Book 2: Shadows of the Rift
Nyra stood on the edge of the Neo-Verse observatory, her violet coat flowing in the wind. The battle with Kaelen was over, but the victory had left her unsettled. Memories from her past, the life she had before becoming the Gatekeeper, flooded her mind at night. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Kaelen's face—not as an enemy, but as someone she had loved.
"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" Zayden's voice interrupted her thoughts as he approached from behind.
Nyra sighed, the weight of her role pressing on her shoulders. "It's hard not to. I still don't have all my memories back, and I can't help but wonder... what if there's more to the story? What if Kaelen was right about the realms needing to be free?"
Zayden's usual cocky grin softened into something more serious. "You did what you had to do, Nyra. You saved the dimensions from collapsing. But maybe... there are answers waiting for you in the places you've been afraid to look."
Nyra turned to face him. "What do you mean?"
He handed her a small device, a dimensional tracker, but this one was modified—able to track not just anomalies, but echoes of past events in other dimensions.
"I've been working on this," Zayden explained. "It can pick up residual energy left behind by dimensional disturbances. If Kaelen really was someone important to you in the past, this will help you trace his steps and, maybe, your own."
Nyra's heart pounded in her chest. "You're suggesting I... reopen old wounds?"
Zayden shrugged. "I'm suggesting that maybe there's more to this story. And if you don't look, you'll never know the truth."
