It had been many days since Sabian returned home.
But every night, his dreams grew darker.
Soft voices whispered through the shadows.They did not sound like his own. At first, they were only faint echoes. Then, night after night, they became clearer, as if someone was standing beside him.
One night, the whispers changed.
They were no longer gentle.
They gave him commands.
"Let go of your old life," they whispered.
"You don't need it anymore."
"You were meant to be more than a prince."
Sabian woke with his heart racing.
The words stayed with him even after the sun rose. He tried to forget them, but they followed him wherever he went. They echoed in his thoughts like leaves carried by the wind.
Deep inside, he felt a strange pull.
It was gentle, yet impossible to ignore.
Something was calling him back to Seradyn's cave.
One evening, without telling anyone, Sabian quietly slipped away from the castle. He followed the narrow forest path until the old cave stood before him once again.
Seradyn was waiting.
He welcomed him, as though he had always believed Sabian would return.
Day after day, Seradyn shared secrets that had almost been forgotten.
He taught Sabian ancient spells hidden from the world. He showed him how to understand the feelings of animals and how to hear the quiet stories carried by the wind.
With every lesson, Sabian learned something new.
With every lesson, the cave felt more like home.
And little by little...
he wandered farther away from the life he had once known.
Until one day,
it all went too far.
It happened just before dawn.
Sabian was training with Seradyn,
his movements slower than usual,
his thoughts clouded.
“You must push past your limits,” Seradyn growled.
“Don’t hold back.”
Sabian nodded, unsure.
Seradyn raised his hands and summoned a spiral of red energy.
It spun faster and faster —
wild and powerful —
until Sabian felt its weight crush the air around him.
“Stop—!” he shouted.
“This is too much!”
But Seradyn didn’t hear him —
or didn’t want to.
His face was locked in a storm of magic and old pain.
The spell lashed out.
Sabian flew backward,
hitting the cave wall with a sharp cry.
He crumpled to the ground, still.
Silence.
Seradyn stood frozen.
The magic still burned in his palms —
but something inside him shattered.
He stepped forward.
“Sabian…?”
Sabian didn’t move.
Seradyn dropped to his knees.
“No. No, no, no…” His voice cracked.
“I didn’t mean—”
He reached out with trembling hands, trying to undo the damage.
“Please. Please wake up.”
He tried every spell he knew —
whispered old incantations,
poured his own energy into Sabian’s still form.
Nothing worked.
And then…
a tear slid down Seradyn’s cheek.
For the first time in many years,
he let it fall.
“I never wanted to hurt you,” he whispered.
The tear hit the stone,
glowing faintly —
not with darkness,
but with something gentler.
Something real.
At that moment,
a soft light entered the cave.
Aylania.
She had followed the echo of her brother’s heart,
even when no one else could feel it.
Her hands glowed as she knelt beside Sabian,
brushing his forehead gently.
“Come back,” she whispered.
“I’m here.”
A breath.
Then another.
Sabian stirred.
“...Ayla?”
She smiled through tears and looked at him.
“Don’t ever disappear like that again.”
Seradyn watched, silent,
his shoulders slumped.
“I didn’t mean to…” he said quietly.
“I only wanted… someone to stay.”
“You almost destroyed him,” Aylania said,
not unkindly — but firmly.
“That’s not how you ask someone to stay.”
Seradyn looked at his hands —
once filled with power,
now strangely empty.
“I tried to reverse it,” he murmured.
“I used everything I had.”
“You did save him,” Aylania said after a long pause.
“But not with magic.
With a tear.”
Sabian sat up slowly, still weak.
“You cared,” he said, meeting Seradyn’s eyes.
“You didn’t want to admit it… but you did.”
Seradyn said nothing,
but nodded —
a small, broken nod,
heavy with years of silence.
And outside,
the wind began to quiet.