The mountain path wound downward now, leading them into a valley cloaked in mist and ancient sorrow. Kael felt the shift in the air—time seemed to slow, and even the snowflakes drifted like hesitant ghosts.
At the heart of the vale, hidden beneath the roots of a petrified tree, they found it:
A door made of stone, engraved with hundreds of names… all crossed out.
All but one.
Vaelrik.
---
A Vault of Forgotten Things
The vault opened with a hiss, stale air exhaling as if the mountain itself had been holding its breath. Inside was a sprawling chamber carved deep into the rock, lined with black obelisks. Each pulsed with a red hue—like heartbeats.
Merek whispered, "These are memory stones. The Order preserves what they erase—trapped here, away from the world."
Kael stepped forward, eyes scanning the obelisks.
He felt it.
A pull.
A whisper.
A memory that wasn't his—his father's voice, his mother's laughter, his brother's final scream.
Then he heard her.
"Kael…"
He turned. His wife's voice, echoing faintly.
"She's here," Kael breathed. "A part of her… is trapped in this vault."
---
The Guardians of Silence
The obelisks began to vibrate.
Merek's eyes widened. "We triggered something."
From the walls, statues unfroze—six armored figures, identical in size and design, but each wielding different weapons. Their faces were blank masks of onyx, and they moved in perfect, silent synchronization.
Kael drew his sword. "Guardians."
Thorn cracked his knuckles. "Been a while since we had a real fight."
The vault became a storm of steel and shadow.
Each guardian fought with precision beyond human skill. One wielded twin daggers, faster than sight. Another, a polearm that moved like flowing wind. A third cast spectral chains that pulled at their minds.
But Kael, Lyra, Merek, and Thorn moved as one now.
They had bled together.
They had survived too much.
One by one, the guardians fell—until the last was crushed beneath Thorn's axe.
Silence returned.
Except for the heartbeat glow of the stones.
---
The Broken Memory
Kael approached a lone obelisk glowing brighter than the rest.
It showed a scene frozen in black crystal: his wife, bound and unconscious, being lowered into a pool of red liquid.
"She wasn't killed," Lyra murmured. "She was preserved."
Kael's hand trembled as he reached toward the stone. "Can we bring her back?"
Merek hesitated. "Maybe. But it would require destroying the entire vault. Releasing everything the Order sealed."
Kael stared at the stone.
So many lives. So many memories. Names stolen from the world.
And among them… the only person he had left.
---
Resolve
"We free them," Kael said.
Merek raised an eyebrow. "Even if it gives the Order reason to declare open war?"
Kael turned to face them all, his voice calm and steady.
"I was born into fire. I survived death. I walked through vengeance. I've hunted every monster tied to the death of my family."
He placed his hand on the obelisk.
"If war is what it takes to bring her back—and destroy what they are—then let it come."
He tightened his grip.
"Until the last name dies."
To be continue...