He was moving like someone trying not to leave footprints. But she saw his aura flicker — once — a sharp, strange stutter in the rhythm of the world.
A glitch.
El narrowed her eyes. Not because she was suspicious — but because something inside her ached. That flicker looked like something she'd seen before. In the Echo Mirrors.In a timeline that never came to pass.
"That boy…""He's not awake.""But he will be."
And just like that, her peace was broken. Not by duty. Not by her family. But by curiosity.
She was told there were eight of them. Fragments of Raygon Drako, scattered across planes and lifetimes. Most believe they were literal — crystals, artifacts, codes of energy. But El knew better. The Shards weren't things. They were people.
The Shards of Raygon were souls — born unaware of their origin, slowly waking to a deeper truth. And Kael? He had the weight of a Shard in his presence. But no awareness. No training. Just… silence and waiting.
Which made him the most dangerous kind.
So El remained in Mithralin. Not because she had to. Not because she was sent. But because for the first time in over a hundred years, someone made her curious. Not for his power. But because of the quiet inside him — The same kind she carried.
And she wondered…
"If he's a Shard…""Then what am I?"