The growing unease inside Erend's chest refused to disappear. He stood motionless within the strange ntal landscape of the Sky Anchor while staring into the endless expanse surrounding him.
Just as before, the place resembled a boundless sea of darkness with a little bit of pale light stretching farther than his eyes could follow. Countless fragnts of mories, emotions, and ancient impressions drifted through the distance like stars floating across a silent universe.
And sowhere within all of it, the Creation was present.
He could feel her. That was what disturbed him most.
She was not gone. She was not sleeping. She was not weakened beyond communication. She was just deliberately remaining silent.
"Answer ," Erend said again. "Please."
His voice echoed across the endless white expanse before fading into nothingness.
No response ca.
Erend frowned deeper.
He pushed his consciousness farther into the fragnt. The effort imdiately strained him.
Even entering the Sky Anchor repeatedly was not sothing he could do endlessly, especially after everything his body had endured during the invasion. Yet he ignored the growing fatigue and continued searching.
"You've spoken to before," he called out. "What's happening now?"
Still nothing.
The silence felt wrong. It even felt almost hostile. But, not toward him exactly, but toward sothing else.
Erend closed his eyes and focused harder.
Instead of speaking again, he extended his awareness throughout the fragnt. He allowed his consciousness to spread through the ntal landscape while searching for the familiar presence hidden sowhere within it.
Minutes passed. The effort beca increasingly exhausting. Sweat slowly ford across his forehead despite his physical body remaining outside the ntal realm. The pressure against his mind grew heavier the deeper he reached.
But eventually he found sothing. A faint thread, a distant presence. It was tiny and weak and afraid.
Erend's eyes imdiately opened. "There you are."
He followed the feeling.
The thread pulled him deeper into the endless sea of light. Vast distances seed to collapse as his consciousness moved forward. The surrounding landscape gradually changed. The pale light grew dimr. The drifting fragnts beca slower.
Then finally he found her. A small presence hidden behind layers upon layers of protective barriers.
Not physical barriers but ntal ones. Instinctive ones. It was as though she had unconsciously withdrawn into herself.
Relief imdiately crossed Erend's face. "You are here."
For several seconds, nothing happened. Then at last he heard a voice.
A feminine voice that sounded soft and fragile. And filled with unease.
"Dragonborn..."
The simple response felt almost shocking after so much silence.
Erend imdiately stepped closer.
"What happened?" he asked. "Why weren't you answering ?"
The presence remained quiet. He could feel hesitation coming from her.
He could also feel her confusion, fear, and sothing else.
Eventually she spoke again. "I don't know."
The answer caught him off guard.
"What do you an?" Erend asked.
The Creation seed to struggle to find the words. The silence stretched for several monts before she finally answered.
"I feel sothing."
Erend's expression hardened imdiately. "What kind of sothing?"
Again she hesitated. Then her voice beca even quieter. "Danger."
A chill ran through him.
The Creation continued. "It feels wrong."
The surrounding ntal landscape trembled faintly.
"I don't know where it is. I don't know what it is. But I can feel it getting closer," said the Creation.
Erend remained silent.
The Creation was not an ordinary being. She was a fundantal existence connected directly to the Void Architect himself. Her senses extended far beyond those of ordinary mortals.
If she felt danger then that danger was likely real.
"Is it closer?" Erend asked carefully.
"Yes." Her voice shook slightly. "Ever since the Void Architect withdrew his power, the feeling has been growing stronger. It feels like sothing is searching."
The pale light around them dimd further.
Erend imdiately thought about Veyrun's warning. The cosmic entity. His instincts suddenly scread at him.
The pieces were starting to connect.
"So you know what is searching?" Erend asked.
"I don't know." The Creation sounded frustrated. Genuine fear entered her voice. "I can't see it clearly."
"But it feels familiar."
Erend froze. "Familiar?"
The Creation remained silent for several monts. Then she answered. "It feels connected."
The words imdiately made his heart sink.
"Connected to what?"
The pale world around them trembled again.
And when she finally answered, her voice sounded smaller than before. "Connected to him."
The mont those words left her mouth, Erend knew exactly who she ant.
The entity really was connected to the Void Architect. A cold sensation spread through his chest. Whatever Veyrun detected was almost certainly true. Sothing had found this world and it was getting closer.
Erend remained silent for several monts while processing her answer.
The uneasiness inside him only deepened. The Creation herself believed the presence was connected to the Void Architect, that was certain. So it must be here to do his bidding.
He stepped closer toward the fragile presence hidden behind the countless ntal barriers.
"What do you know about it?" Erend asked. "Anything at all. Even if it's incomplete."
The Creation did not answer imdiately. The darkness surrounding them trembled faintly. Fragnts of pale light drifted through the vast ntal landscape while distant mories floated past.
Finally she spoke. "I don't rember clearly."
Erend frowned. "What do you an?"
"My mories are fragnted." A wave of sadness passed through her voice. "When I divided myself... many things were lost. Many things beca incomplete."
Erend already knew that much. The Creation had shattered herself into multiple fragnts specifically to escape the Void Architect. It made sense that the process had damaged portions of her mories.
But he needed sothing. Anything.
"Please try to rember," Erend said softly.
The Creation fell silent again. Then slowly, pieces of emotion began drifting into Erend's mind. Feelings, impressions, and ancient fragnts.
Suddenly Erend saw flashes of an endless cosmic ocean, then a colossal serpentine shape moving between stars.
He also saw countless golden eyes opening within the darkness. Worlds reflected across shimring scales.
Then the vision vanished.
Erend's eyes widened. "A serpent?"
"I think so," the Creation whispered. The ntal landscape shook slightly. "I rember fear."
Another fragnted image appeared. A massive coil surrounding an entire planet, then a feminine laugh echoing across dinsions. He then saw stars disappearing inside an endless mouth.
Then that image shattered as well.
"I rember her watching."
The word imdiately caught Erend's attention. "Her?"
"Maybe." The Creation sounded uncertain. "I don't know if it was truly female. I only rember that voice."
A chill traveled through Erend. The description sounded disturbingly similar to a cosmic being. Not rely a powerful monster but sothing far older and far greater.
"What else?" Erend asked.
The Creation struggled. The barriers around her presence trembled. Then another fragnt surfaced.
This ti Erend saw the Void Architect. His true form.
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