"That third pattern still isn't flowing right," he said, not unkindly.
"I know," Aris grunted. "It's… off. Like it's fighting me."
"Because you're trying to make it match the Tower's rhythm," he said. "Stop doing that."
Aris dropped to the ground with a sigh, lying flat against the warm stone. "Easy for you to say."
Kael chuckled quietly. "It isn't."
Just then, Roman approached, carrying a sealed scroll.
He looked grim.
"Leon needs us. All of us. Now."
Kael stood. "What's happened?"
Roman handed the scroll over, his fingers tight.
"No floor breach. No attack. Something worse."
Aris pushed herself upright. "What's worse than a floor breach?"
Roman didn't answer right away.
Instead, he looked at her directly.
"They found a song," he said. "A dead one. From before the Tower was built."
Aris's skin prickled. "How is that possible?"
"It shouldn't be. But the glyph readers pulled it from the wind above Floor 290. Just a whisper. Four seconds long."
