The city was called Averis.
It stood on stone terraces carved into a mountain so high the clouds didn't pass over it—they gathered below it. From the edge of the outer districts, you could look down and see nothing but a sea of white stretching endlessly.
Above, the sky was always clear.
Always calm.
Until it wasn't.
Elara Reynolds leaned against the cold railing of the upper platform, staring out at the horizon.
From here, the whole city looked layered—bridges connecting districts, towers rising in uneven heights, glowing lines of magic embedded into the stone streets.
Everything in Averis was built with purpose.
Magic here wasn't wild.
It was controlled.
Used for transport, light, construction.
Nothing unpredictable.
Nothing dangerous.
That's what made the sky so strange.
"Elara, you're going to miss the drop if you keep standing there."
She didn't turn immediately.
"I'm not missing anything."
"You say that every time."
A boy stepped beside her, resting his elbows on the railing. Dark hair, relaxed posture—too relaxed for someone waiting for something that only happened once a day.
"You've lived here your whole life," he added. "And you still act like it's nothing."
"It is nothing," Elara said. "Stuff falls. People collect it. That's it."
He laughed. "Yeah, because things falling out of the sky is totally normal."
"In this city? It is."
He shook his head. "You're impossible."
A bell rang.
Low. Deep. Echoing across the terraces.
Every conversation around them stopped.
People turned toward the open sky.
Even Elara straightened slightly.
Because no matter how many times it happened—
The moment before the drop was always… different.
The sky shimmered.
Not visibly at first.
Just a distortion.
Like heat rising off stone.
Then—
a thin line appeared.
Cutting across the blue.
Perfectly straight.
Too sharp to be natural.
"Here we go," the boy muttered.
The line widened.
Light spilled through.
Soft at first.
Then brighter.
Not sunlight.
Something else.
And then—
the first object fell.
Fast.
Silent.
It streaked downward, leaving a faint trail of light behind it.
More followed.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Dropping from the tear in the sky like fragments of something broken.
They didn't crash.
Didn't explode.
They slowed just before reaching the city—
then hovered.
Floating in the air above the streets.
People moved instantly.
Not in panic.
In routine.
Collectors rushed forward, tools in hand.
Platforms shifted.
Magic lines lit up.
Everything was organized.
Efficient.
Normal.
Elara watched one of the falling objects drift closer.
It wasn't large.
About the size of her hand.
Glowing faintly.
Its surface looked smooth—but not solid.
Like light had been shaped into form.
"Don't just stand there," the boy said. "Grab one before they're all taken."
"You go," she replied.
"I already got mine yesterday."
"Then get another."
"Doesn't work like that."
She knew that.
Everything in Averis had limits.
Even the sky.
The object floated lower.
Closer now.
Within reach.
Elara hesitated.
Not because she was scared.
Just—
something felt off.
It always did, right before she touched one.
A small pause.
A quiet resistance.
Like her instincts were trying to say something her mind couldn't understand.
"Take it," the boy urged.
"Or someone else will."
He wasn't wrong.
Already, others were reaching for the nearest drops.
Grabbing them.
Watching them dissolve into light in their hands.
Each one giving something—
Energy.
Power.
Access.
No one knew exactly what determined it.
But everyone knew:
You didn't waste a drop.
Elara exhaled.
Then stepped forward.
Her hand lifted.
Slow.
Controlled.
The glowing object hovered just inches away.
For a moment—
it didn't move.
Didn't react.
Just stayed there.
Then—
it shifted.
Not away.
Closer.
As if meeting her halfway.
Her fingers brushed the surface.
And everything changed.
The light didn't dissolve.
It didn't disappear like the others.
It didn't settle.
It—
stopped.
Frozen.
Right in her hand.
Elara frowned.
"That's… weird."
"What?" the boy asked.
"It's not—"
She didn't finish.
Because the object pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
And then—
it cracked.
A thin line split across its surface.
Just like the sky.
"Elara—drop it."
She didn't.
Couldn't.
Because the crack spread.
Light leaking through it.
Brighter.
Sharper.
Different from before.
The air around her shifted.
Subtly.
But enough.
People nearby slowed.
Their movements slightly off.
Like something had interrupted the rhythm of the city.
The object broke open.
Not violently.
Silently.
Splitting into fragments of light—
that didn't fall.
Didn't vanish.
Didn't scatter.
They moved.
Toward her.
Elara stepped back.
Finally reacting.
"What is this—?"
The fragments circled her hand.
Then her wrist.
Then—
stopped.
Hovering.
Waiting.
Everything around her felt distant.
Muted.
Like the world had taken a step back.
Then—
the fragments collapsed inward.
Merging.
Reshaping.
Becoming something new.
A mark.
Faint.
Glowing.
Resting just beneath her skin.
Elara stared at it.
Her breathing steady.
Too steady.
"That's not supposed to happen," the boy said quietly.
She didn't answer.
Because she already knew.
Above them—
the sky was still open.
Still glowing.
Still dropping fragments.
But now—
the light inside it had changed.
Slightly.
Almost like—
it had noticed her.
(End of chapter 1)