The next morning, the cracked mirror called to her again. Liora approached with a mix of dread and curiosity.
"This time, you look," Kael instructed, "not to see yourself, but to find what the Glassless stole from you."
The reflection shifted, showing a younger Liora holding a small, glowing cube — a device she didn't recognize, yet it felt intimately hers. The memory unfolded: a hidden room in her childhood home, an argument with someone she could not name, and a voice — human, warm, pleading — warning her about "the end of reflections."
"I… I remember this," Liora whispered. "But I don't understand it."
"The Glassless feed on what is lost," Kael said. "And you've kept something they want — something powerful enough to bring the walls between worlds down."
The whisper hummed urgently: They will come for it… soon.
Liora shivered. "What is it?"
Kael's gaze darkened. "A memory, a power… and a choice. You cannot stop them alone. That is why I am here."
Before she could ask more, the chamber trembled. The shadows outside the Citadel hissed. Small, quick, and numerous — the Glassless were testing the walls.
Kael grabbed her hand. "Time to see how much you've learned."
The training had begun.