.
The beast backed away.
It has found us.
Eryndor’s expression hardened.
“Who?”
The beast looked toward the dark mark.
The thing that should not awaken.
Then it disappeared into the forest.
Eryndor stood motionless.
The guards surrounded the wall.
Aldren approached.
“What did it mean?”
Eryndor looked at the black mark.
“I don’t know.”
It was another truth he hated admitting.
His memories had contained the future.
But not everything.
Not the reason the Awakening happened.
Not the origins of the barriers.
Not the true nature of the Tower.
Not the thing beneath the world.
And now, perhaps most importantly, not the first movements of Corruption.
Eryndor touched the pendant.
The mirror remained still.
Then, without warning, its surface darkened.
Eryndor’s breath caught.
A single image appeared.
A vast darkness.
Something moved within it.
Not a body.
Not a creature.
A presence.
The image was incomplete, as though the mirror itself refused to show him more.
But Eryndor felt something when he saw it.
Hunger.
Not hunger for food.
Hunger for existence.
The image vanished.
Eryndor’s hand remained around the pendant.
His Core trembled.
Then a voice appeared.
Not from the mirror.
Not from the forest.
From somewhere deep within the Tower’s connection to his soul.
[External existence detected.]
Eryndor froze.
A second message followed.
[Classification unavailable.]
Then a third.
[Threat assessment incomplete.]
The connection disappeared.
Eryndor stared into the distance.
The Tower had detected it too.
Whatever was approaching was not something even the Tower could fully classify.
He looked toward the black mark on the golden barrier.
For the first time since remembering his previous life, Eryndor felt something he had almost forgotten.
Uncertainty.
Not fear.
Not yet.
But uncertainty.
His future memories had once made the coming years feel like a road he had already walked.
Now that road was disappearing beneath his feet.
And somewhere beyond the barrier, something had begun walking toward him.
The world had awakened.
The races had awakened.
The ancient bloodlines had awakened.
And now, something that had been sleeping in the darkness had noticed that the world was alive.
Eryndor looked toward the red Moon.
Its seven cores burned through the sky.
Then toward the black Sun, slowly rising beyond the horizon.
Seven cores.
Seven points of ancient power.
Ten golden barriers.
Ten forgotten Domains.
And somewhere beyond all of them, an existence that had no place in the world Eryndor remembered.
He closed his hand around the mirror pendant.
Whatever the future had once been, it no longer mattered.
This was a different world.
And Eryndor was going to learn why it had awakened.