Chapter Thirty – The Archive of Eyes (2025)

2025 – Moscow, Russia.

The snowfall was silent, gentle—but the tension in Liam's chest was not. It had been five days since he fled London, five days since Volund disappeared into the smoke, and five days since Sena handed him the encrypted journal with trembling hands and whispered, "Find the one who sees in silence."

And now, beside him, was Rajan—the boy he used to race bicycles with through the rainy streets of Manchester. Now a grown man with wild curls, sarcasm sharper than any blade, and a laptop covered in peeling stickers of anti-corporate slogans.

"You sure this is the place?" Rajan asked, brushing snow off his coat as they stood before a rusted steel door in the back alley of an old Soviet library.

Liam nodded. "The Eye sees from within. That's what the riddle said."

The door opened before either could knock.

A woman, tall and ghostlike with paper-pale skin and one milky eye, stared at them. "Liam Carter. Enter."

Rajan raised a brow. "Well, this isn't ominous at all."

Inside, the library was nothing like the outside. Candlelit stone passages led to rooms filled with old surveillance monitors, ancient books, and scrolls bound in chains. In the center of the main chamber sat a marble chair shaped like an eye.

"Welcome to the Archive of Eyes," the woman said. "One of the last places untouched by the New Dawn."

"The secret organization hunting me?" Liam asked.

She smiled. "No. One of many."

A pause.

Then she handed him a torn page—a letter sealed with an unfamiliar crest. His fingers trembled as he opened it.

Kael is not fiction. He was erased.

You are not his descendant. You are his key.

Before Liam could speak, the wall behind them cracked. Lights died. A shadow moved between the bookshelves.

"They found you," the woman whispered.

Rajan cursed. "Bloody fantastic."

Glass shattered. A low electronic hum filled the air. And Liam, clutching the letter, whispered to himself:

"So the story begins for real."

To be continued...