Chapter 10 – The Echoed Oath

The mountain wind howled like a memory refusing to fade. Selene stood at the edge of the Skyward Reach, her cloak snapping behind her, eyes fixed on the old observatory perched atop the cliffs.

Behind her, Aro and Iris climbed the final steps—silent, breath misting in the thinning air.

Inside the observatory, dust shimmered in sunbeams that pierced cracked domes overhead. Ancient star-maps lay scattered, symbols too old for ink but too persistent to erase.

Selene (softly): "He once stood here. The First Fox. They say he made a promise not even death could unravel."

Aro brushed snow from a stone inscription near the altar, the engraved fox-rune weathered but whole.

Aro: "This wasn't built as a watchtower. It's a memory vault."

Selene stepped forward, hand hovering above the rune. Her brooch pulsed in sync.

A sudden shimmer overtook the walls—stars realigned in bursts of light, and for a moment, the air whispered a voice not theirs:

"When we remember again…"

Iris stiffened. "Did you hear that?"

But the echo was gone.

Selene: "It's happening more often. Echoes. Glitches in the past."

Aro: "Not glitches. Threads. They're reaching back."

From a side room, they unearthed scrolls sealed with the twin-fox crest—documents buried from the age of the Oathbearers. One bore a message half-burnt:

"…If they sever memory, then let oath outlast time…"

Selene turned to Iris. "Prepare the council. And those who still believe."

That night, back in the city, the stars above Valencrest flared unnaturally—briefly forming the same symbol etched in the observatory. Civilians gasped. Monks lit candles. The rune had returned.

Atop the palace, Selene stood with Aro at her side.

Selene (vowing to the stars): "We won't forget. Not who we were. Not what we're becoming."

Aro echoed, his voice steady:

"Then let the oath be remembered."