Elkarim was a city of illusions.
From the cliffs above, it looked carved from crystal and smoke—spires that shimmered like glass, bridges of woven light, and buildings that changed hue with the time of day. But as Mo approached its eastern gates under the mask of a duskstorm, he saw the truth: beneath the glamour and charmcraft, Elkarim was a fortress wrapped in gold.
Walls twenty feet high bore the sigils of all seven Elemental Houses—Flame, Stone, Gale, Wave, Ember, Frost, and Spark. Mages in robes of house-color paced its edges, eyes glowing faintly with leyline tethering.
They were not scholars.
They were sentinels.
Mo, now dressed in the ash-gray cloak and mask of a minor Flame Sect courier, walked with careful confidence. At his side was Aylen, cloaked in a courier's twin garb, her usual weapons disguised under enchantments that made them appear as harmless scroll tubes.
"You're sure this will work?" she asked under her breath.
"Senna said the sigils were accurate."
"And if someone recognizes the sword's pulse?"
"I'll deal with it."
They stepped into the shadow of the gate's threshold. A mage-librarian with braided silver hair and eyes like ember-glass stopped them. Her voice was courteous, but cool.
"Name and purpose?"
"Courier Arel, dispatched from the Flame high sanctum," Mo said. His voice was lower, roughened with ash-oil to distort its tone. "Artifact escort and scroll handover."
The woman's eyes flicked to Aylen. "She speaks?"
Aylen shook her head slightly and tapped the side of her throat.
The librarian smirked. "Muteness enchantment. Flame tricks." She waved them through.
---
Inside, Elkarim was worse than Mo imagined. Beautiful, yes—but in the way venom was beautiful.
The streets were lined with floating lanterns that whispered memories, feeding off stray thoughts. Statues tracked motion with hidden glyph-eyes. Even children wore minor charms woven into their sleeves, detecting intent and mood like predators.
Aylen leaned close. "This city doesn't trust itself."
"They've survived seven attempted coups in two decades," Mo replied. "Paranoia's earned."
They made their way toward the College of Elemental Law, a towering structure of marble and hollow iron, draped in aether silk. It was here that Senna's information claimed the Black Crescent Order had infiltrated—seeking a relic tied to one of the broken Seals.
Inside the grand atrium, hundreds of scholars, mages, and military strategists walked in slow arcs around a rotating map of the continent. Elemental threads floated above the map—currents of fire, ice, wind, and shadow charting leyline intersections.
Aylen tugged Mo's sleeve. "Two Crescent masks. Balcony level. Not looking at us—but watching everything."
Mo followed her eyes. Two figures in sleek dark robes stood apart from the crowd. No insignia. But their masks bore the telltale curve—three crescent slashes over the brow.
Mo's hand twitched toward the sword beneath his cloak, but Aylen's glare froze him.
"Not here," she hissed.
"I wasn't going to draw."
"You were going to think about it. That's worse."
They passed deeper into the archives, where Senna's contact waited—an archivist and cipher-adept named Erix Dal.
---
Erix looked like a beggar.
He wore ragged scholar's robes, his beard half-braided, his fingers ink-stained and trembling with residual spellshock. But when he spoke, his words flowed with focus.
"You came late," he said, not looking up. "They've already begun the Sifting."
"What's that?" Mo asked.
"They're testing every relic fragment, looking for resonance with Titan glyphs. If they find it, they'll wake it."
Aylen frowned. "You said the relic was inert."
"I said it was dormant," Erix replied. "There's a difference."
He finally looked up and stared at Mo. "You're the one with the sword."
Mo stiffened. "How did you—?"
"I see the color of your shadow. It's bleeding blue flame. Same as your father's."
Silence.
Mo sat. "Where's the relic?"
"In the Lower Vaults. But you can't walk in. They're guarded by a flame construct—one of the original types. It eats lies. If you lie while passing it, it burns your bones from inside."
Mo's jaw tensed. "Then I'll have to tell the truth."
Erix smiled sadly. "That's always the more dangerous path."