The first thing Raf experienced was the symbiote retracting from his nose and throat. The 'lungs' that grew out of his ears deflated and shrunk. Raf coughed and choked and threw up seawater until finally, painfully, he inhaled a ragged breath. Coming to his senses took a moment. When Raf could look up, he witnessed an impossible miracle.

The cavern itself was several times larger than the whole of Crescent. Covering the walls were twinkling crystals of countless shapes and colors, stretching as far out as Raf could see and farther. A heavy golden mist hung in the air, obscuring much in the distance, but Raf could still make out two objects suspended in the cloudy haze.

One was a blinding source of fiery light. He couldn't make out any details. Like a tiny sun, it was too bright to behold.

The other was a being so large not even the dense mist could conceal it. The Sovereign of Water and Sky. Time Dragon. Impossibly large and stunningly beautiful, a great serpent with iridescent white scales and four sets of dove-like wings. It wasn't moving, falling, or gliding but seemed suspended between moments, frozen in time.

The cthulian Tzik-Enu stepped into view and knelt reverently. For the first time, Raf could see her clearly. Tzik-Enu balanced on crab-like back legs while her whale-bone spear and massive pincer acted as front legs. Her tentacles were pulled up and forward, dangling in the air. Her chitinous shell was a rich purple, with stripes of turquoise along her legs and torso. Her eyestalks were dark pink.

With Legion's indulgence, Raf understood that Tzik-Enu might be queen one day. Meeting the Sovereign was the penultimate test on any prospective queen's journey. Either the Sovereign would bestow upon her a blessing, or she would leave the Queen's Lair and live a typical cthulian life of solitude in a territory she takes for herself.

Then several things seemed to happen at once. A bright flash. A loud explosion. A great gust of wind knocked Raf off his feet. And instantly, the Sovereign appeared above them, gazing down behind emerald-green reptilian eyes. A long, sharp horn protruded from the tip of the time dragon's nose, pointing at them menacingly.

"Let's take a closer look at you," mused the time dragon in a nerdy voice, and then the colossal being shrank in size until roughly the size of Tzik-Enu. From a closer perspective, the dragon examined both Raf and Tzik-Enu with a piercing, reptilian stare. Raf felt exposed, as if his every deed, past and future, were being laid out and inspected.

The time dragon's feathered wings were folded to lie on its back, sliding on its belly; serpentine, with scales so hard they ground the crystals and stones underneath to dust.

"At last," said the time dragon. "And against the odds, you return to Soul Hollow, alive. Welcome back. You must be hungry and tired from your journey. Come."

The winged serpent leapt in the air, spreading all eight feathered wings, and led them across a rocky, moss-covered landscape toward a forest of ferns. Raf and Tzik-Enu followed.

"You have questions," said the time dragon, gliding elegantly in the air, back and forth, as if swimming.

"Ha. Uh, yeah. I have questions."

"Ask them."

Raf was overwhelmed, bursting with questions, and didn't know which to ask first or how to phrase them. He slipped and tumbled, but Sophia's barrier shielded him from harm. Knowing that and feeling more confident, he stood and broke into a trot toward a bizarre frondy oasis ahead of them.

"To start, I guess, what should I call you?"

"I have no name, only titles. I've been dubbed the First of 8, Timekeeper, Gravity Dragon, Sovereign of Water and Sky... Origin of Death. Adam called me 'The Seducer.'

"But I was never given a name, only titles and a purpose. Even you, when you were here, you called me 'Sibling.'"

"How is that possible? The symbiote in my head said I carry the Wandering Spirit. My father called me the Holy Ghost. Now you say I've been here before, but I don't remember or understand any of it."

Sibling seemed to chuckle. "More titles, and you were given countless others: Eighth of Eight. Lifekeeper. Whispers. Soul Dragon.

"Before God left Eden to garden other planets, 8 ikons were borne from the primal forces around Eden. I was the first. You were the last. God entrusted us to shepherd life on Eden, but Adam murdered five ikons and stole their power.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"The crown Adam wears is, in truth, a cage for the most powerful of us, with the power of a blazing sun and the body of an insect. Adam's belt is lined with sphinx feathers. His sword was carved from the horn of the unicorn. His gauntlets were forged with the bones and shell of the twin ikons. She was a thunder giant. He was a cloud turtle.

"Adam killed them, one by one, and used their body parts to ensnare their souls. Now only you, me, and the Edenwheel remain."

"Who is the Edenwheel?"

"You'll see for yourself soon. We're nearly arrived. First, eat."

Sibling wrapped their tail around the trunk of a tree and used their sharp horn to cut a bulbous lump on the underside of one blade-like frond. A yellow, pearly ball of fruit fell to the ground, except it froze in the air mid-fall. Raf went over to it, and because it had been so long since he last ate, he wasted no time sniffing or inspecting it before sinking his teeth in. And he was glad he did. The mystery fruit was sweet and juicy, gushing in his mouth, yet firm and chewy.

Sibling sliced open three more pods, which all fell to suspension midair.

"How do you do that?" Raf asked in wonder, grabbing the nearest floating fruit, leaving the other two for Tzik-Enu; then followed Sibling as they glided toward a glowing lake not far in the distance.

Sibling answered, "I control the relativity of everything in my vicinity. Time and gravity are the same, so for me, freezing an object in time and space is a simple task."

"Can you send someone back in time?" Raf thought of his father and sister, dead and under possession. Could he save them before Azazel destroyed his family?

"No. Time can't be undone. It's ever-expanding. Reversing time would require every branch and speck of the universe to go backward, breaking the laws of the universe, and collapsing time and space. Not even God can reverse the flow of time because God is time, the universe, and everything in it."

The dragon's answer confused and discouraged Raf. "Can you see the future?"

"Not exactly. You studied mathematics, yes? Good. This might still be difficult to understand, but I am mathematics given physical form. And mathematics is the language of everything, including time and gravity. They might more accurately call me the Math Dragon since it's relativity and probabilities that I influence, not time.

"The future is uncertain and so unknowable, but with enough information, accurate predictions are possible. For instance, when you entered the Hollow, the sheer magnitude of possibilities you brought with you vibrated against every drop of mist and scale on my body. Odds are, a quest brought you here. I can't say what you will encounter or if you will succeed, but I can say there is, at least, a possibility that you will succeed. Now, tell me all about your quest."

So Raf told Sibling his story: how his parents raised him explicitly, knowing he would be instrumental in Adam's destruction. How his mother died 8 years ago, and how Rowan helped to raise and train him. How Adam sent a fallen to kill his father, then him, and then possess Morgan. How Sophia saved his life and guided him here. And finally, Raf's goal of saving his sister.

As he finished his story, they approached a glowing lake. Nothing lived in the lake, no fish or frogs or bugs, but the water itself seemed alive with glittering golden molecules. On the far side, Raf saw an enormous wheel spinning in a stream of shimmering liquid. Was that the Edenwheel?

"Hm. My heart breaks for you," said Sibling. "You've come all this way, only to learn your goal is impossible. A fallen cannot be banished except by the one who summoned it. Since Adam is unlikely to free your sister, the only freedom she's likely to know is in death. If you want to save your sister, you'll have to end her suffering before the fallen devours her soul entirely."

Raf stopped. "What? No! Sophia said…"

"Angels are a contradiction. They are forbidden by Heaven's Law from interfering in Eden's affairs, yet here one is. Sophia may have saved you and guided you here, but why?"

Raf hoped Sophia would speak and contradict Sibling, but Sophia remained frustratingly silent as usual. A screaming doubt filled that silence. Had he made a mistake in trusting them? What did Sophia want? He didn't know.

A hopeless sob rose in his chest. Dad… Morgan… Was there nothing he could do to save her?

"Don't despair," comforted Sibling. "Look and see, her soul will come to this place, like countless souls before hers, and she will meet you here again. Look, you can see yourself now."

With a long, sharp horn, Sibling pointed to the middle of the lake, where Raf noticed something underwater, resting peacefully. The glowing liquid was translucent, obscuring his view. Still, he saw dark scales of a mysterious creature asleep at the bottom of the opaque lake.

Understanding dawned on Raf.

It was a lake of souls. In the lake, a single soul blended and swirled and danced with countless more, becoming more than a single soul but a force of nature. And somehow, that scaly being asleep in the lake of souls was him.

Raf's knees gave out. He collapsed on all fours, scraping his knees and hands on the crystals and rocks. It was all too much. He was overwhelmed by fear and confusion and heartbreak. It threatened his very sanity. The pressure he'd known all his life, a burden no child should bear, felt insignificant compared to the dilemma he now faced: to kill his sister, send her to the next life, or wait as Azazel devoured her into oblivion. Either way, he'd lose Morgan forever. He cried and screamed and cursed Adam, but it was done and couldn't be undone.

Raf had already lost.