The wind tore through the jagged edges of the ruins, whistling like a chorus of lost voices. Zephyra crouched on the fractured edge of a neon-lit platform, her pale-blue skin glowing faintly in the reflection of the city's pulse. Below her lay the void—a black nothingness that stretched infinitely, broken only by the faint glimmer of distant stars. The platforms around her groaned and shifted under the strain of centuries, suspended by threads of starlight so fragile that a single misstep could send her plummeting to a death that no one would ever witness.
She brushed a strand of silver-white hair from her eyes, letting it float weightlessly in the wind. Every step, every leap through these abandoned ruins required precision, patience, and nerves of steel. Zephyra had been a scavenger since she was fifteen, surviving the Skyquake that had shattered half of Aurelia and stolen everything she had ever loved—including Lumo, her only friend and guide. Tonight, the ruins called to her like a siren, whispering secrets in a language only she could decipher.
Her mission was simple, though simplicity rarely existed in a city built on chaos: track down the rogue starlight artifact thief who had dared to steal from the Heart of the Sky. Whoever it was, they had gone where most citizens feared to tread, slipping into the upper ruins where holographic ghosts of past lives lingered.
Zephyra's boots sparkled as she launched herself across a gap between two floating platforms. She landed lightly, starlight igniting underfoot, illuminating the abyss beneath. The platform quivered under her weight, and she froze for a heartbeat, listening. The ruins were alive in a way no human city had ever been—metal groaned, holograms flickered with broken memories, and the very air hummed with energy.
A flicker of movement caught her eye. Across the fractured terrace, a shadow darted behind a collapsed wall. She crouched lower, pressing her palm to the cracked surface. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
"You can't hide forever," she whispered, voice barely audible above the wind.
The shadow moved again, more deliberate this time. Zephyra's breath hitched. It wasn't human—not entirely. The thief moved with a grace that seemed unnatural, almost as if the starlight itself bent around them. Zephyra's fingers brushed the hilt of the twin starlight daggers strapped to her thighs. One misstep, one wrong jump, and the ruins could claim her as easily as they had claimed thousands before her.
Suddenly, the air shimmered. A holographic figure materialized on the platform opposite her, translucent and flickering. It was a citizen, long dead, preserved by the city's memory systems. Their eyes were wide with panic, mouth moving soundlessly, and Zephyra felt a shiver race down her spine.
"Don't… touch… the Heart…" the hologram warned in broken fragments of sound, fading in and out like the last echo of a dying star.
Zephyra's pulse quickened. She had heard the warnings before—many scavengers had vanished, swallowed by the ruins after ignoring the same messages. And yet, she could not stop. Something in her refused to listen to fear. It had always refused to.
A metallic clang behind her made her spin. A section of the platform had collapsed, revealing a freefall straight into the abyss. She leapt instinctively, catching herself on the next terrace. Her starlight daggers sparked as they brushed the edges of a railing, cutting tiny grooves into the metal.
Across the ruins, the shadow had paused, finally revealing itself: a slender figure, cloaked in fragments of stolen starlight, staring back at her with an intensity that mirrored her own. No words were exchanged. Only the silent, electric understanding of two hunters—one chasing, one fleeing—dancing on the edge of a city suspended above nothing.
Zephyra gritted her teeth. She could feel the thrill of danger surge through her veins. The city groaned, the platforms trembled, and the void below beckoned. And in that moment, one thought consumed her mind: she would not fall tonight. Not yet.
With a silent oath, she sprang forward, following the shadow into the heart of the floating ruins, where secrets older than Aurelia itself waited to be uncovered.