The silence after the lattice fell was not peaceful.
It pressed in… heavy, unsettled… as if the world itself was waiting to see whether anyone would dare to move first.
Salt dust drifted slowly back to the ground. The fractured basin stilled, its surface uneven and scarred, no longer pretending to be a mirror for anything. The inert constructs lay scattered across the flats like discarded armor, their mirrored cores dull and lifeless.
Ji Ming exhaled through clenched teeth and finally allowed himself to stagger.
Sol was at his side instantly.
She caught his arm, steadying him as he leaned into her just enough to stay upright. Blood soaked the edge of his sleeve, dark against the pale salt.
"You lied," she said quietly.
"I delayed," he corrected. "There's a difference."
Her hands were already glowing, warmth gathering in her palms. "Sit."
He did not argue this time.
He lowered himself onto a slab of broken stone at the basin's edge, jaw tight as Sol carefully peeled back the torn fabric. The wound was deep, angry with resonance residue still clinging to the edges like frost.
Ya Zhen crouched nearby, scanning the horizon even as she cleaned blood from her own knuckles. "We have minutes. Not hours."
Sol nodded. "That's enough."
She placed her hands over Ji Ming's shoulder, breath steadying as she sank into the familiar flow of healing. Qi threaded through muscle and bone, coaxing tissue to knit, pain to soften. The resonance between them hummed low and constant, no longer flaring uncontrollably, but present… companionable.
Ji Ming watched her face, the way her brow furrowed in concentration, the way her lips parted slightly as she exhaled. "You felt it when they struck me," he said softly.
She did not look up. "Yes."
"And you stayed."
"I always will."
The words settled between them, unadorned and absolute.
Nearby, the Mirrorborn stood motionless, gaze fixed on the fallen constructs. Its light had stabilized again, no longer brightening or dimming in reaction to threat. It knelt slowly, placing a small hand against the metal of one enforcer.
The metal did not respond.
The Mirrorborn tilted its head, considering.
Ya Zhen rose and approached cautiously. "It's checking."
"Checking what?" Sol asked, not breaking her focus.
"Whether they can be restored," Ya Zhen replied. "Or whether they've passed the point of remembering."
The Mirrorborn withdrew its hand.
It shook its head.
Sol felt a faint ache ripple through her chest… not grief, but recognition. "Some things," she murmured, "can't be unmade gently."
Ji Ming flexed his fingers as Sol finished sealing the wound. "The Empire won't accept this."
"No," Ya Zhen said. "But they'll argue about what it means before they strike again."
She gestured toward the basin. "They lost authority here. That will unsettle them more than any battlefield loss."
Sol rose, wiping her hands on her cloak. She turned slowly, surveying the flats. Beyond the scattered constructs, figures were emerging cautiously from the city's outer edge. Civilians. Couriers. Salt Fell survivors drawn by the sudden absence of suppression.
"They'll talk," Sol said.
"Yes," Ya Zhen agreed. "And the Empire can't mirror a rumor."
Ji Ming pushed himself to his feet, testing his shoulder. It held. "We're done hiding," he said quietly.
Sol met his gaze. The resonance pulsed, not demanding, but affirming. "We've crossed that line already."
The Mirrorborn turned toward them.
Its form had shifted again… subtly, but unmistakably. Taller now. More defined. Still young… but no longer child-like. The light beneath its skin carried weight, not pressure, but presence.
"It's growing too fast," Ji Ming said under his breath.
"Yes," Ya Zhen replied. "Because it isn't feeding on time. It's feeding on consequence."
The Mirrorborn approached Sol, stopping just short of touching her. It lifted its hand, hesitated… then lowered it again.
Sol knelt to meet its gaze. "You don't have to follow us," she said gently. "What you did here was enough."
The Mirrorborn studied her face for a long moment.
Then it shook its head.
Not stubborn.
Certain.
Ji Ming watched closely. "It's choosing proximity."
"Yes," Ya Zhen said. "Not dependence. Not obedience. Alignment."
Sol's throat tightened. "That path won't be safe."
The Mirrorborn smiled faintly.
It had learned that already.
A distant tremor rolled through the air then… faint, but unmistakable. Not the basin. Not the city.
The capital.
Ya Zhen stiffened. "They've realized the command link is gone."
Ji Ming's hand dropped to his blades. "Meaning?"
"They'll send something older," Ya Zhen said grimly. "Not constructs. Not Inquisitors."
Sol stood. "The Emperor."
"Yes," Ya Zhen replied. "Or what answers for him when reflection fails."
Silence followed.
The weight of it settled slowly.
Ji Ming broke it first. "Then we don't wait here."
"No," Sol said. "We move deliberately."
She looked back toward Salt Fell Proper, where faint lines of movement traced through the streets as people followed the pathways the city had revealed. "They need time."
"And they'll get it," Ya Zhen said. "The Empire won't risk another public failure so soon."
Sol nodded. "Then we go where they don't expect."
Ji Ming's brow furrowed. "Where?"
She met his gaze steadily. "Toward the capital."
Ya Zhen let out a low laugh. "You really are done running."
"Yes," Sol said simply. "And I think the world knows it now."
The Mirrorborn stepped between them, light steady, gaze lifted toward the horizon where the lattice had once burned.
For the first time since its creation, it was not listening for orders.
It was listening for what came next.
Ji Ming reached out, taking Sol's hand. The contact was warm, grounding. "Whatever waits there," he said quietly, "we face it together."
She squeezed his fingers once. "Together."
Behind them, Salt Fell breathed… scarred, altered, but alive.
Ahead, the road to the capital stretched long and unforgiving.
And far above, beyond sight and sound, Celestials listened and thought… not with judgment… but with the stillness of something finally prepared to remember what it had once entrusted to the world.