THE ARRIVAL TO NATUKA

The fall felt endless.

One moment, Kieran was in the abandoned greenhouse, his hand reaching toward Elara as the vines dragged her forward. The next, he was weightless—suspended in a vast, swirling void of light and shadow.

His mind reeled. It wasn't just darkness around him. It was something *alive*, shifting, whispering. It pressed against his senses, filling his head with fragmented images—flickering visions of things that hadn't yet come to pass.

A battle.

A crown made of twisted roots.

A storm swallowing the sky.

Elara, but not as she was—her body shifting like water, her eyes sharp and golden.

Then—impact.

Kieran hit the ground hard, the breath forced from his lungs. He lay still for a moment, dazed, before pushing himself up on trembling arms.

The first thing he noticed was the air. It was *thick*—charged with energy, humming with an undercurrent of something he couldn't name. The scent of earth and rain filled his senses, and when he lifted his head, he froze.

This was not Earth.

Towering trees loomed over him, their bark gleaming like polished stone, their leaves shimmering with a faint, ethereal glow. The sky above was a deep violet, streaked with silver mist. Strange orbs of golden light floated lazily through the air, illuminating the dense forest around him.

And then there were the creatures.

Kieran barely had time to take them in before a sharp gasp caught his attention.

"Elara!"

She was sprawled a few feet away, groaning as she pushed herself up. She looked disoriented but unharmed.

"Elara, are you—"

A sound cut through the air, low and melodic.

Kieran tensed.

The vines were here too.

They slithered along the ground, twisting and curling around tree trunks, their deep green leaves shifting in the faint light. And they were *watching*.

Elara's breathing quickened as she noticed them. "Kieran…"

"I see them."

The vines stirred, then—

*"Welcome, travelers."*

Kieran stiffened. The voice wasn't spoken aloud; it echoed inside his mind. He glanced at Elara, whose wide eyes told him she had heard it too.

One of the vines slithered forward, rising up like a snake preparing to strike. It tilted slightly, as if studying them.

"You are untested "

Kieran's stomach tightened. He could *feel* the weight of their scrutiny, pressing into his thoughts, searching.

Then, all at once, the vines lunged.

Elara barely had time to scream before they coiled around her arms, her legs, her waist. Kieran tried to move, but another vine snapped around his wrist, dragging him forward.

The moment it touched him—

His vision exploded.

---

He was no longer in the forest.

Kieran stood in a vast, empty space. The sky above him was shifting constantly, flickering between endless possibilities. It was like staring into a thousand different versions of reality, all colliding at once.

And then—

He saw himself.

Not as he was now, but as he *could* be.

One version of himself wore dark robes, an obsidian crown resting on his head, his eyes distant and filled with cold certainty. Another version stood at Elara's side, his hands crackling with energy, facing something unseen but terrifying.

And then—

A version of himself standing alone, watching the world crumble around him.

A voice whispered through the air.

*"Which path will you choose?"*

Kieran's hands clenched into fists. "This isn't real."

But the images didn't waver.

The voice came again, deeper this time. *"Not yet."*

Then, as quickly as it had begun—

The vision shattered.

Kieran gasped as reality rushed back. He was back in the forest, the vines slowly retreating from his wrists. His heart was pounding.

Elara was next to him, breathing hard.

He met her gaze. "Did you—"

"I changed." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I saw myself *change*."

Kieran swallowed. He didn't have to ask what she meant. Whatever trials they were facing…

This was only the beginning.

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