The first impact did not come with thunder.
It came with silence.
A terrible, unnatural silence that rolled across the Citadel like a living thing. Conversations died mid-sentence. Footsteps slowed. Even the ever-present hum of magic embedded in the fortress walls dimmed into something thin and fragile.
Aria felt it before she understood it.
A pressure behind her ribs.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Recognition.
She was halfway down the eastern corridor when her knees nearly buckled. Damien caught her instantly, hands firm around her arms.
"Aria."
She didn't answer.
Because in that moment, something inside her shifted.
Like a string pulled tight across her soul had suddenly gone taut.
"It's here," she whispered.
And then the sky screamed.
The sound wasn't audible at first.
