"To find what was stolen, he must enter the dream… and face the man he might have become."
---
🌙 [Scene: The Threshold of Slumber – Realm of Dormin, The Divine Dreamkeeper]
Above reality floats a silver ring — thin as smoke, vast as a world.
This is Dormin's Wheel — a prison spun from pure dream-threads, holding beings too dangerous to kill, too sacred to set free.
And somewhere within its never-ending sleep…
Lies the First Fragment of Riven Valtoris.
---
🔥 The Descent into Sleep
Aedric stood before the gateway, flanked by Lyara and Mirael. Thorne knelt nearby, placing an offering — a tooth carved with his sister's name.
> "This is no ordinary journey," Mirael warned.
"Your flame can't protect you here."
> "It will," Aedric said, staring into the silver mist.
"Because this flame burns with a name now."
He stepped into the spiral.
And fell asleep.
Not in body.
In narrative.
---
🛏️ Scene Shift: Inside the Dream Prison
Aedric opened his eyes inside a garden of glass, where every tree was a thought unspoken, and every flower shimmered with fading names.
The sky above rippled like a lake.
He wore no armor here. No weapons. Only a cloak of flame that flickered in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Then… he heard it.
> A lullaby.
Sung in his voice.
He turned — and froze.
Sitting under a broken glass tree was himself.
Older. Tired. Wearing white robes stained with ash.
---
👥 The Dream Prisoner
> "You finally came," said the man.
"Took you long enough."
Aedric stared.
This wasn't an illusion.
It was… a version.
> "You're me."
The prisoner nodded.
> "The version of you who stayed mortal and never fought back. Who let Selene raise the child in hiding."
> "And you failed," Aedric said.
The prisoner smiled sadly.
> "No. I survived."
---
🧠 The Conversation
> "Why am I here?"
> "To find the first fragment," the dream-prisoner replied.
"But it isn't something you can touch. It's a moment. A heartbeat."
He pointed to a frozen vision in the sky.
A boy — Riven — laughing, running across a meadow made of flame.
The memory pulsed with warmth.
> "That is the first time he called you Father," the prisoner said.
"Even though you weren't there."
Aedric reached out.
And the world shattered.
---
🧬 Inside the Fragment
He now stood in Riven's dream.
A small cottage. Rain outside. A lightning flash.
And a small boy, barely four, hiding under a table, crying.
> "He's scared," the prisoner whispered.
"Of thunder. Of being alone. Of forgetting your voice."
Aedric knelt beside the child.
> "I'm here," he said.
The boy looked up.
And whispered, almost afraid:
> "Are you… real?"
Aedric's eyes burned. But he nodded.
> "I am now."
He held the boy tight.
> "And I will be. Always."
---
✨ Fragment Claimed
The scene exploded into golden light.
Aedric awoke — back in the glass garden. Alone.
But something pulsed in his heart.
> ✅ First Fragment Acquired: Riven's Trust
"You have claimed your son's first sacred memory. One-third of his soul now burns beside yours."
---
🛡 New Skill Unlocked
> ✅ Soulbond: Emberlink
Once per day, link your flame to another's soul. Damage taken is split. Healing is doubled. Connection allows shared memories.
---
⚠️ Final Scene – The Jailers Stir
Back in the real world, the Divine Dreamkeeper stirred.
Eyes opening.
Scrolls unwinding.
> "Someone has stolen from my vault of slumber…"
He opened his palm.
A name pulsed there.
> "Aedric Valtoris… and Riven."
The hunt had begun.
---