
The Memory Forge
The air in Veylan’s market hung thick with the scent of burnt amber and iron, a metallic tang that clung to the back of Kael’s throat. He adjusted the leather straps of his satchel, its weight familiar against his shoulder,…
The air in Veylan’s market hung thick with the scent of burnt amber and iron, a metallic tang that clung to the back of Kael’s throat. He adjusted the leather straps of his satchel, its weight familiar against his shoulder,…
## Crimson Threads The salt spray stung Marco’s cheeks as he leaned against the railing of *La Volpe*, his small trading galley slicing through the Adriatic. Dusk bled across the water, painting the sky a bruised purple above the Venetian…
## The Echo Bloom The dust tasted like crushed stone and something sharper, metallic. Twelve-year-old Elara wiped a grime ribbon across her cheek with the back of a calloused hand, squinting at the pulsing sandstone wall before her. It throbbed…
## The Husk Cities The air tasted like wet iron and blooming rot. Old Man Tiber, they called him, though he couldn’t be more than sixty, the marsh leeched years. He adjusted the oilskin cowl tighter around his face as…
The chipped ceramic of the mug warmed Hauden’s palms, a pale contrast to the fiery sunset bleeding across the skyline. Every window in the tower district blazed with reflected gold—the Sun-Kissed, they called themselves, their skin practically luminous, personalities to…