She was standing once again in the Valley of Echoes. Mist swirled around her feet, and the chill of the place seemed to seep into her bones. But this time, the whispers were louder, voices calling her with urgency and sorrow.
"Ariston."
The voices murmured. "Return."
Lily turned, her heart thumping in her chest. There stood a figure, just at the edge of the mist—a man. His face is clearer now, and though it is human, those eyes haunt him. This is Ariston, a man who had become the Harbinger.
"Why are you here?" she asked, her voice still trembling as she approached closer.
He looked at her, even though he was only a dream. His gaze was painful, nonetheless. "You freed me from the darkness, but my soul is still imprisoned," he sighed, his voice tortured and barely above a whisper. "I was once a guardian, just like you. I wanted to guard, but thirst for power turned me astray. I am doomed to wander between worlds, neither living nor dead, until I'm truly free.
Lily's head reeled like a well-oiled machine, full of questions. "Can I get you out?" she whispered aloud.
He nodded slowly. "There is one way. My soul must be purged by the same light that drove me out, by the hands of the one who conquered me. Only then can I have peace.".
And then his words died, and the mist grew denser, so that Ariston's shape melted away from view. But he made one last gesture, of reaching out with a hand to just hover a fingers' breadth above Lily's. "Please, help me find my rest.".
A jolt snapped Lily awake; it was one of those moments when she finally gasped for air as the remains of the dream faded away. Morning light streamed through her window, but the chill of the valley lingers in her bones. Ariston's plea has now found its way into her mind, and a new sense of purpose has arisen. Her journey with him far from over.