The sky above stretched wide and black, dotted with stars. The moon hung low and thin in the sky, a silver sickle gleaming through scattered clouds. The stars above flickered like distant watchful eyes.

The village streets were empty, save for the faint flicker of lanterns left in windows. The familiar cobblestones stretched before her. Raelyn took a deep breath and took off.

Her feet led her past shuttered shops and quiet alleyways, over the bridge near the bakery, and up the incline that overlooked the fields. She inhaled slowly, letting the stillness settle inside her, yet her mind refused to follow.

She was thinking of the casket. Of that pulse and the way it had made her feel.

She thought of the promise she'd made to Keardath. She wanted to keep it, but how was she going to with that memory tugging at her, insistent.

She pressed a hand to her chest and exhaled, a breath laced with longing.

Raelyn froze at the edge of the road, blinking as the gates of Ardesco stood before her. She hadn't meant to come this far. Hadn't planned on walking to the castle at all. But somehow her feet had brought her here, carried by the same quiet pull that had haunted her all day.

She hesitated for a moment before continuing on her path.

She crossed the empty courtyard with quiet purpose. Pale moonlight washed over the flagstones, softening their edges. The castle loomed above, its towers etched in silver.

Her boots barely made a sound on the worn flagstones as she approached the main archway. The heavy doors stood ajar, their iron hinges groaning faintly when she eased through them. A draft stirred her tunic, and she stepped inside.

Raelyn's steps slowed as she made her way down the outer corridor. Her hand brushed the wall beside her, fingers grazing the cold, worn surface of the stone. Above her, tall stained-glass windows let in narrow shafts of moonlight that cut across her path like pale blades. Her heart thrummed in her ears.

Voices made Raelyn freeze as if she was caught doing something she wasn't.

"...certain it's secure?" a low voice said. "I could spare some men to guard it."

She moved again, slower now, each footstep placed with care. The voices were coming from a room on the left, its door cracked open, spilling warm light and hushed tones into the corridor.

Raelyn pressed herself flat against the wall, creeping closer. Her breath caught in her throat as she reached the edge of the doorway, her heart pounding.

"We've secured it properly, Hovan," Keardath's voice replied. "No one without clearance can access that chamber. There's no reason for such unease."

"I have every reason," Hovan snapped. "You don't know what it's like to stand face to face against demons. You don't know what they are capable of."

Keardath sighed. "And you are not in Bromaric anymore. This is Kaiswen. We are behind the barrier. Baragor and his demons cannot touch us here."

Then another voice chimed in. "No one enters Kaiswen without permission. You will find no friend of Baragor here," Corix said. "We can start our review process without fear."

"It will first be tested by the senior magi, after which the advanced students get their chance," Irdarith added. "From there we'll work our way down the robes . No one touches it unvetted."

"It will take time," Corix said again, the sound of parchment rustling in the background. "But it must be done thoroughly."

Raelyn's pulse quickened. They were planning to test it, study it. And with Keardath here, his chambers lay abandoned.

Her gaze drifted to the corridor that branched off to the left. This was her chance.

A flicker of guilt bloomed in her chest. She had promised. She had looked him in the eye and promised to let it go.

But what if this was the only opportunity she'd ever get? What if she walked away now, and the truth, whatever it was, was locked behind these walls forever? She couldn't live with that. Not when it had called to her.

Keardath never had to know. And if he did... she would find a way to make it right.

With that, Raelyn took a slow, silent step backward from the doorway. Her breath was tight in her chest, but her decision was made.

She turned from the voices and slipped into the corridor, letting the shadows swallow her. Her footsteps were soft as whispers on the stone, her senses sharp with purpose.

Whatever lay ahead, whatever secrets that casket held, she had to see it for herself.

Raelyn climbed the winding stairwell in near darkness, the spiral narrowing the higher she went. Only the faint moonlight leaking in from arrow slits lit her way, turning the stone grey-blue and casting thin shadows across each step. Her breath quickened, not from exertion, but from the knowledge that every footfall was a step deeper into something she had no business pursuing.

Her mind reeled with half-formed thoughts, each one whispering warnings she refused to heed. What was she doing? What if someone caught her? What if this, the break-in, the climb, the promise she was about to shatter, led to her losing her job, or worse? And still, she kept moving.

At the top of the stairwell, the corridor stretched long and dim, lined with narrow windows that stared out into blackness. Raelyn's boots thudded softly against the stone as she approached the far end of the hall, where Keardath's quarters waited behind a broad oak door, reinforced with iron rivets.

She reached for the handle, pulse hammering, and turned it. When she pulled it, the door wouldn't budge. It was locked. Of course it was.

"Damn it," Raelyn muttered under her breath. She yanked at the door, but it refused to give.

Raelyn stood there for a moment, frozen with her hand still on the knob, her forehead gently touching the wood. Her thoughts churned. This was it, the end of the line. She had promised Keardath and had gone against it. She tried but only got to another dead end. Raelyn had every reason to turn back now.

And yet...

Her eyes flicked to the nearby window. A chill crept down her spine as she approached it, already dreading what she was about to consider. She pressed her fingers to the glass, the frame shifted with a soft creak, letting in a sliver of night air that brushed her wrist.

Her fingers curled tightly around the sill as she leaned out just enough to peer along the tower's outer wall. It led to another window no more than ten feet away, the one that belonged to Keardath's chambers. And it was ajar. A way in.

But the space between was sheer vertical stone, with crooked stones jutting out from the wall. The footholds were scarce, uneven and treacherous. And below...a dizzying height that made her stomach lurch. A single misstep would mean plummeting to a certain death.

She pulled back from the window and leaned against the stone, her pulse a frantic beat behind her ribs. Her palms were damp. Her legs felt unsteady. What in all the realms was she thinking? Sneaking into Keardath's chambers was one thing, but scaling the side of a tower in the middle of the night?

"You've gone mad," she whispered to herself. "Utterly mad."

But that warmth. That tremor. It was still with her, faint beneath her ribs like a second heartbeat, urging her forward. The memory of it was enough to drown out the fear. Almost.

With shaking hands, she gripped the sides of the window frame and hoisted herself onto the narrow stone ledge. The sill was barely wide enough for her boots. One wrong shift and she would be nothing but a smear on the courtyard stones.

Her entire body tensed as she pressed herself flat against the cold wall, her cheek grazing rough stone slick with dew. The chill bit through her sleeves and left her fingers stiff. Her left hand groped along the outer wall until she found the first protruding stone. She tested it before she shifted her weight forward.

Raelyn gripped the open window with one hand, the other braced against cold stone. Her breath trembled in her chest. Her heart pounded so loudly she was certain it would wake the whole of Ardesco. She braced herself, then lifted her left foot, feeling blindly along the outer wall. Her boot scraped against the slick surface as she struggled to find anything that might hold her weight. Her breath hitched, a soft gasp escaping as panic threatened to rise, but then her toe caught on the edge of a weather-worn stone. A ledge, shallow but solid. Relief flooded through her like fire in her veins. She pressed herself tighter against the wall, willing her body to still. The first step was behind her.

The cold bit into her skin, numbing her fingers where they clutched the stone. Her breath came in shallow bursts as she carefully peeled her right foot off the windowsill and began to search for another hold, heart thudding like a war drum in her ears. Her left leg trembled under the strain of bearing her full weight, but she couldn't stop now. Gritting her teeth, she pressed her chest to the wall and extended her right hand, groping along the uneven surface. Her fingers caught on the edge of a brick. She tightened her grip until her knuckles went white.

Raelyn was now fully suspended on the wall, no longer anchored by the safety of the window. Her body pressed flat, spine curved to the shape of the tower, she inched her way to the left, each movement painfully slow. Her boots scraped softly as she shuffled, searching for the next secure foothold, many too small to be trusted or too smooth to hold. Her shoulders ached from the tension, the wind threading through her hair and brushing the nape of her neck like a cold breath. Every shift of weight felt like a gamble. And all the while, her eyes refused to look down. Instead her gaze fixed ahead, toward the window just a few steps away.

With each careful step along the wall, her confidence grew. Her boots scraped against the ancient tower, hunting for the next groove, her hands grasping the next edge. The longer she clung there, the more surreal it became. She was doing this. She was actually doing this.

Soon she had reached Keardath's window, slightly ajar.

She braced her weight with her right hand and foot and twisted slowly, just enough to lift her left hand from the wall. Her fingers trembled as they reached for the window, found the edge, pushed gently. The pane creaked softly open.

But in shifting her weight, her left foot slid from its perch.

"No...!"

Her body lurched sideways. She clawed at the wall, her left hand scrabbling frantically across smooth stone, searching for anything, any crack, any ledge. Her other foot slipped too, boot heel catching air. For a terrifying heartbeat, Raelyn dangled by her right hand, legs kicking against the void, her body slamming awkwardly against the tower.

Pain flared down her shin as her knee scraped the edge of the wall. A gust of wind threatened to pull her from the wall entirely. Her hair whipped into her face, her eyes wide and wild with panic. A choked scream burst from her lips.

Finally her right foot found its old foothold. Her leg trembled violently as she forced it to hold her weight. With a desperate grunt, her left foot slammed against the wall and pressed hard, wedging itself into a narrow groove. Her arms shook, fingers screaming with strain.

Raelyn pressed her forehead against the wall, breath shallow and ragged. Her knees were bleeding. Her throat burned from the scream. But the window, her goal, was open. Going back was more dangerous now than pushing forward.

With the last of her strength, she shifted her weight again, reaching for the inner frame of the window. Her fingers wrapped around the sill. She leaned forward, wincing as her bruised shin scraped against the stone. Then she hauled herself toward the opening, muscles burning.

With one final surge, she tumbled inside.

Her knees hit the floor hard. Her elbow cracked against the stone. She collapsed in a graceless heap on the cold ground, gasping. Her limbs shook. Her heart was a thunderous drumbeat in her ears. Sweat clung to her temples, and her legs refused to stop trembling.

She stared up at the ceiling, her chest heaving, trying to understand what she had just done.

"Gods," she whispered. "I've completely lost it."

But even as the fear still coiled around her ribs, Raelyn pushed herself upright. She sat there for a moment longer, her back pressed to the wall, hands clenched in her lap.

Silence blanketed the chamber, only the wind moaned faintly through the window behind her. Moonlight poured in at an angle, draping the room in silvery blues. The fire had long since gone out, leaving nothing but a few charred remnants in the hearth.

Raelyn's eyes shot open the moment she sensed it.

A quiet thrum stirred beneath her ribs like a phantom heartbeat. Her head turned instinctively, looking for its source. The sensation pulled at her bones, a gentle tide urging her forward. It was here. Somewhere close.

Raelyn pushed herself to her feet, hands brushing her thighs as she steadied herself. The ache in her joints flared with each step, but she forced herself to move. Her eyes scanned the familiar layout of the chamber, Keardath's writing desk stood to the right, piled with neatly stacked books and ink pots. His bed remained perfectly made. Shelves lined the far wall, cluttered with trinkets and scrolls. Nothing out of place.

Except...

Raelyn's gaze snagged on a large painting hanging near the bookcase, a landscape she didn't recognize. Her steps slowed as she stared at it, unease curling in her chest. That hadn't been there before. She knew this room too well. She had cleaned it a dozen times over the years, dusted the shelves, swept the floor, straightened every stack of books. She would've noticed this. And yet, here it was. Suspiciously out of place.

She stepped closer, inspecting the frame. The painting depicted a vast mountain range beneath a twilight sky, rendered in soft strokes of indigo and gold. Raelyn reached out and pressed her palm carefully against the canvas. A subtle tremor answered her touch, distant and muffled. It was coming from behind the painting. Her breath hitched as she ran her hands carefully along the frame, searching for anything out of place. Then, with both hands, she gripped the edges and lifted. It was heavier than she expected. With a soft grunt, she lowered it to the floor and leaned it gently against the desk, her heart quickening.

When she turned back she noticed there was nothing out of the ordinary where the painting had been. Just a wall of plain stone, identical to the rest of the chamber.

Something still gnawed at her, a quiet insistence that she was missing something. Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall the layout of the room before the painting had appeared. She closed her eyes, searching her memory, and then it struck her, a door. There had been a door here.

Raelyn stepped forward slowly. Her hand reached out, hesitant, and brushed against the surface of the wall. Cold met her fingertips, but it wasn't the rough, pitted texture of stone. It was much more smooth.

Raelyn let out sharp breath.

This wasn't stone at all. Her fingers roamed across the wall now, more urgent, tracing the surface for confirmation. There, a faint curve, barely perceptible. Then a seam. Her hand slid lower and felt it: a handle, invisible to the eye but solid in her palm.

It was magic that cloaked the door. Hiding it behind an illusion.

Her fingers tightened around the handle. With a sharp inhale, she pulled.

The wall rippled like disturbed water. A shimmer of light flickered outward from the door's frame as the illusion collapsed. Glyphs carved into the wood revealed themselves in slow succession, glowing faintly with golden light, then fading one by one until they vanished completely.

In place of stone stood the heavy oak door she had seen before. The outline of sigils remained burned into the wood even after they faded.

The door creaked open slowly, revealing a spiral staircase that wound downward into darkness. Along the walls, candles flickered in iron sconces, casting wavering shadows that stretched down into the depths. As soon as the door opened the vibrations in the air she had felt intensified. It was close, she knew it.

Raelyn didn't hesitate, and stepped through the threshold, drawn forward by the pull in her chest, beginning her descent into the dark.