Leverians did not accept death as the end. They believed Divine Leverith would reunite them with their loved ones in an eternal paradise. “Until next time,” they promised, clinging to those words like a shield against the sorrow of loss. Melody couldn’t fault them for needing that comfort, even though she knew it was a lie.

So when Melody of Mirrevar held her son for the last time, she felt only the sharp cut of finality tearing into her heart. How she wished she could believe in “until next time” instead of knowing it was truly “one last time.” It would have been so much easier to be swaddled in comfortable ignorance instead of weighted down by the bitter truth.

Her son—her Zander—would be left without his shield. This world would wound him deeper than any heart was meant to endure. Alive, she could protect him from that pain, but now her death would cut him deeper than any blade ever could. That truth tore Melody’s heart into ribbons, and tears bled out of her eyes.

Zander clung to her as though his love and strength could bind her to life. Through the blurry veil of tears, she gazed into his eyes, the color of the glowing moon, as deep and pure as the truest sapphire. His sorrow mirrored her own.

Her own eyes, violet as amethyst, had glimpsed flashes of his future. But her visions had always been clouded by doubt—more questions than answers. Those doubts had haunted her through every choice, chasing her to this final moment. Still, she had to believe her son was one of the Dreamers of Peace, destined to help restore wholeness. She had to believe the Sunrise would join him, sharing the heavy burden she now placed on him. Otherwise, how could she justify leaving this weight for him to bear?

Melody steeled herself, trying to harden her resolve. This sickbed, in dear Miri’s immaculately tidy clinic, would be the final stage of her life, and Zander would be the last to hear her song.

Then let me finish strong.

Melody breathed out her sorrow, inhaling determination and hope. With the last of her strength, she rested a hand on Zander’s cheek. Her boy crumbled beneath her touch, his quiet sobs turning into uncontrollable weeping. Leverith! The hardest part of dying was leaving behind the ones you love.

Look forward, Melody reminded herself for the millionth time. Her free hand pressed against the silver locket at her chest, knowing what needed to be done to save their dying world.

“Don’t leave me!” Zander’s voice cracked with grief. “Don’t leave me, Mom!”

Melody stroked his auburn hair—her legacy. He was so much like his father. Even without seeing her lover in her son, she would have remembered him every day. The pain of his absence left an invisible scar within Zander that no magic could heal.

Now, I am leaving him too. She fought back a fresh wave of tears. It wasn’t the first time that Melody had done the impossible.

“Don’t leave me all alone!” Zander cried, his innocent voice more painful to her than her own death. He was only ten. By all rights, he should have had his parents for years to come.

Look forward.

Her eyes responded to her command, and in her mind, she saw the moments she would miss in his life. She saw him crying, night after night, clinging to the last piece of her. She saw him under the great tree with his life’s mate, love streaming between them in waves of blue. She saw him rise to knighthood, basking in the light of hope. She saw him surrounded by green flames and crashing lightning, breaking apart and slowly becoming one again. She gleamed as they chanted his name, watching him eclipse every dream she ever had for him. Melody looked forward, trying to take it all in one last time before her foresight was occluded by the eternal dream.

Her hand trembled as she held the locket. The magic within had kept her alive this long. Removing it would end her life, certain as the sunrise brought a new day. Visions of the Sunrise filled her mind, and for a moment, she smiled, seeing the light spread across the horizon, carrying love where once there had been only hate.

That was what she needed—what they all needed. She couldn’t let Zamael triumph. She couldn’t leave the world divided and peace shattered. She would not. Leverith’s plan had to be fulfilled. Even if it killed her.

Melody lifted the silver chain from her neck, feeling the last of her life slipping away. Her once nimble fingers fumbled, but she managed to drape the locket around Zander’s neck, her hand trailing down to where the inverted heart pendant rested on his chest. “You are not alone, Zander,” she whispered.

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Tears choked her. Zander wouldn’t be alone. She had to remember that. “Mirielda will teach you compassion, and Edward will guide you to strength. Alfread…” Her voice cracked, her son wasn’t the only dreamer she left behind, “will be a brother to you. Kenneth…” Melody sobbed. “will be the most loyal friend you could ever hope for. But most of all, my Zander, you will find your Sunrise.”

“All I want is you!” Zander stomped his foot, his face turning red. "Please! Don’t leave me!”

Her heart shattered at his plea, but she forced her voice to steady, her heart knowing the verses of her final song. “Whenever life feels unbearable and you want to give in,” she pressed the locket to his heart, “remember, I will always be here. My spirit. My dreams. My love.”

Zander’s fist pounded against the bed as he grasped the locket, his anger and sorrow flaring. “I don’t want you in here!” He buried his head in her shoulder and climbed onto the bed, his warmth a stark counterpoint to her cold, dying body. “I need you here.”

Melody rocked him, her tears mingling with his. This was the hardest moment of her life. She would rather endure an eternity of Zamael’s Hells than inflict this pain on her son. But there would be no bargaining.

Without the locket, she could no longer feel Leverith’s familiar presence. Her amethyst eyes would close soon, and never wake from the eternal dream. Time, life’s only finite quantity, an entity so often overlooked when in abundance, became more precious when it was at its end. She would give anything for one more angle with her son. She would be fortunate to have one final degree when each turn could be her last.

Melody wiped her tears and accepted her fate. “Leverith has a plan, my love. We must all play the part she has given us.”

Zander lifted his head, his sobs quieter now, his angry roars giving way to soft pleading. “It’s not fair,” he whispered. “It’s not fair, Mom.”

“No, Zander,” she agreed softly. “It’s not fair. But that’s why you’re so special. You can make things right.”

Zander rubbed his eyes, his bravery, genuineness, and love shining through. He was a good boy. Those traits would be what allowed him to bind this broken realm. But they also made leaving him more painful.

“Can you keep a promise?” she asked.

He nodded, resolute, accepting the burden that would shape the fate of their world.

Melody’s fingers found the locket again. She could feel Leverith, albeit from a distance. “Do you remember the Sunrise?”

“She is mine, and I am hers,” Zander recited, his voice steady.

“Yes,” Melody cried, her strength waning as she hugged him. “One day, Leverith will answer your prayers. When that day comes, you must give this locket to your life’s mate. Can you promise me that?”

Zander clung to the locket. The pendant was a piece of silver shaped into Leveria itself, an inverted heart. She held him to her and massaged the crown of his head. It was becoming difficult to keep her eyes open. Melody’s song was coming to an end. She could sing one last verse and hope that it left Zander some peace.

She had sung “The Dreamers of Peace” to Zander many times, yet she had never told him her interpretation of the words. Prophecy could not be planned. Fate could not be forced. Destiny could not be dictated. It was Leverith’s will that Zander discover the song’s meaning for himself.

She sang, elongating these powerful syllables, her voice a perfect melody:

In the beginning

Justice was Father

Peace was Mother

Love was Child

Then Death divided

Peace was shattered

Brother killed sister

Darkness reigned alone

Sun shall rise

Heroes will return

Dreamers of Peace

Forged by the Second Peacemaker

Son of Conqueror and Queen

Born atop Goddess

Fated to unite

Scion of Hatred

Ender of War

Doomed to Death

Made of Fire

Light of Hope

Bound to Freedom

The Great Dreamer

Queen of Love

Destined to Wholeness

Melody’s hand slipped from Zander’s crown, trailing down his face and coming to rest beside him on the bed.

His moon eyes found hers as the world dimmed around her. “I promise.”

She was at peace. The final dream was upon her. With the last of her mortal strength, Melody wrapped Zander’s hand around the locket. “Leveria is in your hands… my heir.”