It was past midnight.
The city was sleeping — or pretending to. But Kael wasn't. His dreams were waking faster than his thoughts could catch them. The aura. The Spire. The collapse. And her. She wasn't just a girl. Her eyes didn't blink like people blinked. She didn't walk — she drifted. Even in a crowded square. As if gravity was a suggestion, not a rule.
He didn't want answers. But he needed them. So Kael followed the only trail he had — the strange cold shimmer he'd seen above the apothecary roofs. It led to a forgotten stairwell on the edge of Tier Two — one that shouldn't exist on any city map.
He climbed. The air changed. The stars felt closer. Lighter. At the top, he found a door that wasn't locked — because it wasn't meant to keep him out.
She was already inside. Sitting cross-legged in the middle of an empty chamber.No furniture. No candles. No windows. Just a single orb of light floating above her palm, flickering like it was alive.
"You followed well," she said, not opening her eyes."Most can't trace aura shifts. Not that faint."
Kael stood in the doorway, not sure if he was allowed to speak. Not sure what he was even feeling — awe, confusion, or a strange safety.
"You… did something," he said finally. "At the Spire. You—"
She opened her eyes. And Kael stopped talking. Not because she was beautiful — though she was — But because her eyes weren't just looking at him. They were searching him. Through time. Through memory. Through silence. "You're not supposed to wake yet," she said. "But the thread stirred. I had to step in." Kael frowned. "Wake from what?"
"From sleep," she replied softly."From pretending you're not who you are."
Kael stepped closer. "You know something about me." She nodded. "Not much. Enough." "Then tell me." El stood. The orb vanished. She stepped toward him, slow, graceful, no longer hiding what she was.
"You are a flicker, Kael. A faint flame in a dark cave. But that cave… isn't just the world.""It's you. You're the cave. And inside you is something ancient, waiting to open its eyes." "That's not an answer," Kael muttered. El smiled — sadly.
"You're right. That was a warning."
She turned to the wall. Placed her palm on stone. The surface rippled. A hidden diagram appeared — a map of stars, places that didn't exist in any sky Kael had ever seen. One star pulsed slowly.
"This is Nianzeel," she said."The only planet where the Shards can awaken."
Kael's breath caught. "Shards?" She turned to him. "You're one of them." Silence.
Kael's mind stilled.No fear. No denial.
Just one quiet thought:
That explains everything I've never been able to say out loud.