“Or something else is,” he said, low and serious.
Before I could snap back, the ground beneath us shifted. Literally. A vibration rolled through the sand, subtle but distinct.
“What was that?”
We crouched, scanning the cracked terrain. Off to the left, the air shimmered differently. It bent in a way that wasn’t heat-induced. More like a ripple.
He grabbed my arm, pulling me closer instinctively. “Evorsus.”
A second later, the ripple flexed—and the world cracked.
The change sent me falling, or would have if Vareck hadn’t caught me. I squeezed my eyes shut, palms pressing into them as a pressure built. A headache was building at the base of my skull thanks to dehydration and whatever other bullshittery was going on. He quickly wrapped both arms around me, holding me tight.
Another wave rolled through the atmosphere, sinking into my skin as the temperature noticeably changed. The world rattled and shook, and I felt as though I were spinning in a cyclone. Wind and shaking earth roared in my ears before it all fell silent and everything stilled.
“Open your eyes.”
Slowly, I dropped my hands and let my eyelids flutter open.
The first thing I realized was the trail had vanished, and a deep panic burrowed into my gut. The black markers that had been so perfectly spaced, guiding in the same direction my magic was leading me, had vanished. Just—poof. Gone. Like they’d never been there.
I stopped cold and spun in place. The sand that had surrounded us had disappeared. Not blown away. Just no longer there. Just like the rocks.
“What in the nine realms ...” I whispered.
Vareck stopped beside me. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head, throat dry. “They were just here. You saw them.”
“I did,” he said softly. “They are still there, in Eversus. We aren’t. Welcome to Evorsus.”
You would think twin realms would be similar, but this was the complete opposite. No wind. No heat. The air was cool, hushed, almost reverent.
And the sky—gods, the sky was spectacular.
Gone were the dual suns that had tried to roast us alive. In their place, embedded in a deep violet canopy studded with stars, two moons glowed with a silver-blue, casting strange shadows over the terrain. One intact, and the other one broken.
Where the desert had stretched endlessly, dense forest now surrounded us. Lush trees arched high above, their leaves glowing faintly in shades of emerald, sapphire, and amethyst. The ground beneath my boots was soft and mossy. The air smelled like petrichor, violets, and something sweet I couldn’t place.
“This is incredible,” I whispered, my voice too small for the magnitude of what I was seeing. “How did we move to the other side? I know the realms touch, but I thought you had to cross between them.”
“We didn’t move; the realms did.” He gestured to the terrain. “They shifted around us. Eversus and Evorsus are two sides to the same coin, and the borders are unstable.”
Magic hummed through the trees. Not menacing, exactly, but aware. Watching. Sentient.
I swallowed hard. “So we’re just ... in Evorsus now. With no way back to Eversus?”
He nodded. “Not unless the realms move again. Eversus is the land of the twin suns. It’s a desert hellscape.” That was putting it mildly. It looked and felt like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. “Evorsus is darker, and not just in the literal sense. Here, things are ... beautiful. Alluring. Because that’s what it’s trying to do. Lure you in.”
A chill skated down my spine, despite the temperate air. “Why did the portal drop us in Eversus and not here?”
“I don’t know. These realms bleed into each other. Sometimes you walk far enough in one and find yourself in the other. Sometimes,” he added with a glance upward, “they come to you.”
I pressed a fist against my chest, feeling for the thread.
Still there.
Still tugging.
