***
{Outside The Projection}
The hall was quiet.
Not confused—no, not at all.
If anything, it was the opposite.
They had all expected this in some way or another.
Sure, it was extremely sudden, but that was also expected.
At least in some capacity...
After all, they had already established the projection's mannerisms.
The first trial to reach the Valley of The Unseen was always the same.
Jinn-whispered dreams, twisted and gilded in false gold.
And every soul in this hall had walked through them before.
The only difference?
Their dreams had been grander. Bigger. Wilder.
Kingdoms in their grasp. Power beyond reckoning. The world kneeling at their feet.
But Malik's?
His dream had been simple.
A life without loss.
A family that stayed.
A past that never shattered.
And that—that was what made it so much worse.
Magi didn't even seem to exist in his whispered dream.
