The House of Solace

The road to the outer ridge was long and quiet.

Ryuji moved with care, his cloak pulled close against the wind. Unlike the sharp frost of the breach, the ridge air was heavy with damp mist and the scent of moss-covered stone. This part of Valemire was half-forgotten. Homes crumbled against hillsides, vines growing through windows. No guards patrolled here. No lanterns lit the path.

It was a place people left alone.

The kind of place where secrets slept.

Ryuji found Mirael Solace's home tucked between two broken walls, its door crooked and overgrown with ivy. A brass sigil had once hung above it, now rusted and unreadable.

He knocked gently.

No answer.

He waited, then knocked again.

After a long moment, the door opened with a sharp creak. An old woman stood in the doorway, small and wrapped in a shawl that looked older than the house itself. Her hair was white and fell in thin strands around her face. But her eyes, sharp, pale, and unblinking, saw him clearly.

"I don't take visitors", she said.

"I'm not here as one", Ryuji replied.

She studied him in silence. Then her gaze dropped to the blade at his side. She gave a small, tired sigh.

"You've come about the Pact."

Ryuji nodded. "I need to know the truth."

Without another word, she turned and walked inside.

He followed.

The inside was dark and narrow. Books lined the walls, some so tall they needed ropes to pull down. Scrolls lay stacked in corners. There was no warmth except for a single coal pot flickering with dull flame.

Mirael moved slowly, each step careful, like memory pressed down on her bones.

"You were part of the Ninth?" Ryuji asked gently.

"No", she said, "but I recorded their words. I was a keeper, not a speaker. My ink, their oaths."

She stopped near a tall cabinet, opened it, and pulled out a long black scroll. Its edges were sealed with wax that had cracked from age.

"This", she said, handing it to him, "is the first Pact. The uncut one. Before the edits. Before the Dominion took it and polished it into a throne."

Ryuji took it with both hands.

The scroll was heavier than he expected.

He unrolled a section, eyes scanning the lines of faded ink. Names. Oaths. Promises.

And then...

A line scratched out in thick black.

"Liraen Vos", he whispered.

Mirael nodded.

"She was the heart of it. The one who believed most that the Pact was meant to protect, not command. But when the council began turning it into a weapon, she left. Quietly. But not without saying the truth first."

"She warned them", Ryuji said.

"Yes", Mirael replied. "And they buried her name."

He kept reading. More names. More edits. Words replaced with stronger ones, "Unity" became "Dominance". "Guardianship" became "Rule". Slowly, what began as an agreement became a law. Then a leash.

"What happened after she left?" Ryuji asked.

Mirael's voice was quiet.

"She vanished beyond the breach. And the rest... hardened their resolve. Said she was a coward. Said her vision was weak."

Ryuji felt a slow ache settle behind his ribs.

All his life, he had believed the Dominion Pact was sacred. Built on unity. On sacrifice.

But now it felt like a script written over someone else's truth.

"Why didn't you speak out?" he asked.

Mirael looked at him.

"I was just a scribe", she said. "And I was afraid. Like so many."

Ryuji sat with the scroll in his lap. His mind was a storm of thoughts. His fingers traced the blacked-out line again.

They had erased her.

Not because she was wrong.

But because she had been right too soon.

"Do you think she's still alive?" he asked quietly.

Mirael's expression changed. Not surprise. Not hope.

But something in between.

"She was stronger than she looked", she said. "If she found shelter in the old sanctums... maybe. But if she did survive, she wouldn't be the same."

Ryuji looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"She loved the people", Mirael whispered. "But betrayal breaks something deep. If she's alive, she's not just hiding. She's waiting."

Ryuji closed the scroll slowly.

Then he stood.

"I have to find her."

Mirael nodded. "If you do... don't go as a soldier."

He looked down at his sword.

"I don't know what I am anymore."

She gave a small, sad smile. "Then maybe you're finally ready."

Outside, the sky was turning gray. Distant thunder rolled along the ridge.

Ryuji walked down the path, the scroll pressed to his chest.

He thought of Liraen.

Of a name buried.

Of truths sharpened into lies.

He thought of how silence had wrapped itself around every step he took.

And how now, the silence was cracking.