Lyra did not sleep again that night. The note's single word, Find me, burned in her mind. Who had left it and how did they know about Aron?
Morning came, and she moved through the streets of Valeria with caution. Every shadow felt like it could hide an enemy. She clutched the dagger at her waist and the folded note in her hand. She did not know what she was looking for, only that it was the first clue to her brother's disappearance.
The market square was alive with merchants calling out, children chasing each other, and the clatter of carts. It should have been comforting, ordinary, but Lyra's instincts told her danger was near.
Then she noticed him. A man in a dark cloak standing beside a fruit stall. He was too still, too deliberate. Her vision flared again, just a flicker, showing her a glint of a blade hidden beneath his coat.
She ducked into an alley, heart hammering. The man followed, silent as a shadow. Lyra's fingers brushed the symbols on the note. A warmth spread from her palm, into her mind, and suddenly she saw it. Every step the man was about to take, the intent behind them, the threat in his movements.
He lunged.
Lyra dove to the side, rolling against the alley wall, dagger ready. The man slashed, missing her by inches. Her power was messy and uncontrolled, a blur of visions showing the threat and a path for her to escape.
Breathing hard, she ran, weaving through streets she knew well, until she reached the small abandoned warehouse she sometimes used as a hideout. She pressed herself against the wall, listening, waiting. The man had not followed. He had vanished, but Lyra knew this was only the beginning.
She sank to the floor, gripping the note and her dagger. Her power was growing stronger, but it was draining her. Every vision left her dizzy, every glimpse of truth a weight she had to carry.
Still, she would not stop. Aron was out there, and someone wanted him hidden or gone. Lyra had no choice but to chase the truth, even if it cost her everything.
And she knew, deep down, the masked figure who left the note was her only ally in the darkness to come.