The cold hush of midnight cloaked Velden as Violet slipped out of the Council's wing, the shadows welcoming her presence. Echo trailed quietly behind, while Ren and Iris led the way through service tunnels mapped only in the oldest archives. A night wind whispered through the stone corridors, curling around them like the secrets they were about to uncover.
"We're really doing this," Echo whispered, half excited, half terrified.
"Of course we are," Violet said. "We have to know the truth."
Ren stopped at a large arch sealed by a circular stone door engraved with the same seal as the Council's sigils. Faint runes blinked across its surface.
"This is it," he said. "The Inner Vault. I've only seen this in diagrams."
Iris stepped forward and pulled a pendant from her robes. A shard of violet crystal, swirling with mana. She pressed it into the door's center.
The runes blazed.
A deep rumble echoed, and the stone door slowly shifted, dust billowing from cracks long sealed.
Inside lay silence—and power.
The room was circular, its walls lined with ancient artifacts, chained relics, and crystals pulsing with forgotten energy. A central pedestal floated above a mana ring, projecting holograms that cycled between old maps, dungeon structures, and… figures. Human figures.
"Is that…" Echo's voice caught. "A simulation?"
"No," Iris said. "Those are recorded memories."
Violet stepped forward. One projection hovered near her—three robed mages standing over a glowing crystal. She recognized one of them.
Her breath hitched. "That's—"
"My father," Iris said quietly.
Everyone turned.
"You said he was missing," Ren said.
"He is," Iris replied. "He disappeared years ago trying to uncover the secrets of the first Breach. This… this confirms he got further than we knew."
Violet turned to the projection again. The mages were chanting, and the crystal pulsed wildly, casting long shadows. Then something tore through the image—jagged and black, with red eyes. The projection dissolved.
"They opened something," Violet said, voice low.
"A second rift," Iris confirmed. "Unstable. They tried to seal it, but the entity they touched was already inside."
"Not a monster," Violet said. "Something older."
Echo moved to another projection. This one showed early monster anatomy. And among them—symbols identical to those on the Masked Seeker's cloak.
"He's not just warning us," Echo murmured. "He's connected to this."
Ren crouched beside a sealed scroll case. He opened it slowly, revealing aged parchment. "This… this talks about a group called the Ashen Circle."
Violet stepped closer. The name gave her chills.
"They were the ones who manipulated the mana flows. Who believed in weaponizing it for dominance," Ren read. "Their experiments created the first intelligent monsters."
"And their symbol," Iris said, pointing to the scroll's seal, "matches the Seeker's mask."
Everyone stood in silence.
"It can't be coincidence," Violet said. "If he's a descendant, or a survivor, maybe he's trying to correct their mistake."
"Or finish what they started," Ren said.
Violet shook her head. "I don't think so. He warned us. And today… he showed his face. That wasn't a threat. It was a test. He wants to know if we're ready."
A soft chime interrupted them. A figure shimmered to life above the pedestal—a glowing blue apparition of an old woman in regal robes.
"Unauthorized access detected," the voice said calmly. "You have sixty seconds before containment protocol initiates."
"Time to go!" Echo shouted.
They scrambled for the exit, Violet pausing only to grab the scroll. She tucked it into her satchel as they ran.
The door sealed behind them just as runes burst into a defensive flare. The hallway shook.
"Everyone okay?" Ren gasped.
Violet checked her pack. The scroll was safe. "We're fine. But we need answers. And I think I know where to start."
They regrouped in their dorm, the adrenaline still thick in the air. Violet laid out everything: the Ashen Circle, the rift experiments, and the projections they'd seen.
"We're in too deep to back out now," she said.
Iris nodded. "Agreed. But if we go further, we're no longer students or scholars. We're becoming… something else."
Echo met Violet's gaze. "Then let's decide what we're fighting for."
Violet looked out the window at the moonlit skyline.
"For the world my parents dreamed of," she said. "For every soul lost to the darkness. We bring this truth to light."
---
The sun rose sluggishly over Velden Academy, casting amber light across stone walls that now felt heavier with the weight of secrets. In the common hall, Violet paced back and forth, the forbidden scroll laid open before her. Iris had already begun decoding the faded glyphs, and Ren jotted translations as fast as he could while Echo brewed yet another pot of strong tea.
"It's written in Elder Sigil," Iris murmured. "But the structure is fractured, as if pieces were removed."
"Maybe intentionally," Violet said. "To keep someone from reconstructing the ritual."
Ren tapped a line with his pencil. "Here—'The conduit must be bound by will, or the Void shall unmake it.'"
"The conduit?" Echo echoed.
"It could mean a person," Iris said. "Or a magical item, maybe even a place."
"Or Violet," Ren muttered under his breath.
Everyone fell silent.
"I felt something when I touched that projection," Violet said slowly. "Like a pulse. Like something was… listening."
Echo looked alarmed. "You don't think it marked you, do you?"
"No," Violet said. "It didn't feel hostile. Just… curious."
Iris flipped to another page. "This part talks about a vault within a vault. A second location, protected by illusions and memory wards. That's where the Ashen Circle's last experiment was buried."
"And I bet that's where we'll find more about the Seeker," Ren said.
Violet nodded. "Then we're going. Tonight."
---
The group prepared throughout the day, gathering enchanted items, cloaks, and glyphs that could counter memory wards. Violet paused in her dorm to write a letter, just in case. She sealed it with her signet and tucked it beneath her pillow.
As darkness fell, they made their move.
The hidden vault was buried beneath the oldest library tower, long abandoned. They moved quietly, bypassing patrolling wards and whispering spells to cloak their presence. Iris's pendant glowed faintly, guiding them to a narrow stairwell behind a false bookshelf.
"We're close," she whispered.
They descended in silence until the stairs ended in a smooth wall covered in twisting sigils. Ren pressed a hand to the stone.
"Memory ward," he confirmed. "This door will make us forget we were ever here if we touch it unprepared."
Iris drew a rune in the air and passed it to each of them. "These should shield us for five minutes. That's all we'll get."
The wall dissolved like smoke. They stepped through together.
Inside was a cylindrical chamber wrapped in silver and black tiles. At its center stood a stone basin, glowing faintly blue. Floating above it was a sphere of condensed mana, wrapped in a swirling vortex of symbols.
Violet approached carefully. "This isn't a vault. It's a containment chamber."
"I can't believe this was under the Academy all along," Echo said.
Ren pointed to the wall. "Those are coordinates—linked to other vaults. It's a network."
Suddenly, the vortex shifted. A shimmer of light took shape—an image.
The Seeker.
But younger. Bare-faced. Human. His eyes were wide, frantic.
"...this is my last message," his voice echoed. "If you're seeing this, the Ashen Circle failed. The rift destabilized. We sealed it here, but the price was too high. If the containment fails—Violet, you must finish what we started."
The image flickered.
"I couldn't stop them. But you… you were born for this."
Violet stared at the projection, stunned.
"He knew me," she whispered.
"It's a message from the past," Iris said softly. "He wasn't warning you. He was passing the torch."
Violet stepped toward the sphere. As her fingers neared it, the symbols parted like mist. Light enveloped her, and a rush of memories surged through her mind—echoes of battles, choices, sacrifices. She saw her parents standing beside the Seeker, younger, determined.
"They were part of the Circle," she gasped. "They turned against it."
Echo stepped back in shock. "That means… they helped seal the rift."
"They gave their lives to protect me from it," Violet said. Her hands trembled, but her voice held steady. "And now it's my turn."
Ren found a final note etched into the pedestal: Key resides in the City of Ash. Seek the Hollow Flame.
Violet turned, fire in her eyes. "That's our next destination."
---
Later, as they emerged into the cool night, a figure stood on the library steps.
The Seeker.
Not an image, not a projection—real.
His mask glinted in the moonlight, his voice deep and quiet. "You've seen the truth."
Violet stepped forward. "And I'm not turning away."
He bowed. "Then we begin the real battle."
The wind picked up, scattering petals and ash across the Academy grounds.