Elias didn't know what he'd expected—dust, maybe. Or steel cities ringed in smoke. But what came into view made his glow flicker.
It was… soft.
Not weak. Not fragile. But layered, textured—alive. Deep blues swirled beneath thin bands of pearl-white cloud, the sea veined with subtle glimmers that stretched toward curved coastlines. Mountains broke through the cloud layers like dark brushstrokes across a canvas. Light spilled across them in gold-pink hues, as if the sunrise here wasn't in a rush.
A vast inland river wound through what had to be a continent, its shape jagged and imperfect, a thousand tributaries braiding into a gleaming web that spilled into the ocean. At its center, nestled against a wide, crescent-shaped bay, a city shimmered. Not glowing. Not flashing. Just—shimmering. Like metal catching light underwater.
He drifted lower.
And it kept unfolding.
