Jude stood in the center of the awakening city, feeling the pulse of energy thrumming beneath his feet. The golden light that had once been faint and flickering was now steady, stretching through the streets, coiling around the figures that had once been mere echoes. His people. They were no longer trapped in the void, no longer mere remnants of a forgotten past. They were here. Real. Alive.
Lyara stepped forward, her golden eyes filled with awe and uncertainty. The others, still adjusting to their newfound solidity, murmured among themselves, testing their voices, their limbs, their very existence. Jude could see the questions forming in their gazes, but there was no time for explanations. The city had returned, but it was incomplete, and something beyond its borders was shifting.
He could feel it.
The void had not given up.
