The smooth stone ground cracked, giving way to rough, uneven terrain. The towering structures in the distance faded, replaced by the crumbling ruins of what had once been a city. The sky darkened, the golden streaks swallowed by heavy, rolling clouds. The air smelled of smoke and something acrid, something wrong.
Jude's chest tightened. He didn't recognize this place, but something about it felt familiar.
The older him gestured. "Look."
Jude turned, and his breath caught.
Bodies.
Scattered across the broken ground, unmoving. Some were barely more than silhouettes in the dim light, but others… others were close enough that he could see their faces.
His stomach twisted.
He knew them.
Lyara. Elias. Others whose names he didn't even know but whose faces had become familiar. They were all there.
Dead.
Jude took a step back, shaking his head. "No."
The older him didn't say anything.
Jude's breathing was uneven. "This isn't real."
"Not yet."
