The fractured tier trembled beneath their feet.
Not a simple vibration. Not the distant shifting of broken stone settling into place.
This tremor carried weight.
Age.
Something vast moved beneath the thin skin of the Veil.
Aria felt it before anyone spoke.
The anchored fire within her chest tightened like a fist closing around a heartbeat. The embers flared not violently, not with the chaotic hunger they once had but with a sharp, alert awareness.
Fear stirred.
Not the kind that consumed.
The kind that warned.
She staggered slightly, catching herself before she fell. The air tasted strange now, thick with something metallic and ancient.
Across from her, the Arbiter stood unmoving, cloak whispering softly against the broken stone as the tremors intensified.
Its masked face tilte
