The pale stair ends at a narrow basin beneath the spring. Copper veins descend into dark water, then rise again along the far wall.
As Sil’Thalis and Bren approach, the channel returns a harmless reflection of their entry. Merovan’s Refusal remains asleep beneath the distant ring, while the freed presence stays behind in the open current.
Bren
It shows us entering, but not as a command or a claim. The current is preserving an event, not granting permission.
The water gathers their reflected forms and carries one altered image toward them: Sil’Thalis appears alone, while Bren’s reflection turns away before reaching the basin.
Bren
That alteration is deliberate. It may be warning us that return can separate, or showing a possibility the channel cannot distinguish from what happened.
The image dissolves without a voice. Copper veins brighten beneath the surface, revealing a narrow return-current that joins and divides again around a submerged stone.
Bren
We should not call this prophecy. We can examine what the channel preserves, but neither of us should let its altered image decide what comes next.