The harriers landed with a soft thud, their talons sinking slightly into the soil. Kale swung his leg over Saryn and slid to the ground, his boots crunching against the faintly iridescent earth.

Xandria sprawled before them, a city built deliberately and ambitiously around the towering crystalline shards. It hadn't grown naturally, nor did it blend seamlessly with the land—it was clear this place had been carved out with purpose, each structure positioned to accommodate the shards' overwhelming presence.

The shards themselves loomed above everything, their faint silver and violet hues catching the sunlight and casting fractured rainbows over the streets below. The light danced across surfaces, creating fleeting patterns that gave the city an ethereal quality.

As Kale's gaze shifted lower, he noticed something he hadn't from the sky. Plants—more than he'd expected—grew in abundance, their blooms spilling over the bases of buildings and curling around the smaller shards embedded in the streets. Vines stretched across archways in vivid hues of fuchsia, deep pink, and soft violet, their vibrant clusters adding bursts of color to the stone and crystal around them. Trees with lush green leaves lined the pathways, their roots winding through cracks in the ancient streets. It was as if the shards' energy had made the ground fertile, allowing life to flourish in a way that felt abundant and wild.

The streets were bustling with activity. Merchants called out from stalls displaying wares that sparkled unnaturally—jewelry and tools made of shard fragments, fabrics that shimmered like liquid light.

Kale's eyes scanned the crowd, taking in its diversity. The stories they'd been told had painted a picture of something alien and unsettling, but the reality felt surprisingly ordinary. Humans moved among a variety of other races—earthborn, thrynn, and one or two figures that reminded him of Sylorin, though he couldn't be sure. A tall, scaled race caught his attention as well, their imposing forms unlike anything he'd seen before.

He caught sight of one of the shard-touched. They were unmistakable, yet not as exaggerated as Liliana and Namara had suggested. The shard-touched looked human in every way except their eyes. Faceted like diamonds, their irises sparkled in the light, catching and refracting it with an eerie beauty. But there was no glow, no otherworldly radiance that marked them as anything other than… different.

"Not what you were expecting?" Liliana asked, stepping beside him.

Kale shook his head. "You made them seem like twisted, half-crystal monsters."

"I guess the stories exaggerated," Liliana replied. "That's what stories do."

"They seem… normal," Kale said, still watching the shard-touched he'd spotted. The young woman was bartering with a merchant, her voice animated and her gestures familiar, like anyone else in the city.

"They're not," Liliana said. "Spend enough time here, and you'll see it. They're tied to the shards in ways we can't understand. They hear them, feel them. That kind of connection changes you."

Namara chimed in from behind. "Oh, come on, Kale. You don't need glowing eyes and crystal limbs to be scary. Just look at Sadek."

Sadek raised an eyebrow. "I'm scary?"

Namara smiled. "Well, yeah. You're huge, covered in scars, and always look like you're mad at something. Honestly, it's terrifying." She paused for effect, then added, "But hey, at least you smell good. Now that you brought it up, I've been dying to know—what is that perfume? Where'd you get it?"

Liliana snorted. "Subtle transition, Namara."

Rika leaned closer, nodding eagerly. "She's not wrong, though. He does smell good, doesn't he?"

Sadek crossed his arms. "Would you like to know my skincare routine as well?"

Namara gave him a slow, appraising look. "Oh, honey. No. Look at my skin, then look at yours. Come on now." She leaned in closer. "But seriously, where'd you get the perfume?"

Sadek shrugged. "I make it myself."

There was a brief silence as everyone turned to stare at him.

"You're joking," Namara said, her eyebrows shooting up.

"I don't joke," Sadek replied.

Liliana blinked. "You… make perfume? Like, with flowers and all that?"

Sadek nodded, unbothered by their surprise. "It's not complicated."

Namara placed a hand dramatically over her chest. "I don't know what's more shocking—that you do it, or that you're good at it. Guess the big scary guy has layers after all."

***

As they walked deeper into the city, Kale noticed other details that didn't align with the stories. The shard-touched weren't shunned or avoided. If anything, they were revered. People deferred to them in conversation, their eyes lingering on the faceted irises with a mixture of awe and unease—an instinctive wariness of the power they carried or the mysteries they embodied.

"I think they're more important here than we realized," Kale said.

"Figures," Namara said. "People always love a good freak show."

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Liliana shot her a warning glance. "Careful, Namara. This place has rules, even if they're not obvious. Disrespect the shard-touched, and we might find ourselves on the wrong end of those rules."

Kale's unease grew as they walked. He didn't like this place. It was too strange, too alive in ways he couldn't articulate. But as much as the city unnerved him, he couldn't deny the pull of the shards, their silent presence demanding his attention.

"We should keep moving," he said. "Voss could already be here."

The group fell into step, their harriers trailing close behind. Xandria loomed around them, its streets bustling with life but steeped in an undercurrent of mystery.

As they wove through the bustling streets, Namara glanced around. "So, where's Aeloria's temple?"

Liliana gestured ahead. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's the building with the giant Aeloria statue in front of it."

The group turned to look, and sure enough, an enormous figure dominated the space ahead, its presence unmistakable as a depiction of the goddess.

Kale frowned as he studied the statue. Something about it seemed… off. He tilted his head, the nagging detail refusing to settle. "Doesn't Aeloria have four arms? Why is she only carrying one sword?"

Namara waved dismissively. "Artistic license, maybe? Not every statue's going to be perfect."

Rika shrugged. "Or it's old. Details get lost in time. Either way, it's just a statue."

Kale wasn't convinced. He glanced back at the towering figure as they walked past, the question gnawing at him. It felt deliberate, not accidental, as if the omission of the other arms and swords meant something. But what?

The group approached the temple, its entrance set directly into the colossal shard towering above them. Massive doors carved with patterns resembling cracks in glass stood ajar, inviting them inside.

Inside, the space was vast and reverent, the shard's translucent walls scattering fragmented light across the chamber. Only a few statues of Aeloria stood within, carved from the same crystalline material as the shard. Each depicted the goddess with two arms and a single sword, their angular forms refracting the light into bursts of color that shifted across the room.

Altars were positioned along the chamber, each adorned with simple offerings—flowers, carved tokens, and other items.

Kale's gaze lingered on one of the statues, the unease in his chest growing heavier. The missing arms and swords weren't an oversight, he was certain of it. Each statue, meticulously carved, showed Aeloria with only two arms, one hand gripping a single blade. The precision in the craftsmanship left no room for accident; the angular lines and refracted light felt purposeful, like they were meant to guide the viewer's attention to the singular weapon.

He frowned and stepped closer. This wasn't right. He had seen Aeloria himself—four arms, four blades. Her presence had been overwhelming, a perfect fusion of elegance and power. Yet here, in a temple built in her honor, she was reduced to this?

His hand brushed the air near the statue, his fingers itching to trace the carvings. The single blade held a prominence that felt unnerving, its depiction purposeful. Division. Severance. The idea nagged at him like a splinter lodged too deep to pull free.

Kale's attention was drawn to the offerings scattered at the base of the altar. Among the flowers and carved tokens, a small figure caught his eye. He crouched and picked it up carefully. The carving was simple but elegant, a miniature depiction of Aeloria. But like the statues, this one had only two arms and a single blade.

He turned it over in his hands, tracing the grooves with his thumb. The wood felt worn, as though it had been handled many times before being left here. The details were fine, yet the missing arms and swords felt glaring, almost defiant. He glanced up at the statue towering above him, comparing the two.

Was this a depiction of a different time? A different Aeloria? No. He shook the thought away. This wasn't a reflection of something forgotten. It was deliberate. It had to be.

Kale turned to the others. They didn't seem to notice it. Namara leaned against a pillar, her sharp grin softened by some teasing remark to Rika, who shook her head with an exasperated smile. Liliana was busy studying an inscription along the far wall, her fingers hovering as though she was committing the symbols to memory.

Kale placed the carved figure back among the offerings, his thoughts swirling with unanswered questions. The uneasy weight in his chest didn't lift, but he pushed it aside as he turned to rejoin the others.

Liliana was the first to notice him approach. "Find something interesting?" she asked, her tone neutral, but her eyes sharp.

"Not sure," Kale admitted, his gaze briefly flicking back to the statue. "Just… something about this place doesn't sit right with me."

Liliana's eyes followed Kale's gaze to the statue. She didn't speak right away, her attention flicking between the angular carvings and the inscription she had been reading earlier. Her fingers hovered near the etched symbols.

Liliana nodded slowly. "Because this isn't Aeloria's temple."

Rika frowned, stepping closer. "But… why would Velanna mark it on the map if it's not hers?"

Liliana turned to face the group. "Because it's not hers. It's Yr's."

Namara tilted her head. "Yr… goddess of severance, Yr?"

Liliana gestured to the statue. "Look at it. Two arms, one blade. The symbolism—the focus on severance, division—it's all pointing to Yr. The people here wouldn't think twice about this; they know it's her temple. We're the ones who misunderstood."

Rika glanced at the offerings and back to the statue. "But why would Velanna send us here if it's not tied to Aeloria? That doesn't make sense."

"Velanna must have had a reason," Kale said. "Maybe she marked this place because it's… connected to her somehow. Yr and Aeloria do look similar."

"That's an understatement," Namara said, gesturing to the statue with a lazy flick of her wrist. "The hair, the wings, graceful but terrifying… they could be twins, if you squint."

"Not quite," Liliana interjected. "Yr has two arms and one blade. Aeloria has four. And she's usually depicted armored, not robed. Those are significant differences."

"Sure, but why does it matter?" Namara asked. "Does it change anything?"

"They are two different goddesses, so it obviously changes everything," Liliana said.

Kale crossed his arms. "So, why would Velanna send us here? Is there something we're not seeing?"

Liliana sighed. "Maybe Aeloria and Yr are connected somehow. Maybe Yr's legacy holds something Aeloria needs us to understand. Yr did use to hold the domain of Severance. Now it belongs to Aeloria. Or maybe Velanna thought this was a piece of the puzzle we wouldn't get anywhere else."

"Or maybe Velanna simply was wrong." Namara said.

Sadek turned sharply to Namara. "Velanna wasn't wrong. In all the time I served her, she was nothing if not meticulous. She didn't make mistakes."

Namara raised her hands. "Alright, alright, no need to bite. I'm just saying it's possible."

"It's not possible. If Velanna marked this place, she had a reason. A good one. Even now."

Sadek's words brought a stillness to the group, a reminder of that brief, chaotic moment. Kale's mind snapped back to the memory of Voss bursting through the wall, how Velanna hadn't even had time to react. She was gone in an instant, the shock of it as sharp now as it was then.

He exhaled slowly, grounding himself. "If Velanna believed this place mattered, then we need to trust her judgment. Whether this is tied to Aeloria or Yr, there's something here we're meant to find."

Before anyone could respond, a voice echoed through the chamber. "Young bladeweaver."

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