Chapter 129
Ariana didn't rush, but nothing in her movement felt hesitant anymore. The moment she stepped out into the open terrace of Aurelith, the air shifted around her, responding in a way that made the difference impossible to ignore. The city no longer felt distant from her presence. It felt aware of it.
The damage across Aurelith stretched further than she had allowed herself to fully acknowledge before. Towers that once stood flawless now carried fractures along their edges, and sections of the white stone bore the marks of fire that had never completely faded. The gold that ran through the structure still glowed, but it did so unevenly, like something had interrupted the balance and never restored it.
Ariana took a slow breath, her gaze moving across the mountainside city. The connection to Kael remained steady in her chest, not calm, but clear, and it no longer felt like something she needed to fight to understand. It felt like something she could follow.
