The third island did not appear willingly.

Kael had followed the compass for hours — through layers of cloud, past ancient ruins carved into drifting stone, across skies tinted the color of dusk even in daylight. But where the needle pointed now… there was only thunder.

A churning wall of storm clouds loomed ahead. Lightning flashed within like a restless heartbeat. Even the wind serpent hesitated, circling the edge of the tempest.

Kael glanced down at the compass. Its light dimmed slightly, flickering like a candle in the wind.

“It’s in there,” she said, her voice barely audible over the rising wind. “The next stone.”

The wind serpent coiled its head toward her, and a new voice entered her mind — not the whispering tone of before, but a low hum, almost mournful.

“Stormsong Isle does not welcome memory. It buries it.”

Kael’s brow furrowed. “Then we unbury it.”

Without another word, she leaned forward. The serpent shrieked once — a long, rising note like a flute breaking — and dove into the storm.

The world became thunder.

Rain battered her skin like shards of ice. Wind howled with the voices of the forgotten. Lightning laced the sky in jagged scars. Kael could barely see — but she didn’t need to. The compass still burned in her palm, a fragile star against the chaos.

And then — as suddenly as it began — silence.

The serpent broke through the heart of the storm into an eerie calm. A massive floating island lay ahead, surrounded by a spiraling ring of wind and water. Black cliffs jutted upward like the ribs of some dead god. And atop it all, Kael saw a temple.

Broken. Tilted. Ancient.

The third stone was here.

But someone else was too.

As they landed, Kael saw movement. A figure — young, hooded, cloaked in lightning. They stood at the temple steps, hand resting on the hilt of a sword that pulsed with stormlight.

“You’re late,” the stranger said.

Kael blinked. “Do I… know you?”

“Not yet. But I know you.” He raised his hand. The storm behind him pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat. “You’re the Bearer. The last. The cursed.”

“You’ve been waiting for me?”

“I’ve been guarding the stone. Alone. Since the others fell.” He stepped closer. “And now, I must test you.”

Kael’s hand hovered over her dagger. “Why?”

“Because power must choose. And the stone will only awaken if you survive me.”

Lightning arced between them.

Kael’s heart raced — not with fear, but resolve.

“Then let the sky decide.”