The valley was no longer silent.
The ruins breathed with a low, heavy rhythm, as if something ancient had awakened beneath the cracked stone. Dust swirled around Kael’s boots as he stood before the altar, staring at the faintly glowing mark on his palm.
The burn was shaped like a wing, its light pulsing softly in sync with his heartbeat. Every throb sent whispers through his mind—faint, fragmented, and impossibly familiar.
Return… Remember…
Kael clenched his fist. “No,” he muttered. “Not again.”
Lira approached carefully. “Kael. What did you see?”
He didn’t answer. His eyes, still faintly glowing crimson, were fixed on the ruins as if seeing something beyond them. The others had fallen silent, tending their wounds and keeping their distance. They had learned by now that when Kael was
