Night did not fall all at once.

It crept in slowly, as if the city itself hesitated to let go of the light.

Lanterns ignited one by one along the upper terraces, their glow uneven, uncertain—some bright, some flickering, some refusing to stay lit at all until their keepers adjusted their touch, their breath, their intent. The air carried no single rhythm anymore. It carried many, overlapping and unfinished, like a city learning how to breathe without instruction.

Draven stood at the edge ...