Chapter 52

At first, it didn't even sound *human.*

The scream that tore through the sky was something else entirely—a deep, guttural vibration that came not from above, but *within.* It rattled through the bones. Made hearts skip beats. Shook birds from trees. Cracked glass that hadn't shattered in a century.

Kye dropped the parchment.

The replica of him on the bridge flickered once, then disintegrated into ash and code—leaving only the faint outline of where it sat, burned into the stones.

Sena clutched his arm.

"That sound…"

Kaelion had already pulled a wide sigil across the path with glowing threads, casting a protective veil over them.

Renna crouched low, hand on her blade, eyes locked on the rising third sun.

"It's *moving.*"

She was right.

The false sun wasn't staying still. It drifted sideways—*sliding* across the sky like a spotlight in search of something.

Or someone.

Kye's voice was steady. "It's scanning."

Kaelion nodded grimly. "Looking for specific frequency signatures. Probably us."

"Can it see through your veil?" Veika asked.

"Not yet," Kaelion muttered. "But the more it screams, the more memory strands it pulls loose from the area."

Sena clutched her chest. "That's what it's doing. I feel it. Like it's trying to *take* something from me."

"Not from you," Kye said.

He turned.

"It's pulling memory from the *land.*"

---

The group ducked under a fallen arch and moved quickly toward the old causeway that led into the highlands. They didn't speak for several minutes, letting the screeching sky do all the noise-making.

When the sound finally began to fade, Kaelion slowed.

"We're not safe. That wasn't just a scream. That was a *signal.*"

Veika asked, "To who?"

Kaelion answered without hesitation. "The Woken."

Kye clenched his jaw.

The name again.

The Woken.

Ghosts in armor. Killers of thought. Assassins who didn't kill your body—they killed your *memory.* The people they hunted didn't die. They *became someone else.*

Renna looked up. "How long do we have?"

Kaelion looked grim. "If that scream reached them? Days. At most."

Sena's voice was soft. "Then we go to the Vault."

Kye turned to her. "You're sure?"

She nodded. "Ash told me once. The Vault was sealed with a piece of him inside. If anyone can undo it… it's you."

Kaelion's eyes darkened. "If Ash *wants* you to reach the Vault, it's probably a trap."

"I know," Kye said.

He gripped the sword on his back.

"I'm going anyway."

---

By midday, they reached the edge of the highlands.

Mist clung to the hills, thick and yellow-tinged, casting an eerie glow on everything it touched. The trees here were twisted—bent as if bowing to something long gone. The air was too still. Too perfect. Like the moment right before lightning strikes.

Renna pulled her cloak tighter. "This whole place feels like it's watching us."

Sena walked a little closer to Kye than usual.

Kaelion stepped off the path, kneeling at a stone buried in moss.

"It's here."

Veika frowned. "I thought the Vault was underground?"

"It is," Kaelion said, brushing moss away to reveal a circular pattern—eight rings layered over a seal with seven inverted stars.

He pulled a silver coin from his sleeve and pressed it into the center.

The ground trembled.

Veika stumbled back. "Uh—what did you just activate?"

Kaelion didn't answer.

Because the stone circle began to *sink.*

Not just descend—*unravel*—like it was melting downward into a spiral.

Soon, a wide stairway opened, leading into a tunnel so dark it seemed to swallow the light before it touched the steps.

Kye didn't hesitate.

He stepped in.

Renna followed instantly.

Sena swallowed hard, then descended behind them.

Kaelion lingered at the top, drawing sigils in the air.

Veika nudged him. "You coming?"

"Making sure it closes behind us."

"Why?"

Kaelion looked down.

"Because the scream woke more than Woken."

---

Inside the Vault, the air felt colder.

Not temperature—but tone.

The walls weren't stone or metal—they were *recordings.* The inner surface shimmered faintly with moving images, like memories trapped in the walls, repeating endlessly in silent loops.

Kye stopped at one section and touched it.

It showed a younger version of himself.

Barefoot. Laughing.

Running through a forest with Ash beside him—taller, older, wrapped in gray.

Sena watched over his shoulder.

"You smiled like that once."

Kye didn't respond.

Veika stared at a different memory—a battle. One she didn't recognize.

In it, Kaelion was fighting alone, surrounded by fire, his face twisted with rage and exhaustion.

"You were stronger back then," she muttered.

Kaelion walked past her. "I was angrier."

---

They reached the core chamber by nightfall.

A massive sealed door stood at the end of the hallway—its surface untouched by time. Runes blinked across it like a slow heartbeat.

Renna walked up to it.

"Feels like it's breathing."

Kaelion nodded. "The Vault was alive. In a way."

Kye stepped forward and placed his hand on the surface.

The runes pulsed faster.

And then…

A voice echoed from behind the door.

> "Ah. You've grown."

Everyone froze.

Sena's eyes widened. "Ash."

Kaelion took a step back. "He's *in* the Vault?"

The voice chuckled.

> "No, boy. I *am* the Vault."

Kye's voice was steel. "Why bring us here?"

> "Because you're still unfinished. Still soft. Still playing hero."

> "I gave you tools. Broke your bones. Built your instincts."

> "And still, you *chose* people over power."

Kye stepped closer.

"You think that was a mistake?"

> "No."

> "It was your *final lesson.*"

The door creaked.

Not open.

But inward.

Like something was *waiting*.

Ash's voice returned.

> "Come inside, Kye."

> "And meet the version of yourself that never turned back."