The Five Realms

Chapter 28: Fate IV

Chapter 28: The Light Within the Darkness

Fatina walked slower than the others. The glow from Joey's conjured orb still clung to the air like a misted sunrise, gilding the carvings, the stone, even the dust. It should have felt warm, safe—holy, even.

Instead, her arms prickled.

The tunnel had changed. Or maybe it always had been this way, just waiting for the right word to wake it. Crystalline threads now shimmered along the walls, webbed through ancient engravings that pulsed like slow heartbeats. Curving runes emerged from beneath the soot, casting faint shadows that moved when they shouldn't. She half-expected one to speak.

Joey's palm still cradled the orb. It wasn't fire, not quite. It was more like memory made light.

"How's he doing that?" she asked, more to herself than to anyone else.

Arya, who walked slightly ahead, didn't turn. "It is his first true spell. One born not from repetition, but intent. He invoked it with faith."

Fatina flinched at the word.

Faith.

Her hand brushed the edge of the tunnel as she passed. The wall was warm, smoother than expected. Somewhere deep in her bones, it hummed—not a noise, exactly, but a pressure. Like something old was looking back.

Steven nudged her shoulder gently. "You okay?"

She gave him a thin smile. "Magic's beautiful when it's not exploding."

He smirked. "Try telling that to Joey."

Ahead, Chyna and Joey moved together like twin sparks. There was a strange rhythm to their steps now, almost mirrored—like a secret they hadn't had time to hide yet. Fate could feel something had shifted between them. They didn't speak aloud. They didn't have to.

She wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to feel left behind.

When she glanced up again, her breath caught.

The tunnel opened wider, revealing a massive dome lined with mosaics that reached so high they disappeared into darkness. Golds, silvers, sapphires—embedded into the very stone. Dragons soared across the ceiling like painted constellations. Riders followed, wrapped in lines of radiant script she couldn't read, but almost understood.

It felt like walking into a heartbeat made of color.

Fate stopped walking entirely. She didn't speak. Couldn't. She just looked.

And still, the unease wouldn't leave her chest.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Arya said softly, as if reading her thoughts.

Fatina nodded, hesitant. "It feels... too big."

Arya's eyes glinted under the orb-light. "That's because it is. You are inside a memory that never ended."

For a long beat, none of them moved.

Joey, still glowing slightly, tilted his head back and smiled at the ceiling. "It's like... I can feel them. The ones who walked here before."

Chyna took his hand without looking. Her fingers glowed faintly too now, the same color.

Fatina folded her arms tighter. The awe pressed in like heat. Too much beauty. Too much magic. Too much she didn't understand.

And somewhere in that glittering silence, the tunnel waited—just ahead—growing darker, hotter, deeper.

The warmth had become a weight.