CHAPTER TWELVE:The City Beneath The Sky

Elianah

They journeyed beyond time that night.

Guided by a map that wasn't written in ink — but memory.

Nyelith had told them to choose.

But neither Kael nor Elianah had any intention of surrendering their bond. Not this time. Not ever again.

So they followed the dream.

The one they both had since they were children.

Of a place that shimmered like glass, hidden beneath cloudlight — a floating city that only revealed itself to soulbound hearts.

Aeravell.

The City Beneath the Sky.

It wasn't marked on any map.

It moved with the stars.

And it remembered the ones who once built it — them.

As they crossed the final ridge of the Mist Spine mountains, the clouds parted.

And there it was.

A suspended city woven of glass, stardust, and song.

The towers were shaped like wings mid-flight.

The bridges glowed with stardust trails.

And above it all, the central spire pulsed — like a heartbeat.

> "Kael…" Elianah whispered, "this is ours."

He didn't speak. His eyes were wide — not just in awe, but recognition.

Kael

He remembered this place.

The first time they fell in love… it was here.

In the life before all others — before curses, before kingdoms — they had built this city with others like them.

The Soulbound Nine.

He touched the edge of the light-bridge and it welcomed him, humming softly under his fingers.

> "It still remembers us."

Inside the spire, they found the Library of Echoes.

A place where past lives were stored in crystal.

Each memory flickered like flame inside translucent stones.

They walked through it hand-in-hand, until they found one glowing brighter than the rest.

It showed them — younger, freer, laughing beneath a crystal rain.

Planning to build a city where love would never be punished.

Elianah turned to him. "We weren't meant to run anymore."

Kael nodded. "We were meant to lead."

Suddenly, a low hum filled the spire.

Lights flared across the sky.

The city was awakening.

And with it — the others.

---

Far Away…

A woman in dark robes stirred from centuries of sleep.

Her eyes opened. Golden and furious.

> "So… they found it again."

She turned to the shadows behind her.

> "Call the Watchers.

The Soulbound have returned.

And this time, we end it before it begins."