The city folded quietly.
No noise. No explosion. Just a subtle bending of space, like a reflection rippling in disturbed water.
Liora gasped as the street ahead of them stretched unnaturally long. Buildings leaned inward, their windows dimming, signs flickering as if struggling to stay real.
"This isn't possible," she whispered.
Kael didn't slow his pace. "The city doesn't care what's possible."
They moved deeper into the altered street, footsteps echoing too loudly against the pavement. The air felt thicker here—charged, heavy with something unseen. Liora's skin tingled, as though the city itself was brushing against her senses.
"How do you know so much about this?" she demanded.
Kael glanced at her. "Because I didn't disappear the first time either."
Her heart skipped. "You're like me?"
"Yes," he said. Then, after a pause, "But I stayed too long."
A sudden sound—metal scraping against stone—rang out nearby. Liora flinched as a shadow detached itself from the wall, forming a shape that almost looked human.
"Don't look directly at it," Kael said sharply, gripping her wrist.
Too late.
The shadow turned.
Images flooded her mind—people laughing, walking, living… then vanishing. Screams without sound. Streets erased from maps. Names forgotten.
Liora cried out, dropping to her knees.
The shadow recoiled, dissolving into the ground like smoke.
Kael stared at her, eyes wide. "You didn't just see it."
She struggled to breathe. "I felt it."
Silence pressed in around them.
"That shouldn't be possible," he said slowly. "Not this early."
Liora looked up at him, fear and wonder colliding in her chest. "What's happening to me?"
Kael's expression darkened.
"The city isn't just watching you anymore," he said. "It's waking something inside you."
A deep rumble echoed beneath their feet.
Somewhere far below, something answered.