Lyra moved through the city's forgotten passages like a whisper, a silent guide in the urban labyrinth. She led Elenadeeper into the forgotten parts of the metropolis, away from the increasingly obvious presence of Neo-Eclipse's patrols. The air grew stiller, heavier, carrying the scent of damp earth and something ancient, something that thrummed with a barely contained energy.
They emerged into a hidden chamber beneath an abandoned library, where sunlight fractured through cracks in the ceiling, illuminating dust motes dancing over intricate, crystalline structures. This was The Nexus, a place Lyra explained was a natural thinning point in the Veil, where the "threads" of reality were most exposed. It pulsed with a quiet, resonant energy that made Elena's teeth ache.
"Place the book," Lyra instructed, her voice hushed with reverence. Elena, her hands trembling slightly, laid the Eclipse Codex onto a flat, unblemished crystal altar at the chamber's center. The crystal immediately hummed, and the glyphs etched into its surface began to glow, mirroring those on the Codex. The book pulsed, its glowing word, Liam, intensifying.
Lyra placed her hands gently on the book, closing her eyes. "The Eclipse Codex is not a history, but a living record of the Veil's weave," she explained, her voice gaining a strange, rhythmic quality. "The 'seed' in Kiran is a direct thread. The 'anchor' in Liam… a knot that draws in. Dr. Koval seeks to re-weave reality, using the Codex's pattern to pull the Eldritch through fully. The patterns here… they reveal the weaknesses."
As Lyra spoke, the Codex began to shift. Not the physical book itself, but the images on its pages. Elena watched, mesmerized, as diagrams of complex energy flows appeared, overlaid with the very patterns of the crystal altar. One diagram, clear and chilling, showed Liam's unconscious form, with a glowing line connecting him to a swirling vortex. Another showed Kiran, a similar line leading to a point within his chest. A third, more terrifying, revealed a larger diagram of the entire city, with lines converging on a central point – the planned location for the Great Eclipse. The Codex was not just a record; it was a map, a blueprint for Koval's terrifying ritual.