Before sound, there was silence.
Not absence.
But potential.
Now, in the world fraying at the edges of memory and time, Amira found herself face to face with that primordial hush.
And it had a library.
The Void Library
Beneath the mountain's heart, behind a door that had no hinges and a lock that sang when opened, lay the Void Library—a vault of melodies that had never been sung.
Each scroll hummed with impossible music.
Each book wept.
Each step Amira took left a chord behind her, echoing in reverse.
Kelu, reluctant but loyal, followed.
Morya stayed at the entrance. "Some songs trap the soul, Amira. Choose your silence wisely."
The Song That Was Erased
At the heart of the Library, Amira found it: a single parchment sealed in flesh-light thread, vibrating with unread pain.
Inscribed on it:
"The Ninth Chord – The Song That Undid Serai."
As her fingers touched it, memories not her own pierced her:
Serai kneeling in the Loom's cradle, bleeding harmony into the roots of time.
A betrayal not by outsiders… but by those she loved.
A child. A cry. A choice to erase herself.
The parchment pulsed—warning her.
But Amira read on.
The Price of Knowing
As the final line of the Ninth Chord entered her heart, the walls around her groaned.
Something had heard.
No—someone.
The Weeper.
A being birthed from grief itself, cloaked in sorrow, with no eyes—only ears. And it fed on unheard songs.
Kelu pulled his blade. "We fight or we forget."
But Amira did not run. She sang one note—from the Ninth Chord.
A sound so raw it made the Weeper stop.
Cry.
Then disappear.
Not defeated.
But remembered.
The Shard Awakens
The harp Amira carried cracked open.
Inside was a shard of Serai's soul—flickering, struggling, singing a wordless cry:
"Finish what I couldn't."
Morya whispered in awe. "She never meant to destroy the Loom. She meant to reset it."
Amira nodded. "She knew the Architects would silence every voice but theirs. This song… it's rebellion in pure form."
Elsewhere: Teyrion's Reckoning
Back in the Spire, Teyrion the Pale felt a pain in his chest.
Not physical.
Spiritual.
"The Ninth Chord has been touched," one of the Architects gasped.
Teyrion's eyes dimmed. "Then we are out of time. Bring forth the Last Sleeper."
"But that would—"
"Do it," he hissed. "Let the Dream-Eater rise."
Final Scene of the Chapter
Atop a cold peak, Amira, harp in hand, turned westward.
The stars no longer blinked.
They stared.
Waiting.
She whispered, not to Serai… but to herself:
"I was born of ash. Raised in sorrow. Forged in silence."
"Now… I will sing the sky back together."