We rode in the buggy, its crystal engine purring softly beneath us, the only sound in a landscape that felt… wrong. The path stretched out like a silver ribbon through pale grass and ghostly trees, toward the place where the portal flickered—a threshold to the Between Realms.
Heim sat in the passenger seat beside me, arms folded, brows furrowed like he was trying to intimidate the horizon.
"This place gives me the creeps," he muttered, eyes scanning the empty plains. "Where exactly are we going? And why does it feel like the world's holding its breath?"
I glanced sideways at him. "Aren't you from the Shadow Realm? Shouldn't you be used to eerie silence?"
He snorted. "Don't lump this place in with my home. The Shadow Realm isn't creepy, it's—" he paused, eyes narrowing like he was about to launch into a lecture. "—ethereal. Calm. Harmonious. There's… music, actually. Resonance in the dark. Peaceful."
I tilted my head. "So… calm, serene, and kinda ethereal? Sounds familiar."
