The dream found me before sleep did.
One moment I was staring at the ceiling of my room in the Water Palace.
The next—
I was standing beneath a sky that didn't exist.
Stars drifted through darkness like scattered diamonds, suspended inside endless shadows.
Not above me.
Around me.
The shadows stretched in every direction, turning the void into something beautiful instead of frightening.
A galaxy woven from darkness.
My breath caught.
I knew this place.
Or at least—
part of me did.
The thread pulsed.
Soft.
Familiar.
And suddenly I wasn't alone.
Raiden stood several paces away.
The darkness seemed to bend around him instinctively.
Not obeying.
Welcoming.
His black coat shifted in an invisible wind while silver-blue eyes locked onto mine immediately.
For a moment—
neither of us spoke.
Because there were too many things to say.
And not enough words for any of them.
"You look terrible."
The corner of my mouth twitched.
"There he is."
His expression remained perfectly serious.
"You're still injured."
"You're still annoying."
That earned the faintest hint of amusement.
Progress.
The thread warmed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Like standing near a fire after being cold too long.
I hated how much I missed that feeling.
Missed him.
Raiden took a slow step forward.
"So."
I crossed my arms.
"So."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"You're hunting someone."
I snorted.
"You're still hunting the relic."
"Deflecting already?"
"It's my specialty."
The thread pulsed with reluctant amusement.
Gods.
It felt good.
Too good.
Dangerously good.
The distance between us seemed smaller suddenly.
Not because either of us moved.
Because neither of us wanted it there.
My gaze lifted to his.
"Why?"
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
His expression shifted.
Slightly.
"What?"
"The relic."
Silence.
The shadows stirred around us.
Watching.
Waiting.
"Why is it worth all this?"
His jaw tightened.
"There are things you don't understand yet."
"I hate that answer."
"I know."
For a moment I thought he would deflect again.
Then—
surprisingly—
he didn't.
"The relics change fate."
His voice had gone quieter.
More serious.
"They always have."
The thread shifted.
Pain.
Regret.
Something familiar to both of us.
"You're afraid of something."
The observation escaped before I could stop it.
Raiden stilled.
Completely.
Interesting.
Because I was right.
Ever since I'd met him—
I was always able to read him.
His eyes never left mine.
"And you're going to kill someone."
The dream seemed to still around us.
The stars.
The shadows.
Everything.
My chest tightened.
The Water King.
Muir's father.
The monster responsible for the caves.
For the children.
For everything.
The thread pulsed once.
Hard.
Certain.
Raiden felt it.
Of course he did.
He stepped closer.
Only a few feet between us now.
"You're angry."
I laughed softly.
The sound broke somewhere in the middle.
"That's one word for it."
"Lyra."
My name sounded different coming from him.
Always had.
I hated that.
I loved that.
Both at once.
"He deserves justice."
His gaze held mine.
"Justice and revenge are rarely the same thing."
The words landed harder than I wanted them to.
Because part of me knew that.
Part of me understood exactly what he meant.
"They are in this case."
The thread tightened.
Not painfully.
Just—
honestly.
For the first time in a long time neither of us was hiding.
No sarcasm.
No deflection.
Just truth.
The dangerous kind.
The kind that mattered.
The distance between us felt different now.
Not smaller.
Just—
fragile.
Like neither of us quite knew what to do with it.
The shadows drifted lazily around us, carrying scattered stars through the darkness. They should have been distracting.
They weren't.
Not when he was standing there looking at me like that.
Not when the thread felt stretched so tight between us that I wasn't entirely sure where I ended and he began.
neither of us spoke.
No sarcastic remark.
No argument.
No attempt to dodge the conversation.
Just silence.
And somehow—
that felt far more intimate.
My gaze dropped before I could stop it.
His hand rested at his side.
Close.
Too close.
The space between us suddenly felt impossible to ignore.
I swallowed.
And immediately hated myself for it.
You're the Primal Dragon.
You've fought armies.
You've stared down gods.
Why was this harder?
The thread pulsed.
Warm.
Aware.
Like it knew exactly what I was thinking.
Traitor.
My fingers shifted slightly.
A stupid movement.
Meaningless.
Except it wasn't.
Because the back of my hand brushed his.
The contact barely lasted a second.
Barely anything at all.
And yet—
the thread reacted instantly.
A sharp pulse shot through my chest.
Recognition.
Relief.
Longing.
Not all mine.
Not all his.
The feeling hit so fast I almost stepped back.
Almost.
Raiden went completely still.
I felt it before I saw it.
The storm inside him quieting.
Pausing.
His gaze lifted slowly until it met mine.
And gods—
that was somehow worse.
Because he looked just as affected as I felt.
No smirk.
No teasing.
No walls.
Just—
him.
Just my Raiden.
My pulse stumbled.
The silence stretched.
Neither of us moving.
Neither of us looking away.
I became painfully aware of everything.
The warmth of his skin.
The faint scent of smoke and storm that always seemed to cling to him.
The way the shadows curled around his boots.
The way his eyes never left mine.
The back of my hand was still touching his.
Not by accident anymore.
A choice.
A small one.
A dangerous one.
I should have pulled away.
I knew I should.
Instead—
my fingers shifted slightly.
Barely.
The contact remained.
The thread tightened instantly.
Not painful.
Just—
full.
Like something inside me had finally stopped searching.
For one impossible moment, the rest of the world disappeared.
No kingdoms.
No relics.
No war.
No responsibilities.
Just him.
Just me.
Just this.
And that terrified me far more than any battlefield ever had.
Is this the moment to try and reach him.
The shadows around us brightened unexpectedly.
Purple light spread through them.
The galaxy expanding.
Growing.
Stars blooming through darkness.
Beautiful.
Ancient.
Impossible.
Raiden stared at it.
Then at me.
Like he'd never seen either before.
The moment stretched.
Longer.
Longer.
And for the first time—
he looked like he was about to say something important.
Not as a prince.
Not as an enemy.
Not as whatever we had become.
Just—
him.
His mouth opened.
The thread tightened.
The shadows held their breath.
And then—
something slammed into the dream.
The galaxy shattered.
The stars exploded into fragments of light.
Raiden's expression changed instantly.
Alert.
Dangerous.
His hand shot toward me—
"Lyra—"
I woke up gasping.
Sweat soaked my skin.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
The room was dark.
Silent.
Empty.
But the thread—
The thread was pulsing frantically.
And somewhere very far away—
something had gone terribly wrong.