The Citadel rose from the mountain like a blade.Its towers were carved from glacier and stone, streaked with veins of ice that glowed faintly from within like something alive, breathing cold light into the gray morning. As Dren and the others crested the final ridge, the wind whipped snow into their faces and stripped the sound from their breaths. Only the Citadel remained visible, vast and silent, anchored to the cliff’s edge as if daring the world to forget it existed.“It’s smaller than I thought,” Ryn muttered through chattering teeth.Elyra gave him a sidelong glance. “That’s not small. That’s half buried. The rest is under the mountain.”Kaelith, who had said little since the shrine, kept her eyes on the descending bridge of ice that connected the ridge to the fortress gates. “You can feel it,” she said. “The Archive’s echo. This place was built from its remains.”Dren felt it too. The closer they came, the heavier the air grew thick with the same hum that had haunted his chest

Snow fell without sound.The wind had gone still, leaving only the crunch of boots and the slow rhythm of breath. The three of them moved across the white world like ghosts Dren in front, Elyra behind him, Varika following slowly but steadily.The Frost Citadel was gone behind them. Nothing but a mound of ice and broken towers remained. It looked small now, almost peaceful, like it hadn’t tried to kill them.Elyra pulled her hood tighter. “How much farther?”Varika’s voice was soft, carried by the wind. “Two days, if the roads hold. Gravewatch lies beyond the Ice Vale, past the ridge of frozen suns.”“Frozen suns?” Elyra frowned. “You make that sound normal.”Dren answered without turning. “They’re shards from the sky. Fragments from when the veil first broke. Some still burn when touched.”Elyra gave a dry laugh. “So we’re walking through falling stars now. Great.”She tried to sound sharp, but her voice trembled from the cold. Dren slowed, glanced over his shoulder, and without a w

The world was still shaking when they surfaced from the sanctum.The stairs behind them cracked, stone bleeding blue light as the hum of the Core surged once, then died away like a held breath.Dust fell from the vaulted ceiling. The glow from the runes dimmed to embers.Elyra’s legs gave out the moment they reached the upper hall. Dren caught her before she hit the ground. His own hands still burned faintly, veins marked with light that pulsed under the skin.Varika stumbled after them, half blinded, clutching a fractured shard of crystal.… what remained of the Core’s boundary seal.The air smelled of ash and ozone.“Tell me that was enough,” Elyra breathed.Dren stared at the walls, listening to the silence. The fortress hummed, no longer sang. Only a faint lingered.… not from the Core now, but from somewhere inside him.He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think it’s gone.”By the time they reached the central hall, the Warden was waiting.He stood by the gate, cloak rippling in uns

The world had gone quiet.Not the kind of quiet that comes after a storm…this was heavier, stranger, like the silence of a heartbeat caught between death and rebirth. The Vale of Mirrors was gone. Only its hollow reflection remained, a stretch of glass-like ice cracked into infinity.Elyra stood in the wreckage, the wind clawing at her cloak. The air shimmered faintly around her, rippling with threads of light that weren’t really there. Echoes. Fragments of the Archive bleeding into reality.“Dren…” she whispered, her breath a cloud of frost.He was kneeling at the center of what had been the Conduit’s heart. His head bowed, his hands pressed against the ice, the fragment still pulsing faintly beneath his skin. Every few seconds, his body flickered…. like a candle burning at both ends.She approached slowly, boots crunching on shattered glass. “You’re bleeding again.”He didn’t answer. His eyes were half-open, unfocused, reflecting things that weren’t there…. ghost cities, spiraling s

The vault shook with power.Elyra’s light split the air, colliding with the thing that wore Dren’s face. Shadows burned away, revealing more of it…skin like cracked glass, veins pulsing with pale light, eyes black as voids with a single ember flickering in each. His voice came doubled, one tone human, the other the cold hum of the Archive itself.“You shouldn’t have come,” it said.Elyra steadied her stance, light circling her hands. “You’re not him.”The mimic smiled faintly, as if pitying her. “Then why does your pulse race when I say your name?”Her throat tightened. “Because I remember who he was. You’re only what’s left.”The mimic lifted its hand; air warped. A wave of force slammed through the vault, scattering shards of glass and dust. Elyra rolled aside, landing hard against a shelf. She rose with a snarl, energy burning hotter in her palms.Their powers clashed again.. her light against his unraveling darkness. Sparks tore through the air, sigils shattering from the walls. T