The gates groaned shut behind them with a sound like a vault locking.
Inside, the air smelled of dust, iron, and ink. The torchlight revealed a courtyard choked with broken statues and melted glass, as if the place had once been a shrine and someone had tried to erase the memory of what was worshiped here.
Kellen descended the stairwell with an almost lazy grace. Up close, his half-mask was cracked along the cheek, revealing a scar that ran from his jaw to his ear. His coat rustled as he walked, parchment sleeves whispering like restless ghosts.
"You've taken your time, Liran," he said, circling them like a predator inspecting prey. "And you've brought me something dangerous. Good."
Liran didn't flinch. "We're not here for your approval. We need information."
Kellen chuckled softly. "You always need information. And yet you never come with enough to pay for it."
He stopped in front of Corwin. His pale eyes studied the mark on Corwin's hand like a jeweler inspecting a gem.
"This," Kellen murmured, "is not just a mark. This is a key."
Corwin pulled his hand back instinctively. "A key to what?"
"To a door that should never have been opened."
The words echoed too closely to what the Relic-Keeper had said in the chamber.
Ashra stepped forward. "We need to know where the next seal is. And how to get to it before the Carrion Order does."
Kellen's grin widened. "Ah, so the vultures are circling already." He turned toward the inner hall. "Follow me. Try not to touch anything that hums—unless you want to wake it."
They exchanged uneasy glances but followed.
---
Kellen's archive was less a library and more a mausoleum. The shelves were uneven, stacked from floor to ceiling with manuscripts bound in leather, cloth, even flayed hide. Symbols glowed faintly across the floor, forming a warding circle around the central table where Kellen kept his most dangerous finds.
He gestured for them to sit. "Show me your map."
Corwin laid it on the table. The silver shimmer seemed to pulse faintly in the torchlight.
Kellen ran his fingers above it but did not touch. "Yes," he said softly. "The Second Seal is awake. The Basin calls. But you're not the only ones who heard it."
He unfurled a second map—one etched on black vellum, traced with ash-colored lines that pulsed like veins.
"This," Kellen said, "is the Carrion Order's hunt-map. They burned half a village to get the last coordinate. They know where the Second Seal is. And they will not let you near it alive."
Liran swore under his breath. "How many are they sending?"
"More than you can fight," Kellen replied. "But perhaps not more than you can outrun—if you're clever."
Corwin leaned forward. "Then tell us how to be clever."
Kellen's grin softened into something sharper, hungrier. "I will. But everything has a price. You're marked, boy. That mark is not just a key—it's a tether. Every time you use it, it calls to something older than the Carrion Order. If you want my help, I'll need you to let me study it."
Ashra's hand shot out, gripping Corwin's shoulder. "No."
Liran stayed silent, watching both of them, weighing.
Corwin met Kellen's eyes. "You won't harm me?"
Kellen's expression was unreadable. "Harm? No. Not unless what you carry is poison. Then it's not harm—it's mercy."
Corwin hesitated. The mark burned faintly against his skin, as if reacting to the choice.
Finally, he nodded. "Do it."
Kellen's grin returned. He fetched a thin needle etched with spiraling runes and drew a shallow line across Corwin's palm.
The mark blazed to life, flooding the chamber with a pale gold glow. The shelves shook. The floor hissed like boiling water.
Kellen's pupils dilated. "Oh… yes. The First Anchor answered you. And now the Second will call. You have until the next full moon before it collapses into the Basin. Fail to reach it by then…"
He trailed off.
"What happens?" Corwin asked.
"The Circuit will claim you. Body, soul, and memory. And then it will start over—with someone else."
The words fell into silence.
Finally, Kellen leaned back, clearly satisfied. "I'll give you supplies, a guide through the marsh, and a route that will keep you ahead of the Carrion Order for two, maybe three days. After that, you're on your own."
Ashra exhaled slowly. "Then we move tonight."
"Tonight?" Liran asked.
"Yes," Corwin said quietly. "If they're already burning villages, we can't wait for morning."
The firelight caught on the map, making the Basin shimmer as if underwater.
And somewhere, deep in the night beyond the roost's walls, a lone crow called—three times.
Kellen's grin faltered.
"You should hurry," he said. "The Carrion are closer than you think."
---