The ground trembled beneath Aya's feet
Not from battle
From something deeper
Ancient
She turned toward the east where the storm clouds twisted unnaturally
Then she saw it
A spire of light ruptured the sky clawing upward in silence
Black and red energy spiraled around it like veins over bone
The air itself groaned
Rewrite code stuttered across the sky
Aya knew the name without anyone saying it
First Tower
The signal of awakening
Zerach had begun
She pulled the Rewrite Edge close and activated the shard's interface
Dozens of alerts screamed across the map
Towers emerging
Every region
Every former kingdom
Each one a beacon
A key
If they all activated the seal would shatter completely
And Zerach would rewrite the world in his image
Aya cursed under her breath and marked the nearest tower
It rose near the broken city of Halvra once a capital now a graveyard
She needed allies
But who could she trust
The Architect was gone
Azel too
But one name flickered through her interface
Reiss
The last systembreaker
A traitor
A survivor
And someone who once tried to kill her
She hesitated for one second
Then sent the call
The shard pulsed once in response
No turning back
Aya began running
No more hiding
The world was watching
And this time she would strike first