The morning sun spilled over Valensreach, gilding the terracotta rooftops and casting long, golden shadows across the cobblestone streets. From her perch atop the sky-terraces of the Order of the Silver Crown, Aria Valen surveyed the city below. Merchants hawked bread and spices, gryphon riders glided between the towers, and the scent of sea-salt and smoke drifted from the distant harbor.
Aria tightened her gloves and shifted on the back of her gryphon, Zephyr, whose feathers shimmered like silver in the sunlight. Even after years of training, the bond between rider and beast never felt ordinary. Zephyr's chest heaved beneath her, wings twitching in anticipation of flight.
"Another day of drills," Aria muttered, her voice carried by the wind. "And yet I still feel… nothing. Like I'm chasing mastery but it keeps slipping through my fingers."
"Mastery isn't given," Sir Kael said, his armored figure cutting a sharp silhouette against the sky. He had the kind of calm presence that unnerved apprentices—an unshakable certainty, as though the storms themselves obeyed him. "It is earned. Sky Aether demands patience. And courage."
Aria exhaled sharply, the wind tugging at her hair. Patience was not a virtue she possessed. She leaned forward, scanning the horizon beyond the walls of the city. Something felt… wrong. The clouds weren't moving naturally; they twisted unnaturally, as though caught in some invisible spiral. A faint hum pulsed through the air, low and resonant, vibrating beneath her bones.
Before she could question it further, the earth beneath Valensreach shuddered.
A ripple ran through the cobblestones. Banners snapped and flapped violently in the wind. Merchants dropped baskets of fruit; the clang of metal-on-stone echoed down the streets. Zephyr stiffened, wings stretching wide as the gryphon emitted a warning roar that rattled Aria's chest.
"By the Fourfold Path…" Kael muttered, bracing himself. The tremor surged again, sharper this time, rolling through the city like a living pulse. It wasn't the tremor of an earthquake—it felt intentional, deliberate, as though some immense being stirred beneath the ground.
Aria's heart raced. Her hands twitched, pulling at the leather straps of her gauntlets. Without realizing it, her fingers wove patterns instinctively. Blue arcs of Sky Aether sparked from her fingertips, twisting and coiling in the air like serpents of light. They struck the stone terraces, leaving glowing runes that fizzled out in sparks.
"Aria… stop," Kael barked. "Control it! Raw Aether is not a toy!"
But she could not stop. The hum in the air grew louder, almost unbearable, as though the city itself were a drum vibrating in response to some colossal heartbeat. The tremor intensified. A crack split the plaza below, yawning wide enough for dust and shards of stone to tumble into the abyss.
Zephyr leapt into the air instinctively, talons skimming the ground as they rose above the shaking streets. Aria clung to the gryphon's back, her pulse racing as the city below convulsed.
"It's… massive," she whispered, eyes wide. "Something old. Something alive."
Kael's gaze darkened. "Something that has not walked Aurelion in ten thousand years…"
By mid-morning, panic had spread through Valensreach. Citizens poured into the streets, clutching loved ones and possessions. Merchants abandoned carts, their wares rolling into the chaos. From the sky-terraces, Aria could see gryphon riders forming squads, attempting to contain the turmoil—but the tremors spread too quickly.
"Reports from the outer districts?" she asked, straining to focus.
Kael shook his head. "Nothing yet. But if the tremor continues to intensify… this is beyond natural phenomena. We may be facing—"
A deafening roar interrupted him, resonating from beneath the city. The ground itself seemed to answer, rumbling in response, as if the planet were alive. Dust and debris poured from the cracks in the streets. Aria's stomach lurched; she could feel it—the presence of something massive moving below the surface.
Her mind raced. Stories told by the elders resurfaced: the Titans, colossal biomechanical beings that shaped Aurelion in the First Age. Myths, legends… nothing real, surely. And yet… this vibration, this raw Aether—it felt like Kaldur, the Earth Titan, stirring from his slumber beneath Vastoria.
Zephyr's feathers bristled as a second, more violent tremor struck, sending both gryphon and rider skidding across the sky. Aria instinctively raised her hands, weaving another intricate Aether pattern. This time, her magic didn't glow blue—it pulsed, golden and intense, responding not just to her gestures, but to the Titan's heartbeat beneath them.
The city below shuddered with unnatural violence. Towers cracked, windows shattered, and a thick plume of dust rose from the center of Valensreach. Citizens screamed and ran for cover, dodging falling debris. Even Kael looked unsettled—a rare sight.
"This is no ordinary earthquake," Aria whispered, gripping Zephyr tighter. "It's… alive."
Across Valensreach, hidden in the shadowed alleys, a figure watched the chaos unfold. Cloaked in black, their presence radiated a chill, and the faint shimmer of Shadow Aether curled from their fingertips.
"Good," the figure murmured. "Let the city feel the stirrings. Let them taste fear. Soon, everything will be ready."
Aria felt it then: the air above the city thickening, charged with Aether beyond comprehension. Her vision blurred for a heartbeat as fragments of a memory—or was it a warning?—flashed in her mind: a massive rune, glowing blue like a heartbeat in stone. Kaldur. Awakening.
Her pulse raced. Zephyr trembled beneath her. And far, far below the city, deep in the heart of Vastoria, the ancient Titan Kaldur shifted, rolling beneath the crust. Mountains shuddered at his movement. Valleys quaked. Cities would not withstand his wrath.
Aria's knuckles whitened as she gripped Zephyr's mane. The Sky Aether around her thrummed violently, responding to something larger than her, something terrifyingly alive. She swallowed hard.
"We're not ready for this," Kael said quietly, his voice barely audible over the roar.
Aria's gaze hardened. Fear mingled with determination. She had been born for moments like this, even if she didn't realize it.
"No," she said firmly. "We have to be."
And in that instant, the sky above Valensreach darkened slightly, a shadow stretching across the city. It wasn't clouds. It was a warning. The Titans were stirring.