The Forgotten Keep
The sea was violent beneath the cliffs of Silverfall. Foam lashed the black rocks, and gulls circled overhead like sentinels of storm. On the highest ridge stood a crumbling fortress: The Forgotten Keep.
Once a sanctuary for timewalkers and veilstitchers, it had been abandoned for centuries. Now, it loomed in silence—its towers hollow, its windows black.
This was where the Seventh Marker slept.
Elara stood at the base of the main gate, the others behind her. The wind tangled her dark hair, but her eyes remained fixed ahead.
Kael placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ready?"
"No," she said, "but we go anyway."
---
The Gate That Remembers
The entrance was sealed by ancient runes. Mira stepped forward, her fingers brushing the faded inscriptions.
"This isn't just a lock," she said. "It's a test. The Keep doesn't allow anyone in who forgets."
Liora frowned. "Forgets what?"
"Elara," Mira said, turning. "You must speak the truth you fear most."
The wind stilled.
Elara took a breath. "I'm afraid of becoming the person I've already seen in visions. The girl with black eyes. The crown of fire."
Silence.
Then, the runes glowed—and the gate opened with a sigh, as if the Keep had exhaled for the first time in centuries.
---
Echoes in Stone
Inside, the Keep was a cathedral of ghosts.
Portraits stared down from the walls—some Elara recognized from old family stories. Others bore her own face, aged or altered, from lives she had not yet lived.
Kael brushed his hand against one frame. "You've been here before."
"I was born here," Elara whispered. "But they wiped it from my memory."
They passed through the Hall of Lanterns, where whispers curled in the shadows. Each flame held a memory. When Kael passed, one flared—and he paused, stunned.
"Elara," he said, voice hoarse. "This is… my mother's voice."
He reached out.
> "Protect her, Kael. Even from herself."
Kael's eyes met Elara's. "She knew. Before I did."
---
The Seventh Room
They reached a chamber carved entirely from moonstone. At its center stood a pedestal with no object atop it.
Instead, a mirror.
Not shattered.
Not dusty.
Waiting.
"This isn't the Seventh Marker," Liora said, cautious. "It's… something else."
"It's the Eighth," Elara whispered, stepping closer.
The mirror rippled—and from it, a hand emerged. Pale. Feminine. Familiar.
"Elara—" Kael shouted, but it was too late.
The mirror pulled her in.
---
Inside the Mirror
Elara fell into light.
When she stood, the world had changed.
She was in a version of the Keep—but flipped, distorted. Skyless. Endless. And standing across from her was herself.
The crown of fire. The black eyes. The Mirror-Elara.
"You've come far," the shadow-Elara said. "But not far enough."
"I'm not you," Elara snapped.
"No. You're becoming me," the reflection hissed. "The Seventh is hidden because it doesn't belong in this world. Like you."
"I belong," Elara growled. "Because I choose to."
The shadow smirked. "Then prove it."
A sword appeared in her hand. Another in Elara's.
No spells. No tricks. Just truth in steel.
---
Duel of Flame
The clash was brutal.
Elara fought not just to survive—but to not become. Every strike of her blade was a refusal. Every dodge a declaration.
The Mirror-Elara moved with terrifying precision, predicting every movement—because she was her.
"You cannot save them all!" the reflection shouted, slamming her back. "You cannot even save yourself!"
Elara roared and knocked the crown from her mirror's head.
"I don't need to save myself," she spat. "Because they save me."
She raised her blade—and shattered the mirror with a single strike.
---
The Real Marker
Back in the moonstone chamber, Elara gasped as she returned.
The mirror crumbled.
And from the dust rose the Seventh Marker—a sphere of obsidian veined with gold, pulsing with pure silence.
Kael caught her before she fell. "You did it."
She looked into his eyes. "I didn't win. I just… remembered."
He nodded. "That's all we ever needed."
Mira approached. "The Seventh is bound to silence. It's not a weapon. It's a key."
Liora gestured to the walls. "Then the question is… what does it unlock?"
The chamber rumbled. The Keep itself began to shift.
And a hidden door opened—revealing stairs that led downward.
---
The Chamber of Origins
They followed the stairwell into a vast circular vault beneath the Keep. Runes glowed across the ceiling. And in the center…
A throne.
Empty.
But behind it, an ancient mural—showing a veiled woman holding eight lights.
"The Eighth Marker," Mira breathed.
"Isn't power," Elara finished. "It's identity."
Kael turned to her. "Then where is it?"
Elara reached into her coat and pulled out a shard she hadn't shown anyone before. A small, broken mirror.
"I've had it this whole time. I just didn't know what it was."
---
Elsewhere: Nocthros Awakens
Far beyond the Keep, Theren stood atop a tower of the Dead Sky.
"The Seventh is claimed," he whispered.
Nocthros swirled around him, a storm without form.
> "Good. The world is almost ready."
"What now?" Theren asked.
The voice replied:
> "Now… we break the sky."