STARLIGHT UNBOUND by Deus Ex Machina - HTML preview

STARLIGHT UNBOUND

Lucien stepped forward, voice firm. “Override it. Now.”

The Steward ’s stilled. Their posture stiffened, their movements suddenly… unnatural.

“Now.”—they nodded and stepped aside.

The father gasped. His daughter clutched his sleeve, her wide eyes flicking between Lucien and the open path ahead.

“Go,” Lucien urged. “Quickly.”

The man ’s face filled with relief. “Thank you.”

They rushed forward, disappearing beyond the barrier.

Lucien turned to the rest of the line.

“Go. All of you.”

For a split second, nobody moved.

Then the first person stepped forward. Then another. Then a surge— abandoning their useless papers, pushing past the checkpoint and into the light beyond.

Lucien ’s heart pounded.

Then the last of them was gone.

He turned toward the horizon.

Beyond the barrier was not a city. Not another sector.

It was light.

Not light —something more. It pulsed, vast and golden, resonating at the edge of perception. Alive.

Lucien took a step forward.

When he turned back—

The checkpoint was gone.

The people were gone.

The world behind him had ceased to exist.

And then, a voice—deep, resonant, familiar and not.

“This is not a dream. This is a place. You opened the way.”

Lucien ’s breath caught.

“What way?” His own voice sounded distant, hollow.

“Who are you?”

The golden light flared, expanding outward, swallowing everything.

***

Lucien jerked upright, gasping.

The room was dark. Too dark. The dream still clung to him, thick and

186