The silence is sharp—too sharp.
Not peace.
Stillness before something worse.
Vellidra's echo stands at the center of the chamber, light coiling from her figure like threads spun from memory. She isn't alive. Not truly. But she's *present.*
And she's looking at me.
Her hand lifts. Palm out. Not in welcome—*in challenge.*
"She's waiting," Sov mutters behind me.
"For what?" Wren asks, voice tight.
"For *me,*" I say.
The others hold back as I step forward. The ring thrums, not in fear… in recognition.
Every step echoes through my bones.
I stop just before her, heart pounding.
Vellidra's echo doesn't speak. Her form flickers—moments of her past bleeding through the light. A battle. A death. A child. A city on fire. A mask.
My mask.
She reaches for it.
I don't flinch.
She doesn't take it.
She *touches* it. Just once.
And everything *shifts.*
—A battlefield. Her eyes, not mine. Her ring, bleeding from overuse. Dozens fallen. She's kneeling. Not because she's weak. Because she *chose* to lower herself. Because that's how you protect a city.
—A temple. She stands above the people. And then steps down. Disappearing before they can worship her.
—The Vault. Built by her hands. Sealed by her silence.
Then—*me.*
She sees *me.*
Not her reflection. Not her heir.
Something *new.*
She steps back, light dimming.
And speaks only one word:
"Rewrite."
Then she dissolves into dust and stormlight.
I drop to my knees, gasping. Not from pain. From weight.
The ring is burning. But it's not just mine anymore.
It holds both her silence… and my choice.
Lira kneels beside me. "What happened?"
"She gave it to me," I whisper. "Not her power. Her truth."
"Which is?"
"That no legacy is sacred. Not even hers."
The Vault shifts again.
Above, the fighting hasn't stopped.
Kett hurries forward. "We're still losing ground upstairs."
I rise.
Not as her shadow.
But as *something else.*
The rival sent puppets.
Now I send a message.
"We go back up," I say. "Not to defend."
Branvel grins. "To hunt?"
"To *rewrite* him," I say. "Thread by thread."
We ascend.
And this time, the city *feels* us coming.