like a heartbea

er light across the bedroom walls. It had been two nights since Ava returned from the Hollow V

d scanned into her tablet. They showed regions of the Dreamworld that were now

estern edge of the Drea

No Dreamweaver a

re. The prism's resonanc

. "It's like a dead s

ey call it the

"I've never

ipulate dreams beyond the natural laws. They thought if they could harness dreaming, th

room. "And now the Hol

for sure," Leo

m-it's like a compass pointing directl

-

ht, they

space. Ava fortified her Lucid Key, anchoring it with fragments of her own memo

on-thread, dreamglass, and obsidian. He muttered as he worked, brow furrowed w

ed: illusion dust, echo-stones for communication, and

va's room, the three

?" Ava

y chuckle. "A

y," Nyra said,

-

the Dreamworl

ound below shifted like silk. But as they moved west, the air changed. Dreams became thin

crossed the

nto an abandoned city

of glass and chrome, all dark, all silent. Not

ed. Cars hovered mid-air, stuck in looping dream-frames. Billboards blinked messag

thudded. "It

"It's sleeping. But th

ts. The air was thick with static, like broken memories trying to

were

-

er, they found t

of the city like a crown of broken ambition. It buzzed with d

rd, the prism glo

, rhythmic-emerged fro

ath

f them turn

first glance, it looked human. Pale skin, sho

Hollow.

asked, holding the

was the Architect. I built th

ke it came from dee

breach?" Nyra

dreams," it replied. "And n

d. "You're not

said calmly. "We a

t, reacting violently. The Archi

this city proved otherwise. We mastered dreaming. We co

" Ava

id. "She resisted. She tore the veil. A

lood ra

alking a

-

ound t

rils of shadow slithering dow

Leo s

blackness. The shadows warped buildings as they moved-melting glass

lver light er

h for them to duck into an alleyway

ered in dream glyphs, ancient and pulsing fain

this is a backup system. T

"They failed. But the

ection appeared: a young girl, n

wanted them to stop. To sleep again. I di

ion glitche

k to he

oftly. "Some part of

"No. You inherited this. But y

-

the Hollo

d slowly, her re

g until we shut t

Let's end what

ear and turned toward

onfrontatio