Chapter Ten: Afloat in an Ephemeral Sea

"Open my Eyes to Blue," thinks Solineus Mikjehemlut as he awakens in a surreal blue realm, immobile, where a feminine voice names him a Clan Emudar warrior from the sunken Resten, claiming he’s alive in Purdonis Bay. He emerges on Kaludor’s icy shore, naked and memory-less, with a burned lip mark from the voice’s kiss. Found by Choerkin sisters Alu and Kinesee, he covers himself with Alu’s scarf and follows them home, swearing to stay thirty paces behind. Their father, Iku Koest, offers clothes and fire-side hospitality, while Ielu the Matron, the family’s elder, questions his Sol-named identity—linked to the Great Forgetting—suspecting pride or deception. Solineus admits a woman’s voice told him his name, earning a night by the fire but not full trust, as he eats soup under watchful eyes, grappling with his lost past.

Chapter 9 — Faces
Chapter 11 — Lesser Evils