The mist moved strangely in Lethyr.
It didn't drift.It listened.
Aera felt it the moment she stepped past the broken archway — a faint tug at the base of her skull, like static gathering thoughts that weren't hers.
The sentinel shook itself, then crouched low, refusing to go farther. The stranger placed a hand on its flank.
"It's alright," he murmured. "This place won't harm you."
Aera arched a brow."I don't believe you."
"Good," he said. "You shouldn't."
He stepped ahead, boots crunching over frost-coated stone. Ancient runes curled across the broken ground, glowing faintly under their footsteps, as if the ruins recognized something in him.
Aera followed, a breath behind, hands close to her blades.
The air grew heavier the deeper they walked.The towers leaned like rib bones of a colossal beast, their shadows stretching long and skeletal across the plaza.
"What was this place?" Aera asked.
"A trial ground," the stranger said. "For those born with fractured power."
"Like you."
"And now you."
She flinched."Don't put me in the same category."
"Aera," he said softly, "this city called to you long before you knew it existed."
Her throat tightened, because part of her — the part she had been trying to silence — already knew this was true.
The stranger stopped before a crumbled courtyard.A fractured circular platform lay at the center, etched with sigils that pulsed faint blue.
Aera's breath stilled.
She knew that pattern.
She'd seen it once — in a dream that didn't feel like a dream.
Her voice wavered."Why does that look… familiar?"
"Because," the stranger said, "your world has been preparing you for this."
He stepped onto the platform.
It answered him immediately.
Threads of pale light unfurled around his feet, climbing upward in delicate spirals.
Aera hesitated at the edge.
The moment her toes touched the stone, the foundations shuddered.
Not violently.
But reverently.
The sigils changed color — from blue to silver-white, a shade she carried deep within her bones.
The stranger's eyes widened in genuine surprise."It's responding to you."
Aera shook her head."No, I'm just—"
The ground vibrated again, harder this time.
A low groan echoed beneath them, like something ancient turning in its sleep.
Aera's voice cracked."What did I just activate?"
"Not what," he said. "Who."
He looked past her, toward the mist curling at the edges of the courtyard.
Shapes emerged.
Not frostwardens.
Not beasts.
Humanoid silhouettes, tall and slender, made of faint luminescent strands. Their faces were empty masks of glowing lines. They watched in perfect silence, unmoving.
Aera stumbled back."What— what are those?"
"The Sleepwalkers," the stranger whispered. "Guardians of Lethyr. Spirits bound to the ruins."His jaw tightened. "They should not be awake."
One of the silhouettes stepped closer, its form glitching like a half-forgotten memory.
Aera reached for her blade.
The stranger caught her wrist gently."Don't draw. They react to intent."
"I intend to survive!"
Before he could answer, the Sleepwalkers bowed — all at once — to Aera.
The motion was fluid, slow, ceremonial.
Aera froze.
"They're bowing…" she whispered. "…to me?"
The stranger didn't speak.
He looked stunned.
Truly stunned.
The Sleepwalker nearest to her raised its hand. Its fingers elongated into threads of light that drifted toward her chest, not touching, only hovering. The air hummed around her.
Aera's pulse raced."What is it doing?"
The stranger stepped forward."It's reading your lineage."
"My— what?"
"Aera…" His voice dropped. "What exactly do you know about your parents?"
She stared at him."What kind of question is that?"
A thunderous noise tore through the far side of the ruins.
A shriek that split the mist.
A frostwarden cry — but amplified, multiplied.
The stranger spun."They found us."
Dozens of hollow eyes glowed through the fog. The creatures prowled the outskirts of the city, circling, waiting.
The Sleepwalker's light-thread flickered urgently.
Another stepped forward, reaching toward Aera's temple, as if urging her.
The stranger cursed under his breath."They want you to awaken something."
"What something?"
He shook his head."I don't know. But if you don't accept their call, the frostwardens will rip through this city in minutes."
Aera's breath trembled.
The Sleepwalkers knelt again.An entire courtyard of glowing spirits, waiting for her command.
Waiting for her transformation.
She turned toward the stranger.
"Will I survive this?"
His eyes, usually unreadable, softened.
"Aera. You are not meant to die here."
"That's not a yes."
"It's the truth."
Another frostwarden roar shattered the air.
Aera swallowed hard, then stepped onto the center of the platform.
The moment she did, the Sleepwalkers rose.
And the ruins of Lethyr woke.
The sigils beneath her lit up with blinding light.
The city inhaled.
The frostwardens screamed.
The stranger shielded his eyes as the platform exploded with power.
And Aera—
Aera felt her blood ignite with a truth she had never been allowed to know.