Her Song, Reborn

The descent beneath Aetherhold began in a silence so deep it pressed against Selena's bones. The echo of her footsteps was swallowed by the stone, muffled by ancient frost that had settled over the stairs like the breath of ghosts. Torches flickered in wall sconces older than empires, their flames burning blue. At her side, Nira moved without a word, her cloak trailing like shadow. Every step took them further from the world above—further from war councils, betrayals, and the trembling child whose eyes now glowed with something older than time.

They reached a door so old the ice had grown into its carvings, burying them in coils of frost. Selena paused before it, her breath curling like smoke in the still air. No keyhole. No handles. Only a curved archway sealed by a strange, shifting rune, glowing faintly through the frost. Not a lock of steel or magic—but of memory.

"This is the place?" Selena asked, her voice barely a whisper.