The bridge vanished the moment they crossed it.
Not shattered. Not dissolved.
It simply ceased to exist—leaving Kael, Lysara, and Elder Thorne standing on a floating platform of pale stone etched with moving constellations. Beneath them stretched endless depth: layers of fractured skies, drifting ruins, and rotating rings of light that hummed with ancient intent.
The Astral Expanse was not empty.
It was ordered.
The masked figures—Wardens, Kael realized—hovered in a perfect circle around them. Each wore a mask of polished obsidian marked by living starlines that shifted with every breath Kael took.
"Welcome to the Astral Expanse," the first Warden intoned."A system abandoned by the world, but not by its laws."
Lysara crossed her arms. "Great. Another place with rules."
"Not rules," another Warden corrected."Balances."
The platform pulsed. Light rose from the sigils beneath Kael's feet, forming a towering construct of layered rings and glyphs—an interface, not magic, not technology, but something older than both.
Elder Thorne fell to one knee.
"The First Architecture…" he whispered. "I thought it legend."
The construct spoke.
"TRIAL SEQUENCE INITIATED.INTERSTICE PATH CONFIRMED.COMPANIONS: NON-COMPATIBLE."
Lysara's head snapped up. "Excuse me?"
"Survival probability unacceptable."
Kael stepped forward instantly. "They stay."
The system paused.
Stars flickered.
"ASSERTION DETECTED.RISK ACCEPTED."
Thorne exhaled shakily. "It's… listening to him."
The Wardens drifted closer.
"Understand this, Interstice Walker," the lead Warden said."The Expanse was built to prevent collapse. Not to grant power."
With a gesture, the void below shifted.
Three vast structures rose from the depths, anchoring themselves to the Expanse's layers.
The Trials.
First Trial: Weight of Existence
Gravity inverted.
Kael staggered as invisible pressure crushed down on him—not physical weight, but significance. Every choice he had ever made pressed against his spine. Every life altered by his actions pulled at his limbs.
Lysara dropped to one knee, teeth clenched. "This… isn't strength."
"No," Thorne gasped. "It's consequence."
Kael felt the Interstice Path respond—not resisting, but aligning. He straightened slowly, breath steady.
"I accept it," he said. "All of it."
The pressure lessened.
The platform stabilized.
"PASS."
Second Trial: The Guardians
The air tore open.
From spiraling gateways emerged constructs of living starlight—humanoid in form, but faceless, wielding weapons shaped from rotating constellations.
"Astral Sentinels," Thorne whispered. "They test intent, not power."
The Sentinels attacked without warning.
Lysara moved instantly, blade flashing as she deflected a strike that would have split her in two. "Intent my ass!"
Kael didn't unleash starfire.
He stepped into the attack, redirecting the Sentinel's strike with minimal movement, turning its momentum against it. The Interstice Path guided him—not overwhelming, but precise.
One by one, the Sentinels fell—not shattered, but disassembled, returning to starlight.
The final Sentinel halted, head tilting.
It placed its weapon on the ground.
"INTENT: PROTECTIVE.PASS."
Lysara blinked. "Huh."
Third Trial: The Ancient System
The Expanse darkened.
A colossal sphere descended—etched with every known ascension rank, clan system, and corrupted pathway. Lines of light connected them in tangled chaos.
"SYSTEM FAILURE RECORDED," the construct intoned."QUERY: SHOULD ASCENSION CONTINUE?"
The question hit Kael harder than any blow.
If he answered wrong—
The world might end.
Kael stepped forward, heart pounding. He thought of the clans, of Aerin, of the First Ascendants torn apart by power they didn't understand.
"No," he said quietly.
The Expanse went still.
"Ascension shouldn't continue like this," Kael continued. "Not as domination. Not as consumption."
He raised his hand.
"It should evolve."
The sphere fractured—then reassembled, its pathways simplifying, stabilizing.
A new line formed.
Interstice.
"ANSWER ACCEPTED.SYSTEM UPDATE IN PROGRESS."
The Wardens knelt.
"THE EXCHANGE IS COMPLETE."
Kael swayed as exhaustion hit him all at once. Lysara caught his arm.
"So," she said, breathing hard. "What did you just do?"
Kael looked out over the Expanse—now subtly changed, its chaos calmer, its light steadier.
"I think," he said slowly, "I just made myself the problem the world has to solve."
The Wardens rose.
"WARNING," the lead Warden intoned."THE VOID-ASCENDANT APPROACHES THE INNER LAYER."
Far across the Expanse, a tear of darkness ripped open—raw, violent, familiar.
Aerin was coming.
And the Expanse had only enough balance left for one of them.