As Zoran stepped through the portal, the sensation was nothing like the unconscious, chaotic fall he had survived seven years ago.
This time, he was awake. And he could feel everything.
The transition wasn't instantaneous. The moment the white-gold light swallowed him, gravity dissolved. He was no longer standing on stone; he was drifting in a river of pure, concentrated energy.
Zoran opened his eyes, shielding them against the brilliance.
He was floating inside the Divine Pathway—the artery that connected the realms. It was beautiful and terrifying. The walls of the tunnel were not made of matter, but of flowing, liquid Aether, weaving together in intricate, shifting patterns. It looked like the nervous system of a god.
Zoran drifted closer to the edge of the stream. Within the flowing light, images flickered like memories trapped in glass.
He saw a flash of green forests—Terra, perhaps centuries ago. He saw a vision of fire—a city burning, the banner of Solmir turning to ash. He saw people. A woman weeping over a cradle. A soldier driving a sword into a beast.
It was an overload of information. Past, present, and future bled together in the current.
"I never looked," Zoran thought, his awe momentarily suppressing his guard. "Seven years ago, I was too scared to open my eyes. It feels so... divine. Like I'm looking at the blood of the universe."
Don't get sentimental, kid, Rage's voice cut through the awe, sharp and jagged. It's pretty, sure. But pretty things usually have teeth.
As if on cue, the hum of the portal changed. It shifted from a harmonious song to a violent, grinding shriek.
RUMBLE.
A massive tremor shook the pathway. Zoran was thrown sideways, tumbling through the light.
He tried to right himself, flaring his Golden Aura to create a shield, but the moment he summoned his power, the tunnel reacted.
The walls of the portal pulsed. They didn't push him away; they pulled.
Zoran gasped as he felt a sharp, invasive coldness seize his chest. The portal wasn't just a hallway; it was a parasite. It sensed the dense, high-quality Aether he had cultivated in the Divine Realm—the power of the Edict, the strength of the Celestial Heart—and it was hungry.
It's eating us! Rage shouted, his voice vibrating with genuine alarm. Clamp down your core, you idiot! It's siphoning the tank!
Streams of golden light began to leak from Zoran's skin, drifting away to be absorbed by the pathway's walls. Fifteen years of life force, seven years of brutal training—it was being stripped away in seconds.
"What the hell..." Zoran gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his neck as he fought the extraction. "You greedy gateway. This isn't going to go as you planned."
Zoran closed his eyes. He ignored the turbulence. He ignored the visions. He focused entirely on the Celestial Heart beating in his chest.
Meditation of the Iron Will.
He visualized his core not as a fire, but as a vault. He imagined heavy iron doors slamming shut over his power, locking the Aether inside his bones.
It was a tug-of-war against the universe.
The portal pulled, trying to rip the energy loose. Zoran pulled back, his will hardened by the crushing gravity of Aethalium. He groaned, sweat instantly vaporizing off his skin.
Hold it! Rage commanded, lending his own crimson strength to the effort. If we land on Terra empty, we're dead!
Slowly, the torrent of leaking light slowed to a trickle. Zoran hadn't stopped it completely—the pressure was too immense—but he had stemmed the bleeding. He was still losing power, but he wouldn't arrive as a husk.
He opened his eyes, gasping for air that wasn't there.
"We need to move," Zoran thought, panic rising. "I can't hold this forever."
He looked ahead. Far down the tunnel of light, he saw a pinprick of different colors—blue and green. The exit.
But the drag of the portal was slowing him down. The hunger of the pathway was acting like mud, trying to keep him here until he was dry.
"At this rate, I'll be empty before I reach the door," Zoran calculated. "I have to spend power to save power."
Propulsion, Rage agreed. Burn a little to save a lot.
Zoran focused his remaining, accessible Aether into the soles of his boots. He crouched in mid-air, using the solid wall of the portal's pressure as a springboard.
"Burst."
BOOM.
A golden shockwave detonated behind him. Zoran launched himself forward like a cannonball.
The scenery blurred. The visions of the past and future smeared into streaks of white light. The pressure of the drain increased, screaming against his mental shields, but his speed was greater.
The pinprick of blue grew larger. It became a circle. Then a window.
He could smell it. Not ozone and void, but... dirt. Rain. Pine needles.
Brace for impact! Rage warned. You're coming in too hot!
Zoran shot out of the portal.
The transition was violent. The heavy gravity of the Divine Realm vanished, replaced instantly by the lighter gravity of Terra. His velocity doubled.
He didn't float; he became a meteor.
"Too fast!" Zoran gasped.
He was falling through a canopy of green. Branches whipped his face. He smashed through a thick limb of an ancient oak tree—CRACK—then another.
He tucked his chin, protecting his head, and engaged his King's Aura for a split second to cushion the blow.
CRASH.
Zoran slammed into the earth.
Debris exploded. Mud, stone, and wood splintered upward. He tumbled, carving a deep trench through the forest floor before finally slamming into something hard—a moss-covered boulder.
The rock cracked from the impact. Zoran came to a halt, half-buried in the soil.
Silence returned to the forest. A few frightened birds took flight.
Zoran lay there for a moment, staring up at a sky that wasn't purple. It was grey, heavy with rain clouds.
He groaned, rolling onto his side. Everything hurt, but nothing was broken.
Welcome home, King, Rage muttered dryly in his head. We stuck the landing. Mostly.
Zoran spat out a mouthful of dirt and pushed himself up. He was back.