Chapter 9 AKLAN

The rest of the day blurred by in a haze of classes, drills, and paperwork. By the time evening rolled around, I was spent, my body heavy with exhaustion. I collapsed onto my bed, the mattress groaning under my weight, and let my eyes drift shut. I didn't even realize I had fallen into a deep sleep until the world shifted.

When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in my room.

I was sitting on a fallen oak tree under a pale sky that had no sun, no stars. Just a faint light that didn't come from anywhere. The air felt different here - thicker, colder. The smell of burnt wood lingered.

And beside me, as real as life, sat Rivan.

"Hello brother," His voice, calm as dawn and a thousand rumbles of thunder at the same time.

I was in shock. "Rivan?"

He looked the same - dark hair tousled, eyes too sharp to belong to the dead.

"Good to see you too, brother." His smile pierced the very fabric of my soul.

"How? How are you here?"

"You never let me in anymore, but I had to find another way." He said quietly.

My throat tightened. "Didn't think it would be easy seeing you again."

He chuckled, that familiar crooked grin ghosting his face. "You've changed, you're harder, colder even, and I can't decide if that's good or bad."

"Probably both."

"This is my doing, is it not? I made you this way." His eyes carried sadness in them.

I shook my head; it wasn't his fault, it never was. "No, it's not your fault. I just, I-"

Rivan extended his hand and nodded for me to take it. I did "Your heart carries too much burden, Aklan, you are heavier because you do not want to feel."

"What? You died and became a therapist?" I scoffed.

He smiled at me. "It's beautiful here. I would invite you over for a visit, but we both know the warlock girl will resurrect you and kill you all over again."

"How did you-? So now you're a therapist and a stalker."

He smirked. "I thought you had a thing for stalkers, that would explain your fixation with the witch."

"I'm not fixated." I shrugged because it was true.

He flashed his ridiculous grin. "That's a lot of late-night sneaking and early morning sessions for someone who isn't fixated."

"Great, you brought me to the endless to discuss my sex life. Well, what about you? Getting any pussy out here?"

Rivan looked faux offended "We do not mate here in the abyss. I'm in the abyss, not in the endless yet. I still get to wander and visit my favorite people."

"And you chose to watch me fuck. Is this how you spend your days, Rivan?"

"Beats sitting by the riverbank every day." He smiled.

I missed him, I missed him more than I knew how to explain.

I grabbed him and hugged him like my life depended on it. I knew it was just a dream, but he felt real. "It's good to see you, brother."

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you had the hots for me when I was alive."

I laughed loudly, my shoulders shrieking, my chest felt loose. I had forgotten how easy life was with Rivan by my side.

"It is good to hear your laughter again, Aklan. It's been four years too long," His eyes mirrored the relief in mine.

I nodded. "I guess I would let you in more often now that time has sharpened your humor."

"We would see each other more often than you think" His voice carried a level of worry that sent a chill through me.

He looked ahead, toward the horizon that didn't exist. "Have you found the red wolf?"

"The what?" I turned to him, frowning.

"The one who doesn't know what she carries," he said, voice distant now. "She's closer than you think, Aklan."

"What are you talking about? Who-"

But before I could finish, he turned to me again, and his expression had shifted - something between sorrow and warning. "You need to find her. She is the key, you have to teach her-."

A sound cut through the dream - faint, rhythmic, and sounded like knocking.

I blinked, and the dream world began to crumble.

When I opened my eyes, I was back in my room, the air thick with the scent of pinewood and sweat. Someone was knocking - louder now.

I groaned and dragged myself to the door to find Kiyan standing there, leaning against the frame.

"You alive?" he asked, brow raised. Probably because he knew I wasn't a deep sleeper and I had taken forever to open the door.

"Define alive."

He rolled his eyes, smiling. "You forgot the recruit's punishment."

I swore under my breath, checking the clock. 11:30 p.m. "She's not going to show up."

"She did," he said simply. "Still standing there."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Perfect. Let her stand all night. Consider it part of the discipline."

Kiyan gave me a look that said he wanted to argue, but didn't. He shrugged. "Your call."

When the door shut again, I collapsed back onto my bed, staring at the ceiling.

For a long time, I didn't move. I tried to tell myself it didn't matter - that she would survive standing for a few hours, that I owed nothing to the world anymore.

But I knew a girl as stubborn as that wouldn't wait for me to come. She would leave if she didn't find me.

By the time my eyes drifted shut again, all I could see was Rivan's smile - and the shadow of a conversation I didn't understand.