Whispered words filter in like puffs of dandelion carried on the wind through the trees and reeds until the edges of reality blurred and the cold darkness of the infinite void claimed me the way it had too many times. Sig and Callan melted away in a haze of smeared gray and sparkles of gold dust. And what was and had ever been, disappeared until there was nothing, as nothing. There was no air and no reason to breathe. I existed as eternity existed around me. We were one and endless.

Staring into the vast night, my head tilted back as a whirlwind kicked up and a flurry of gold flecks spiraled in a storm, hugging me as it rose into the nothingness above. It shattered and rained down, trickling like paint over the bars of my cage. The metal glowed like the sun and groaned as it bulged. A band of gray, lighter than the eternal dark, encircled the distance. From the band came a hum, a song, a call. There was something familiar in it; something my body remembered and my mind forgot.

I cautiously stepped toward the bars. The chains bound to my wrists and feet rattled. They weren’t as heavy and didn’t shine the way they had before. Those forsaken aureate binds were nothing more than chains. I sneered at the dangling restraints and marched forward. The bars bowed and whined as they bent like melting wax. While it provided a little more space than I had before, my arm slipped through with unexpected ease. I maneuvered most of my shoulder between the cold pillars. On the other side, braided threads, ribbons, and all manners of strings floated like kite tails on a blustery breeze. I stretched and strained against the bars and found my chains slacked. I smiled, delighted at the thought of finally touching just one of those billowing lines dripping—wait, dripping?

Quicksilver droplets rolled down to my hand. Dots of red and violet, so dark it seemed almost black, speckled my palm. Yellow dribbled over my fingers, and then green and blue. The colors swirled and pooled in my hand like paint bleeding together. I drew back and cupped the strange liquid, catching what seeped through my fingers. The strange liquid, full of glitter and starlight, shone as I stepped from the bars, cradling it in my grasp. There was no reason for the leaping in my chest as I stared down into the thick, glossy swirls of color. Hell, I didn’t even know for certain what it was I was holding. My brow furrowed, and I gnawed on the edge of my lip.

Far and distant, the hum grew like an orchestra tuning. I glanced over my shoulder and the gray band had turned into a white stripe, peeling back the night. I turned my attention back to the puddle of paint in my palms, unsure of what to do with it. The colors churned and twisted around one another but didn’t mix, and despite the way my unsteady hands jostled the liquid in my nervous pacing, they remained unchanged. With a hard stop, it sloshed over my fingertips and dripped on the glossy obsidian below.

Plink, plop, plop, plink.

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In a flash of white light, the floor lit up in a brilliant display and the air erupted in thunderous booms. The droplets spread from small circles into bright murals, radiating gold around their edges. Some showed familiar faces; Sig and Callan, Finn and Erys. Others were muddier with people I didn’t know and strange beings I’d never seen before yet had encountered so many times I knew to call them fae, elves, demigods, and all manners of other names in tongues foreign to worlds I'd forgotten. Each image, beautiful and horrible, I understood in an instant and knew the memories that spilled over the floor were mine. I smiled wider than ever, flooded with joy. I found what I was missing, hidden behind dark glass.

My hands closed around the paint, my fist squeezed, and the strange liquid staining my palms and oozing between my fingers. Without another moment’s hesitation, I threw it all into the air. It exploded like fireworks into vast visions in every direction. I shook my hands off; the paint splashed to life more scenes across the floor. My jaw dangled as I turned around, awed by the spectacular show of worlds I’d seen and places I’d ended too long ago to know how long I’d lived.

As I continued to look from one vision to another, I wasn’t merely seeing them. I was in those places as much as I was standing in what once was emptiness. The voices, the days, every sensation I’d known, filled me and I ran over like a cup beneath pouring wine. A breathy laugh passed over my lips as the light grew dim and the images faded. So many things at last made sense. Still, there was more. I could feel it.

Turning back to the bars, I took off running, but no matter how fast I was, I wasn’t fast enough. Those gilded pillars moved farther back, and higher up. I couldn’t tell which way was which and when I looked down, there was as much nothing below as there was above. From my throat came a frustrated growl as I pushed myself forward.

And then I fell.

I tumbled forward, or at least I thought it was forward, but I wasn’t sure. I thought I was looking up at the top of the cage where the bars came together, but they wiggled and moved like a reflection in a bent mirror. Confused, I stared at the knot of metal overhead. Had I been running upside down? No, that wasn’t right.

Waves glimmered and lapped over the exposed bars as my arms floated up as if I were on my back and sinking slowly to the bottom of great waters. Effervescent bubbles rose and shimmered in white and blue with soft traces of pink and yellow. Within each was a little fragment of the past, figures moving and talking in distorted voices. As scenes played out, I found I couldn’t focus on one without becoming distracted by another. Despite their numbers, they bled into me, filling my head, heart, and spirit. The past returned, no longer lost.

Then, suddenly, my lungs ignited in desperate need of air. Burning and aching for a single breath, they screamed for relief I couldn't provide. I opened my mouth, gasped, and found only water. My hands clutched my throat, gagging and choking on the surge. My lungs filled and the frigid cold of midnight depths chilled me to the bone. I shivered, my veins frosting as it ran deeper, devoid of all heat. It was hell, dark and freezing, and I was fast drowning. As I sank, I twisted round and kicked my feet. I had to escape, I couldn’t die here. I couldn’t die in the void when I had only just begun…