Lyris Frostwhisper's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Lyris knelt at the crossroads and lifted the letter from the stones. Her bloodline name stared back at her in careful ink — a name the elders had never spoken aloud, a name she'd found only once, half-burned in her grandmother's belongings. Someone knew what she was. The parchment was old but well-kept, sealed with wax pressed into an eight-pointed star. The same symbol marked her lucky charm. She broke the seal and unfolded the letter. Inside, three words: "They are waiting." No signature. No direction. But her charm pulsed warm against her chest, pulling her gaze toward the forest path. The ruins knew she was coming. Someone else did too. She stood and turned toward the marker she'd passed without noticing. A tall stone pillar rose beside the road, carved with symbols that matched the seal. Fresh gouges marred its base where someone had dug recently. Lyris crouched and brushed away loose earth. Another letter lay buried there, this one bearing instructions in the same hand. A map. A warning. And at the bottom, a single line: "What you find in the ruins will answer why they hid you." The charm burned hot now. She folded both letters and started walking. But twenty paces down the path, a marble column blocked her way. It hadn't been there before. Lyris was sure of it. The stone was covered in symbols like the ones on the buried letter, arranged in rows she couldn't read. Her charm flared so hot she pressed her hand against it. The column's carvings began to glow, faint blue light tracing each line. One symbol pulsed brighter than the rest — the eight-pointed star. Lyris touched it. The light died. The path ahead cleared. Someone wasn't just waiting. They were watching her walk toward them.