THE BRIDGE WAS SINGING.

Kael heard it first- a low, discordant hum that vibrated through the soles of his boots. He paused, his hand tightening on the handle of the water bucket he carried. Around him, the bustling market of Sonorhymn continued its cacophony: merchants haggling, children laughing, the rhythmic clang of the blacksmith’s hammer. But beneath it all, the bridge’s song grew louder, sharper, like a string stretched to breaking.

“Move it, boy!” A cart driver’s shout jolted Kael back to the present. He stumbled aside, sloshing water onto the cobblestones. The bridge loomed ahead, its ancient stone arches draped in ivy and moss. It was the oldest structure in Sonorhymn, a relic from before the Shattering, and it connected the city’s two halves across the roaring river.

Kael frowned. The hum wasn’t just in his ears now; he could feel it in his chest, a pressure building like the moment before a thunderclap. He set the bucket down and stepped closer, ignoring the curious glances of passersby.

The bridge’s song reached a crescendo. Kael’s breath hitched. He turned his stutter, trapping the warning in his throat. “I-it’s g-going to-”

The first stone fell.

A chunk of masonry the size of a wagon wheel plummeted into the river, sending up a geyser of froth. Screams erupted as the bridge shuddered, its arches groaning under the strain. Kael’s heart pounded in time with the hum, now a deafening roar. He spotted a child-a little girl in a red dress-frozen in the middle of the bridge, her doll clutched tightly to her chest.

“Run!” Kael shouted, his voice cracking. But the girl didn't move.

The bridge gave another violent shudder. More stones fell, and the hum became a scream. Kael’s vision blurred as the pressure in his chest exploded outward. He didn’t think, didn’t plan-he just reacted.

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He screamed.

The sound that tore from his throat wasn’t human. It was a raw, unfiltered burst of power, a sonic wave that rippled through the air like a stone dropped in a still pond. The bridge’s song faltered, its hum drowned out by Kael’s voice. For a heartbeat, everything hung suspended: the falling stones, the rushing river, the terrified crowd.

Then the bridge collapsed.

Kael’s scream had shattered its supports, sending the entire structure crashing in the water in a plume of dust and spray. But the little girl was safe-Kael’s wave had thrown her clear, depositing her gently on the riverbank. She sat there, wide-eyed and trembling, her doll still clutched in her arms.

Silence followed. Not the comforting kind, but the heavy, suffocating silence of shock. Kael stood amidst the wreckage, his throat raw and his ears ringing. The market had gone still, every eye fixed on him.

“What… what are you?” someone whispered.

Kael didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees, his hands trembling. The hum was gone, replaced by a hollow ache in his chest. He stared at the ruins of the bridge, at the river churning with debris, and felt the weight of what he’d done settle over him like a shroud.

A hand gripped his shoulder. Kael flinched, looking up to see a man in a silver-trimmed cloak. His face was stern, his eyes sharp as flint. Behind him stood two others, their cloaks bearing the emblem of the Luminous Conservatory: a crescent moon cradling a musical note.

“Kael,” the man said, his voice low and resonant. “You’ve been summoned.”

Kael’s stomach dropped. He wanted to protest, to explain that it had been an accident, that he didn’t even know how he’d done it. But the words wouldn’t come. All he could do was nod, his throat too raw to speak.

As the Conservatory envoys led him away, Kael glanced back at the river.  The bridge was gone, its song silenced. But in its place, he thought he heard something else-a faint, haunting melody, like a whisper on the edge of hearing.

It followed him all the way home.