Lyra spent the remainder of the first day and night in the secluded monastery, stabilizing her own physical body and mentally supporting Elias's fractured consciousness through the bond. The rhythmic, painful thrumming in her chest was the only proof he was still alive, Kaelen's captive.
She had the Memory-Crystal, the irrefutable evidence, and the Nullifier Blade, the weapon of ultimate power and separation. She also had two major objectives, which she had to execute simultaneously within the two-day window remaining:
Rescue Elias: Locate Kaelen's hidden stronghold and extract Elias before the disruptor blast's damage became fatal. Expose Solstus: Develop a plan to breach the Grand Obsidian Atrium and present the Memory-Crystal to the Arcane Council during the Syndicate Exchange.
Lyra took the Nullifier Blade and began to study it. The white crystal blade pulsed with a deep, cold silence—its Aether-negating aura was the key to her plan.
I have to become you, Elias, she projected to the fading consciousness in the bond. I have to think like the Ghost.
She used the bond, now one-way but still open, to access Elias's memories of Kaelen's methodology. She found it: Kaelen's favored hidden base was always a forgotten, heavily shielded Aether-Crystal storage facility—a place where the noise of suppressed power would mask any screams.
Lyra took the stolen Sky-Interceptor's emergency toolkit and Elias's remaining gear. She used the Aether-damping material to create crude, dense wrappings around the Nullifier Blade, ensuring its unique energy signature was suppressed, making it invisible to Kaelen's guards.
Lyra knew the approximate location: Kaelen would have retreated to a position near the heart of Ironwood to consolidate his power after his discovery of the Memory-Crystal's location.
She used the interceptor's surveillance equipment, hacking into the Solstus civilian traffic monitors. She searched for anomalies—locations with sudden, localized energy spikes, quickly followed by total broadcast silence.
She found it: the old Ironwood Foundry #4, a derelict facility in the harshest industrial quarter, marked by a recent, massive energy dampening field. It was Kaelen's fortress.
Lyra, relying on the map schematics she had memorized, realized the Foundry had a single point of structural weakness: the subterranean Aether-exhaust system, which led directly to the central processing core.
She took a small, repurposed Aether-Crystal power core from the interceptor—a dangerous piece of volatile technology—and strapped it to her back, along with the Memory-Crystal and the Nullifier Blade.
Before she left, she sent a final, desperate message through the link: I am coming for you, Elias. Don't let go.
She received a faint, almost imperceptible tremor of recognition in return. It was enough.
Lyra landed the interceptor far from the Foundry, trading the safety of speed for the necessity of stealth. She moved through the rusted, steam-filled alleys of Ironwood's factory district, her refined movements replaced by the stiff, cautious posture of a predator.
She located the subterranean exhaust pipe and, using Elias's small, modified sonic drill, managed to cut a narrow entrance into the metal. The air within was suffocating, filled with ash and mineral dust, but it was unwatched.
As she crawled through the narrow, scorching pipe, the pain in her chest—Elias's pain—spiked with a wave of hopelessness. Kaelen was interrogating him, trying to break his will, and Elias was fading.
The pain fueled Lyra's resolve. She wasn't just rescuing her partner; she was fighting for the truth of her love.
She emerged into the Foundry's vast, dark central core. The air was loud with the suppressed hum of massive, illegal Aether cores. She saw him immediately.
Elias was strung up by his wounded shoulder in the center of the room, barely conscious, his face pale and covered in blood. Kaelen stood over him, holding the disruptor rifle.
"Where is the Lady, Ghost?" Kaelen's voice echoed through the cavern. "I know the two of you share pain. I will break her will through yours. Tell me where the Nullifier Blade is hidden!"
Elias only managed a low, painful moan, the sound of which instantly tore at Lyra's focus.
Lyra knew she couldn't engage Kaelen directly. She had to use her knowledge to create a diversion that would allow her to reach Elias. The scholar's plan was far more dangerous than the assassin's.