Ravadyn The City of Sleeping Questions

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The path wasn't one. It grew beneath their steps, formed from mist, memory, and the direction thoughts pointed. The compass on Varaan's saddle tapped softly against a metal scroll, as if to emphasize that it didn't point north—but to meaning. For three nights they traveled through the silent borderland between the ruins and the promise the Path of Light had left in Kaelen's memory. In the twilight, the leaves whispered of things that wanted to be forgotten, and sometimes Kaelen felt like a thought the world barely knew anymore. At the fourth dawn, the valley opened. No gate guarded the crossing, no sign named the place—and yet she knew immediately that they had arrived. The air tasted of metal and dust, of old books whose pages had never been touched. Ravadyn. The city lay before them like a mystery. Houses floated only partially on the ground, some growing from staircases, others ending in windowless domes that tilted sideways like sleepy heads. Instead of paths, there were lines—lines that changed as you looked at them. No place was fixed. No thing was final. Varaan paused briefly. The turquoise of his veins glowed in the diffused light, his lizard-like eyes steady. The weight of the equipment on his back barely moved—as if it, too, were listening. Kaelen entered the city. The buildings moved aside. A plaza formed before her—round, like an eye dreaming in sleep. At its center: a stone table. On it lay maps. No two were alike, yet they showed the same city. A Ravadyn of sand. One of sound. One that lay in the future. Kaelen reached for a map. In that moment, everything changed. The city receded. Lines dissolved. Buildings stretched like thoughts trying to remember. Shadows emerged from doors, turned once—and disappeared again. "In Ravadyn, there is no searching. Only asking." The voice was not a sound. It was an echo of thought. Kaelen turned. Varaan hadn't moved. But there was something reflected in his eyes—something bigger than the place itself. "I think we're meant." "We were, even before you first asked." Kaelen gave a fleeting smile. Then she stepped deeper into the city. A path opened beneath her feet—an arc of possibilities. The city continued to change: windows became mirrors, staircases looped. On a wall, written in silver ink, was the inscription: Who thinks you if you remain silent? The answer didn't come. And that was a good thing. They reached a building without walls, where questions hung like curtains. Kaelen reached out, touched a fabric of letters. It felt cool, like water at dusk. An image appeared: a door without a handle, with a symbol on it that she recognized—even though she'd never seen it. Varaan approached. "The next question awaits you." Kaelen nodded. And stepped through.