He blinked and it felt like he was waking up from a dream. Suddenly everyone was back.
"We need to move," Lysander said. "The longer we stay here, the harder it will be to leave."
Kaelen rose and came to terms with things fast. Spike jumped aside, protesting with a soft meow.
"Where do we go?"
Lysander pointed. Beyond the hollow, the landscape shifted, the ash giving way to something that looked almost like stone, a path that wound upward toward a structure that Kaelen had not noticed before.
It was a tower. Tall and black, its surface smooth, its top lost in the bruised sky. It seemed to pulse with a faint, rhythmic light, like a heartbeat.
"The gate," Lysander said. "Every being here should be able to feel its resonance."
Kaelen focused.
At first there was nothing. Then a low vibration spread through his bones. It was subtle, almost beneath hearing, yet every beat echoed through his chest. The tower was calling, though no sound crossed the distance.
