Noah Cain felt as if he had been cast adrift in an endless sea of radiance.
The moment he turned the page, his body was wrenched from reality. He tumbled through a tunnel of blinding golden light, his senses unraveling as time and space lost their meaning. He couldn't tell if he was falling, floating, or simply ceasing to exist. It was weightless and crushing all at once, and his thoughts dissolved into the overwhelming glow that consumed him.
Then, abruptly, the descent ended.
Noah's feet found solid ground, though it didn't feel like any ground he had ever known. It was firm yet fluid, shifting under him like rippling water but holding his weight. The world stretched out in all directions, an expanse of luminous white and gold as if existence itself had been sculpted from divine energy. Towering spires of crystal shimmered in the distance, reflecting infinite hues beyond mortal comprehension. The sky above—if it could even be called a sky—was an endless canvas of shifting light, arcs of brilliance moving like celestial rivers.
He exhaled sharply, his breath visible in the radiant air, tinged with something more than warmth—something alive. And then he heard it.
A voice. No, voices.
Echoing through the space, resounding from every direction, layered upon each other yet distinct, harmonizing in celestial unity.
"A soul steps forward. One who has been called. One who has been chosen."
Noah turned sharply, his heartbeat thundering in his ears. Four figures materialized before him, their forms coalescing from the very light of the realm. They stood in a semicircle, their presence immense, regal, and ineffable. Each bore a distinct radiance, their faces veiled by brilliance, shifting between shapes—some human, some bestial, others indescribable. Their robes flowed like woven starlight, adorned with ancient symbols that pulsed with unseen power.
He knew, instinctively, that these were the Cardinals—the keepers of something beyond the comprehension of mortals.
Noah swallowed, forcing his voice to steady. "Where am I?"
The tallest of the Cardinals took a step forward. The air around them pulsed with authority, their voice both gentle and unyielding.
"You stand in the Sanctum of the Luminous—where the threads of fate are woven. You have turned the page. You have answered the call."
His pulse quickened. "The book… it brought me here?"
"No," another Cardinal spoke, their voice layered with countless echoes. "Your soul brought you here. The book was but the door."
Noah's mind reeled. He had read of myths, of divine realms and celestial beings in religious texts, but this—this was something beyond even those stories. This was something real.
The air shifted again, heavier now, pressing against his very being. A presence greater than the Cardinals themselves stirred in the expanse above. The very sky trembled as something vast and incomprehensible loomed beyond the horizon of perception.
And then, the Primordial spoke.
It was not a sound, not even a voice, in the way Noah understood voices. It was existence itself unraveling into language, a weight that settled in the marrow of his bones, a force that spoke to the essence of what he was rather than his ears.
"Noah Cain. You have come. You stand at the precipice of the eternal."
His breath caught in his throat. He tried to form words, but the sheer presence of the entity made speech feel insignificant. The Cardinals bowed their heads in reverence, their radiance dimming ever so slightly.
"You have been given the path. You may take the burden, or you may turn away. But know this—once you bear the light, the shadow will follow. The trials will break you or make you. Choose, and step forward."
Noah clenched his fists, his mind racing. Every fiber of his being told him this was beyond him, that he should turn back, run, reject whatever madness this was. And yet…
That same feeling, the same pull that had haunted him for years, the whisper that had always urged him forward, now roared in his soul.
He had always felt as if he were meant for something more.
And now, standing in the heart of this radiant eternity, he had his answer.
He stepped forward.
Light enveloped him once more.