The presence in the distance grew stronger with each passing day.
Julian felt it in the song of the Living City, a thread that was different from anything he'd encountered before. It wasn't a plea for help, not exactly. It wasn't a summons or an invitation. It was a warning. A cold, insistent warning that something was coming.
Sarah noticed the change immediately. "You've been tense," she said one morning, standing beside him in the Hall of Echoes. "The call is different this time."
Julian nodded, his eyes fixed on the ancient symbols that lined the walls. "It's not a cry for help. It's not an invitation. It's a warning. Something is coming. Something that wants to undo everything we've built."
Sarah reached for his hand. "Then we face it. Together. Like we always do."
Julian turned t
