The Silent City towered around us, its crystalline architecture capturing and refracting the dim light in hypnotic patterns. Each step we took echoed against the ancient stone floors, the sound both muffled and amplified in ways that defied normal acoustics.
"This place feels... aware," Lyra whispered beside me, her scholarly eyes wide with wonder despite her earlier misgivings.
I nodded, unable to shake the sensation of countless invisible watchers observing our progress. "Like walking through someone's thoughts rather than their home."
Morwen glided ahead of us, leaving no footprints on the frost-dusted pathways. "The Archives lie at the city's heart," they said, their voice carrying strangely in the still air. "What you seek—and what seeks you—waits there."
"What seeks us?" I questioned, but Morwen merely continued forward.
