“You did more than well my dear,” Magdalena replied. She glanced at Arielle before looking back at me. “That was the past. Quite a way back in the past.”
“But it faded.”
“No. That was all the information that thread could tell us. And you held the connection well.”
“Oh, brilliant. I was worried for a second.”
“Nothing to be worried about. You’re doing better than I expected. I would have been satisfied with a glimpse of the thread’s story. But you held it.” Magdalena glanced around the cavern, the gold light reflecting in her eyes. “Now let’s try something more challenging.”
Hope flared in my chest. “I’m ready.”
“Pick one of the larger strands. Any of them.”
I turned slowly, scanning the vast constellation above us. Near the cavern wall, one thread gleamed thicker than the others. It was longer and thicker. It pulsed not in flickers, but in steady waves.
I reached for it. The moment my magic brushed against it, the cavern hummed.
“Hold it steady and make the connection,” Magdalena instructed.
I tightened my focus. The strand resisted, vibrating in my hands. It was almost restless, like something that had been waiting too long to be touched.
But I made the connection and anchored myself in it.
The golden light thickened beneath my grip, the vibration slowing now, as if listening.
“This one is different, Elariya,” Magdalena said quietly. “Older. Stronger. Be careful. It may predate even this realm.”
“It feels… powerful,” Arielle whispered. “And I’m not even touching it.”
“It is powerful,” I breathed, feeling the waves of energy coil around my hands.
Magdalena nodded once. “To reveal its story, you must find its connections. Do not attempt to unravel it all at once. Time is layered. Peel it gently.”
Connections.
To my eyes it was one endless strand. But I understood. The longer the thread, the more intersections it carried. More lives. More moments. More fractures.
“I don’t know how to see them,” I admitted.
“Use your emotions,” Magdalena said softly. “Emotion binds body to soul. Soul binds memory to time. Think of what you want most. Let that desire anchor you, and the thread will answer.”
What did I want most?
Wolfe?
My memories?
Find my father?
Or—
Forward.
The thought tugged at my heartand I knew that was the answer.
I wanted to move forwards. To move beyond the resets. To live without fear of waking and forgetting those I loved. To build something that would not unravel.
I wanted my life back. Only then could I have everything else. Wolfe, my memories, and even Father is he was still alive.
