Chapter 153: The Dream - Kael
Adrian dreams of a bell.
Not our bell. Not the silver bell I made from door fragments. Something older. Larger. A bell the size of a world, hanging in a void beyond voids.
He describes it at breakfast, his small hands shaping the air. "It's ringing, but no one can hear. Except me. And the one inside."
"What one inside?" Leah asks.
"The hungry one. The sleeping one. The one who waits."
Ophelia stops eating. "I hear it too. Not the bell. The waiting."
The room goes quiet. Xiao Qi lowers her cup. Avi's golden eyes narrow.
"The Forge?" I ask.
Adrian shakes his head. "Older. The Forge was... its dream. A small dream. This is the dreamer."
He looks at me with eyes that are mine and yet not mine. Ice-blue depths holding knowledge no child should possess.
"It's waking up, Daddy. Because of us. Because we made noise. We sang. We built bridges. We... disturbed its sleep."
Leah's hand finds mine under the table. Her grip is tight.
"Is it angry?" she asks.
Adrian considers. "Not angry. Curious. It wants to see what made the noise."
"When?"
Ophelia answers. "Soon. When the tree flowers. When the bridge is strong enough to bear its weight."
"How soon?"
She looks at the window, where our tree's branches sway. "Three months. Maybe four."
Three months.
To prepare for the arrival of something older than the Forge. Older than the separation of worlds. The dreamer behind the dream.
I look at Leah. She nods.
We've faced worse.
"Then we prepare," I say. "Not for war. For... introduction."
Adrian smiles. "Yes. We show it who we are. Not perfect. But real."
Ophelia adds, "We sing for it. The song."
I look at my children. At my wife. At the family we've built from fragments of broken worlds.
"Then we practice," I say.
And so we do.
Every night, as the tree grows and the moons cycle and the door hums its endless song—we practice.
Imperfectly.
But together.