Recognition hit Lara like a blow to the chest — sharp, breath-stealing, intimate. Not the shock of discovery, but the sick certainty of finding something you were never supposed to see again.
"This is a mechanism."
Logan pressed his palm to the metal, testing it, then ran his fingers across the engraved lines. Asher did the same. Liam and Lucas were leaning in close, breath fogging faintly against the cold surface.
"It's ancient… but the engineering is insane. No corrosion. No damage."
Lucas tapped the edge lightly with a knuckle. The sound rang out low and dense, not hollow, not solid — something engineered, layered, intentional.
"What kind of alloy even lasts like this?" Liam hung back, confusion plain on his face.
"Okay, hold on… how did you even know this was here?" It was Ares who asked, his gaze never leaving Lara.
She didn't look at him. "I came across an article online," she said, too quickly, too lightly. "About a lost kingdom, a missing era in Azuverda history."
