Footsteps behind us made us both turn. Cypher emerged from the shadows. His hair was tied back tonight, making him look a little less wild.
"Ladies," he said. "Mind if I join you?"
Zoya straightened immediately, offering him her mug. "Take mine, Captain. I was just about to turn in." I shot her a look that clearly said 'traitor,' but she just winked at me before heading toward the hatch. "Knives is probably missing me anyway," she called over her shoulder. "Sweet dreams, you two."
And then we were alone, Cypher and I, with nothing but dead silence between us. He settled into Zoya's abandoned spot, sipping from her mug as he gazed out at the ruined city.
"Can't sleep?" I asked, when the silence stretched too long.
"Too much on my mind." His eyes reflected the starlight when he turned to me. "What about you?"
"Same, I guess. This place makes me restless."
"It has potential, though." He gestured toward the vast emptiness. "The soil tests Vic ran show it could support vegetation with the right catalysts. The mountain ranges would create natural weather systems once we introduce moisture. We could build here."
"Is that what you want? To settle inthisrealm?"
He shrugged. "It's perfect, actually. The portal is dark, so it's hidden. It's remote enough that Gideon and the Assembly won't find us easily. Large enough to support a growing population. And most importantly—" he traced a finger along the rim of his mug, "—it's untethered from any controlling government. True freedom."
"What was it like?" I asked. "Nytheris, before the collapse."
His expression softened with memory. "Beautiful. Beyond anything you can imagine. Our cities were built into the mountains and forests, workingwiththe natural landscape rather than against it. Crystal spires that caught the light of three moons, gardens that spiraled up tower walls." He closed his eyes briefly. "And the people—scholars, artisans, explorers. We valued knowledge above all else. Creation rather than conquest."
"It sounds like paradise."
"It wasn't perfect," he admitted. "We had our problems. Political factions, resource disputes. But we were thriving with every new generation. It’s all gone now."
I reached out impulsively, my fingers brushing his arm. "I'm sorry."
He covered my hand with his, the touch sending warmth up my arm despite the chill night air. "I want to recreate that. Not exactly as it was—that's impossible. But the spirit of it. Aplace where people can live without fear, where knowledge isn't hoarded by the powerful."
"A noble goal."
"What about you?" he asked, turning to face me fully. "What was your childhood like in the Prime Realm?"
I laughed softly. "Nothing so grand as crystal spires. Just a small shop in the merchant district. My father crafted anchors for the Assembly. Beautiful ones that could channel energy more efficiently than standard models."
"That's no small skill."
"He taught me everything—how to test a crystal's resonance, how to shape metal to enhance rather than restrict its power." I smiled at the memory. "He used to say that a good setting should be like a comfortable chair for the crystal to sit in, not a cage to trap it."
"Wise man." Cypher stood suddenly, setting his mug on the railing. He extended his arm toward me. "Would you like to take a walk with me?"
I glanced at the ruins stretching into darkness. "Out there? Is that safe?"
"Nothing's alive here anymore. Just memories. And us."
I hesitated, looking down at my tea. Walking alone with Cypher through a dead city in the middle of the night seemed unwise for several reasons—not least because of the way my pulse quickened at the thought.
"Come on, scavenger. The stars are clearer from the shore."
Against my better judgment, I took his arm. "Lead on, Your Highness."
We descended the gangplank and stepped onto the dusty ground. Without the ship's crystal lamps, the darkness was nearly absolute until my eyes adjusted, broken only by starlight that seemed impossibly bright in this realm's thin atmosphere.
Cypher guided me through the ruins of what had once been a port city. Crumbling stone structures loomed on either side, their purpose long forgotten. The silence was thick. No insects chirping, no distant animal calls, not even the whisper of wind. Just our footsteps.
"It's beautiful, in a melancholy way," I whispered. Cypher just nodded.
