The city of Veyl had changed while Liora slept. Shadows moved freely in the streets, darker and larger than before, their shapes bending reality itself. Neon signs flickered, casting fractured light on wet pavement that seemed to ripple underfoot.
"This is it," Kael said, voice low. "The Glassless are strongest here, in the city they were born from. And at the center… the First."
Liora's stomach twisted with fear and anticipation. She could hear whispers everywhere — from alleyways, puddles, even the glass fragments floating in the air. Each one carried memories, fears, and fragments of lives lost.
"Remember," Kael said, "control comes from understanding them. Do not fight blindly."
The first wave of Glassless surged from the shadows — tall, jagged figures with eyes like black crystals. Liora focused on the whisper, letting it guide her. She extended her Sight, seeing the true shapes of the creatures, the emptiness inside them.
With a thought, she fractured the nearest ones, their forms dissolving into harmless shards of light. Yet the further she went, the more aggressive they became. Some mimicked her loved ones, her fears, even Kael himself.
But Liora remembered the whisper's words: Trust yourself, not them. She pressed forward, weaving through the chaos, striking only those that moved with intent to harm.
By the time she reached the city center, sweat and rain soaked her, but her heart was steady. The First awaited.