The ancient stone pillar pulsed like a living heart, glowing lines weaving across its surface in shifting patterns. They pulsed with rhythm and purpose, veins beneath the skin of something massive, ancient, and aware. Kazi stood still, breath shallow, the last embers of her vision flickering behind her eyes. What she'd seen wasn't just a map; it was a lattice of resonance points, glowing with the energy of the Ember Line. And beyond that, other lines, other powers, stretching far beyond what she had ever imagined.
She could feel it now, deep in her bones.
The Mark of Azibo wasn't just awake, it was showing her the way.
"This one," she murmured, reaching out to touch the brightest pulse on the glowing map. It throbbed like a beacon, calling. "This is the next location."
Rhazir stepped up beside her, arms folded across his chest. "That's not Ember territory," he said, his voice low. "It belongs to another Line."
"Which one?" she asked.
He narrowed his eyes at the symbol inscribed in the glowing ring. A jagged spiral, like a bolt frozen in time. "Volt."
Kazi tilted her head. "As in… lightning?"
He nodded once. "Fast. Fierce. Unpredictable."
She inhaled slowly, grounding herself. "Then that's where I'm going."
"We're going," Rhazir corrected. "You've been awakened, Kazi. But not tested. Not really. If the Volt Line has already stirred, whoever carries it might not be a messenger. They might be a weapon."
Kazi's mind flashed back to the fire girl, more vision than flesh and who had attacked her with no warning, her only message carved in flame. That had been a test. And she had barely passed.
If this next encounter wasn't a memory… it could very well be something far more dangerous. She thought to herself.
Both Kazi and Rhazir started their journey to the next location. Behind them, the clearing slowly faded into silence. The pillar dimmed, its glow receding like a tide after the storm. Its message had been delivered.
The path ahead stretched long.
According to Rhazir, the next resonance point, Zantaru Cliffs, lay deep within a remote cliff region far north of the city, where the old trade roads dissolved into wilderness and crumbling stone. No lights. No maps. Just forest, rock, and storms.
They traveled for hours, winding through dense woodlands and over forgotten hills. As they climbed higher, the air grew colder, the skies darker, and the silence heavier, like the earth was holding back its breath once more.
It wasn't until they crossed a narrow wooden bridge slung high above a jagged gorge that Kazi finally broke the silence.
"Who was Azibo?" she asked.
Rhazir glared at Kazi, but didn't respond at first. The wind howled through the canyon below, rattling the ropes beneath their feet. It wasn't until they reached the other side, stepping back onto solid earth, that he finally answered.
"Azibo wasn't a person," he said quietly. "Not exactly."
Kazi glanced at him, frowning. "Then what is it?"
Rhazir's gaze drifted toward the horizon. "Azibo was the first convergence. The first time all eight Lines awakened together. And when they did, they didn't split, they chose one vessel."
She felt her chest tighten. "So, the Mark of Azibo…"
"…is what was left behind," he finished. "The echo of that convergence. A piece of every Line. Power wrapped in memory, sealed into a single mark. And now, for reasons no one understands, it's moving again, through you."
They crested a ridge. Below them stretched a shadowed valley, framed by steep cliffs and needle-like stones that jutted from the earth like broken spears. In the distance, storm clouds churned dark and electric. Flashes of pale blue lightning streaked across the sky, painting the rocks with jagged light.
"There," Rhazir said, pointing to a cluster of spires rising from the valley floor. "That's the Volt resonance site."
As they descended, the air thickened.
Every breath buzzed with static. Every step closer set her skin tingling, the fine hairs on her arms rising with invisible charge. Her mark throbbed again, but not with heat. It buzzed like a live wire, erratic and sharp energy movements. A storm in her veins.
Out of now where, the sky split. A bolt of lightning raced down from the clouds, slamming into the center of the rocks with a deafening crack. Light exploded across the valley in a flash of white and blue.
And for a heartbeat, Kazi saw someone standing at the point of impact.
A silhouette standing still.
Waiting.