Chapter 26

The Truth of the Thorne Legacy

The air in Anya's underground sanctuary snapped with unresolved tension. Julian Thorne, propped against the doorframe, eyed Anya with naked suspicion, his gaze sporadically darting to Elara, who stood conflicted between allegiances. All remnants of his prior vulnerability were gone, replaced by the tough, guarded CEO Elara was familiar with.

Anya, Julian said again, his voice menacing and low. I believed your organisation to be nothing more than a ghost story. A legend murmured among those who dig too deeply.

Anya was unmoved. My group, the 'Lynx Collective,' has been operating in the background for centuries, Julian. We were the first guardians of the balance, even before your family's pact with the 'Guardians of Aethel.' She motioned to a spacious, plush seating area. Sit. Both of you. We have much to talk about, and time is not on our side.

Elara shifted to a chair, drawing it nearer to Julian, who hesitantly sat beside her, his muscles tense. Anya engaged the holographic map of Lagos, zoning in on the exact area where the 'Aethel' core was interred.

Your family, Julian, the Thornes, were entrusted with protecting the physical location of the 'Aethel' core when it was first excavated thousands of years ago," Anya began, her voice level but authoritative. "They were to be its silent protectors, leaving the Guardians undisturbed until a true 'Master Architect' could emerge to safely integrate its power with humanity.

Julian snorted. Custodians? My people built an empire. They were pioneers, not caretakers.

Yes, Anya replied, a barely noticeable tinge of melancholy in her eyes. And that was their tragic flaw. They found that they could siphon off a small portion of 'Aethel's' raw power. Not enough to completely master it, but enough to power enormous industrial ventures and to amass unparalleled wealth and influence. She glanced at Julian. Your family, the Thorne dynasty, owes its very existence to the 'Sacred Fire' of Aethel.

Elara gazed at Julian, watching shock battle denial on his features. The icy, calculating CEO was clearly disturbed by this discovery.

They violated the pact with the Guardians, Anya went on. They woke what was supposed to slumber. And by doing so, they drew other, less honorable powers—the earliest foundations of what would rise as 'The Syndicate.' A union of convenience soon developed into a parasitic one, with 'The Syndicate' becoming powerful on the purloined energy, and the Thorne family acquiring great influence, but at an awful expense to the balance.

My father, Elias Thorne, spent his life trying to break free, Julian cut in, his own voice strained. He tried to atone for the sins of his ancestors.

He did, Anya conceded. Elias Thorne discovered the full truth of the Thornes' betrayal and 'The Syndicate's' true power. And he discovered Lucas Vance, a true Master Architect, the first in millennia, who could truly understand and stabilize 'Aethel.' Your father allied with Lucas Vance, with hopes of finally freeing the core and destroying 'The Syndicate' from the inside out. She looked at Elara. But 'The Syndicate' was too firmly entrenched. They murdered your father, Lucas, to prevent him from completing his work. And murdered Elias Thorne when he became too great a threat, leaving you both as orphaned heirs to a war you barely understood.

The room was silent, dense with the weight of centuries of violence and lies. Elara's chest ached deeply, realizing the profundity of her father's sacrifice and Julian's inherited burden. He was not cold, but rather a man trapped in a family legacy of power and terrible mistake.

So, Julian spoke, his voice now empty of the aggression it had held before, replaced with an icy calmness. My family created 'The Syndicate,' and my father gave his life attempting to dismantle it. And now they've taken the key, and they've locked the core. What's left?

Anya's finger traced a line on the holographic map, marking the site of the old power substation Elara had discovered. The hidden control nexus. Your father, Lucas, designed it as a final fail-safe. A place where the energy of the core could be diverted, cleansed, and perhaps restarted without the physical key, if it's in the control of the individual with the right lineage and understanding. She looked directly at Elara. Someone like you. The Master Architect. The one who can actually command Aethel.

And the Guardians? Elara queried, recalling the frightening creature lurking in the aqueduct.

They will continue to defend the core, as they have been programmed to do since time immemorial, Anya explained. But if 'Aethel' is activated from the control center, its energy will be focused and stabilised so that it won't overwhelm the city or fall into 'The Syndicate's' hands. The Guardians will then most probably return to dormancy. At present, they are a wild card, reacting to threats they perceive as aimed at their core.

Julian pushed himself away from the chair, walking over to a wall panel that displayed the real-time movement of 'The Syndicate's' active units. They're still active. They'll be closing their net. They know about the core, and now they know about Elara. He faced Anya. We need a plan. A way to get Elara to that control hub, and a way to put an end to 'The Syndicate' once and for all.

Anya nodded, her eyes keen. That's exactly what we've been waiting for. We have the information. You have the resources. And Elara, you have the expertise. The next stage starts. But it won't be simple. 'The Syndicate' is more familiar with Lagos than anyone. They have had centuries to spin their web. She stopped, her eyes on Elara, an unspoken question in them. Are you prepared to fully take your inheritance, Elara Vance, and unleash the 'Sacred Fire'?