When night had finally fallen, the two walked at the edge of the city and sat on a large boulder that overlooked everything. Finally, after the last rays of sun had disappeared, that's when they saw it. The spire stood at the very heart of Alqamar, piercing the horizon like a spear of frozen lightning. By day, it had been nothing more than a jagged silhouette in the distance—massive but dull, its color lost in the desert haze. But now, under the deep indigo of night, it came alive.
A pulse of soft, azure light rippled through its core, then another, as if the structure itself was breathing. The glow spread outward, veins of luminescence threading across its surface in intricate patterns that resembled constellations, or perhaps runes too ancient to be read.
