Storms gathered not in the sky—but in the soul.
After Edrin's collapse, a silence fell over the City of Stars. Not peaceful silence. A tense, heavy pause before the scream of war. The flame pools burned low. The wind-paths grew cold. The training fields were empty, and the Children walked like ghosts, watching their own shadows.
Because one of them had fallen.
And it meant any of them could.
---
Isen stood over the cliffside, her cloak whipping in the wind. Below her, the City stretched like a dream slowly turning into a battlefield. The stars above flickered, uneasy. The Cycle of Stars pulsed faintly in her chest, but something deeper rumbled beneath it.
A warning.
"The Librarian's moving," Neriya said beside her. Her voice was flat, cold. "He's done playing games."
Kaela appeared from behind, armor half-fastened, blades at her hips.
"We've spotted them. Five miles south. A Rift opened — and Tharn came through."
Isen's breath hitched.
Tharn, Vessel of Stone.
