Adam pulls me closer the moment the Guardian steps fully into view. His arms tighten instinctively around my waist. My body reacts before my mind does. I cling to him with trembling fingers, still breathless from the fall, still shaken by the sensation of the void swallowing me whole. It feels unreal that I am alive. It feels even more unreal that he caught me in time.
The Guardian’s presence fills the platform like a tide. Its cloak of silver light moves in slow waves, as if stirred by a wind none of us can feel. Its face remains hidden, a shifting blur of starlight.
Its voice is calm.
“You crossed the bridge. You faced your reflection. You faced her fears. You faced the predator.”
The words vibrate through the air, settling over us like weight.
Adam rises to his full height in front
