Dawn came late to the forest.
The sun's light filtered through layers of mist, turning the air a pale, muted gold. The remains of their fire smouldered faintly, smoke curling in thin threads above the clearing.
Nhilly was already awake, sitting apart from the others, polishing the black edge of Draco's Shroud. His arm ached with a dull, persistent throb, but it was a familiar pain — the kind that meant he was still alive.
Celeste stirred beside the dying fire, hair tousled, eyes heavy with sleep. She looked around the camp and smiled faintly. "You're up early."
"Couldn't sleep," Nhilly said simply.
Kael was next to wake, quiet as ever. He checked his blade without a word, their metal glinting faintly in the new light. Eli remained a heap under his coat until Celeste tossed a pebble at him.
He grumbled and sat up, squinting. "Morning already? Thought dying yesterday earned me a lie-in."
Seris stood at the tree line, her back to them, watching the faint shimmer that glowed through the mist ahead. "It's time," she said.
They packed in silence. No one said it aloud, but every movement carried the same unease — the shared knowledge that whatever waited beyond that light wasn't just another fight.
The walk to the gate was short. The closer they came, the colder the air grew, the ground beneath them coated in a thin layer of frost that hadn't been there the night before. The trees bent away from the centre of the glade as though repelled by something unseen.
Then they saw it.
The gate stood half-buried in the soil, carved into a slab of ancient black stone. It towered over them — a monolith in the mist. Etched across its surface were hundreds of constellations, their lines pulsing faintly like veins of trapped starlight. The edges of the door were fractured, as though reality itself had split to make room for it.
Eli whistled under his breath. "That's… not what I pictured."
Celeste stepped closer, eyes wide. "It's beautiful."
Kael didn't answer. His hand rested on the hilt of his blade. "It's wrong," he said quietly. "It shouldn't look alive."
And he was right. The gate was breathing — the surface shifting ever so slightly, as though the stone itself was inhaling.
Seris walked ahead of them, her cloak brushing against the frost. "Every gate looks different," she said. "But they all feel the same. Like something behind them is waiting."
Nhilly's gaze lingered on the constellations. They weren't random. The shapes matched patterns he'd seen in old books — ones that shouldn't have existed here. Not Yarion's sky… Earth's.
Celeste reached out tentatively. "It's warm," she murmured, fingertips grazing the glowing surface. "Why is it warm?"
"Because it's alive," Seris said softly. "The gates respond to us. To our Stars. They can feel who's ready to enter."
Eli scoffed, though his voice wavered. "Feel? Great. So it's judging us now."
Kael gave him a sidelong glance. "You could stand to be judged."
"Hey, I just killed a monster twice my size. I'm a hero."
"Barely," Nhilly muttered.
Celeste stifled a small laugh, though it was nervous more than amused.
Seris turned to face them fully. Her voice steadied, cold and calm. "Once we go through, we don't stop. The moment one of us steps inside, the Scenario begins. No turning back, no waiting. We move together, or we die apart."
Eli rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck. "Nice and motivational."
Kael summoned his blades. "He's right, though — once we enter, we commit."
Celeste took a slow breath, fingers tracing the faint glow on her wrist where her Star shimmered beneath her skin. "What happens to the gate once we're inside?"
"A new guardian spawns," Seris said. "Another Wyrmclaw, or something worse. No one else can follow us in until we're finished."
Nhilly sheathed his sword and stepped forward beside her. "And if we fail?"
Seris met his eyes. "Then it resets. But we won't be there to see it."
For a long moment, no one moved. The gate's surface pulsed faintly, as if impatient.
Celeste broke the stillness first. She reached for the edge of the door, her hand trembling but steady enough to touch it. "It's humming," she whispered. "Like it's calling."
Eli took a deep breath and stood beside her. "Well, let's not keep destiny waiting."
Kael sighed. "You're impossible."
"Yeah," Eli said with a grin, "but I make good company."
Seris placed a hand against the stone. The constellations flared to life, lines of light connecting in intricate webs across the gate's surface. The air rippled with heat and sound — like wind trapped inside a heartbeat.
Nhilly stepped up last. The moment his fingers brushed the surface, gravity shifted around them. The ground pulled upward, the air twisting, reality bending as the light consumed the edges of the world.
The gate opened.
It didn't swing or part — it folded, as if the stone itself peeled away to reveal a hollow of shifting stars. A low hum filled their ears, vibrating through their bones.
Seris looked back once, her expression unreadable. "Remember," she said, "whatever waits beyond this door isn't real… but the pain will be."
Then she stepped through.
One by one, the others followed — Kael, silent and composed; Eli, muttering something about bad decisions; Celeste, her light flickering faintly around her hands.
Nhilly lingered last, staring into the impossible darkness beyond the door. The constellations shimmered faintly inside the void — not Yarion's sky, but Earth's.
Stories that don't end when you die, he thought. Guess it's my turn to find out how one starts.
He stepped through.
The light swallowed him whole.