Epilogue: What Remains...

Kael opened his eyes to sunlight.

Real sunlight. Warm and golden and clean.

He lay in a field of wildflowers, their petals brushing against his skin like whispered apologies. The air smelled of rain and fresh earth, with no trace of rot or burning.

A shadow fell across him.

Aurelia stood over him, her hair streaked with silver now, her golden eyes dimmed but still bright. She held out a hand—and in her palm rested a single, perfect shard.

Not black. Not gold.

Clear as glass.

Kael took it without a word.

Somewhere in the distance, a crow called. The wind carried the scent of pine and something faintly metallic—blood, maybe, or memory.

The war was over.

The world was whole.

And somewhere beyond the horizon, in the space between light and shadow, something ancient and wounded finally slept.