The Hidden City of Lúminis

Eira had heard of the hidden city of Lúminis for as long as she could remember. Not from the village elders, nor from dusty books on shelves, but from her grandmother, whose gaze always drifted into the distance whenever she mentioned the city’s name. It was as though the memories of Lúminis were so close to her heart, yet so distant in time.

“A city beneath the earth,” her grandmother would say, “where the light never dies, and the water reflects the truth.” But she would also warn: “No one returns from Lúminis… no one who truly sought to find it.”

Eira couldn’t forget it. At 23 years old, her life had been reduced to waiting, to hoping that her grandmother’s stories were just that: stories. But something inside her didn’t believe that. Something pushed her to make the journey through the Noria mountains, to search for the truth.

One morning, with her backpack filled with essentials — a map of old routes, a compass whose needle danced more than it pointed, and a lantern — Eira began her journey. She didn’t look back, not even when the fog began to envelop the path.

The mountain watched her. A vast shadow that wouldn’t let light through, as if the very earth knew that something new was stirring within its depths. The wind whistled in her ears and the ground cracked beneath her feet, as if nature itself whispered warnings to her. But there was no turning back. Eira pressed deeper.

The compass, which had been a constant annoyance, suddenly began to vibrate. A…