A Blade Hidden, A City Stirring

Velithor had yet to fully awaken, but the signs of life were already stirring. A lantern flickered dimly in the hands of a bleary-eyed merchant setting up his stall, the scent of baking bread curling through the narrow alleys as a baker stoked the first embers of his oven. Horses clattered across damp cobblestones, their riders draped in thick wool to ward off the lingering chill of the night.

The city, despite its vastness, felt strangely smaller at this hour. The veil between its waking and sleeping world was still thin, as if neither side had fully claimed it yet. It was this in-between space that I preferred. A space where eyes weren't yet sharp, where shadows stretched long enough to hide what needed to be hidden.