The streets narrowed, then opened again into something that no longer felt like a city.
The transition was unmistakable. Stone façades gave way to reinforced structures, broad platforms of metal and crystal rising in tiered layers. Massive buildings dominated the district, their surfaces traced with luminous conduits that pulsed faintly as shard-energy flowed through them in steady, regulated rhythms. Chimneys of translucent crystal rose high above the rooftops, venting pale light instead of smoke, each pulse synchronized with the next like a shared heartbeat.
Noel slowed to a stop.
