The Moonlit Caverns were not a place one simply went.
They were a place one was called to.
Lyra descended the mountains under a bruised sky, her cloak heavy with dew and silence. The Flameborn did not follow. Even Kael had stayed behind, despite the storm that had passed between them and left its mark in every look, every silence.
This was a journey only she could make.
Sarek padded beside her like a shadow wrapped in flame, his steps quiet against the mossy stone. Even he kept his distance from the entrance—an ancient crevice in the mountain's ribs, swallowed by thick roots and older magics.
Lyra paused at the threshold.
It felt like standing at the edge of her own heartbeat.
Cold. Hollow. Eternal.
Above the entrance, scorched into stone, were words in the First Tongue. She could not read them, but she understood.
> "You seek truth. But fire only reveals what you dare to hold."
---
The descent into the caverns was long.
