Chapter 64. Emergence Into Fog

The ascent from Valkis took longer than she remembered descending.

The stairwell had twisted again. Slightly. Just enough to disorient. The walls no longer pulsed with memory. They were still, but not empty—like someone had just left the room and their heat remained in the air. Her footsteps echoed sharper now, the soft distortion from earlier sealed behind her.

When Adria reached the final landing, the glass door was already open.

That wasn’t possible.

She had sealed it.

The thought pressed at her ribs, but she forced herself forward, stepping into the Mirror Hall with blade drawn—only to find it… immaculate.

No dust.

No cracked symbols.

No evidence of blood.

The panels gleamed, not just cleaned but polished. The walls had been stripped of ivy. And the glyphs—the ones she remembered burning faintly through the surface—were gone. Not just erased, but never there.

She stepped cautiously across the floor, boots echoing sharp