The fires had dimmed, but the air still shimmered with the echo of clashing steel and ancient magic. Jason stood at the edge of the battlefield, his breathing shallow, the first Anchor clutched tightly in his hand. The masked Remnant who had challenged him was gone—fled or destroyed, Jason wasn't sure—but his words lingered.
"The Gate shall bleed again."
Kaelith limped over, a gash across her shoulder. "They were prepared. They knew we were coming."
Jason stared into the dying embers. "Someone's guiding them… someone who knows the Gate better than we do."
Elias crouched beside the remains of one of the fallen enemies. He pulled something from the ash—a rusted sigil etched with three jagged lines.
Jason recognized it immediately. "That's my father's mark…"
Leah narrowed her eyes. "But why would they carry his symbol?"
Jason didn't answer. Instead, a memory stirred—a whisper long buried in his blood.
---
Flashback: Twelve Years Ago
The Night of the First Escape
Jason was only a child then, no more than six, hiding behind a broken column in their old house near Riverwell. Thunder boomed above, but it wasn't the storm that made him tremble.
His father was speaking to someone outside—a cloaked figure whose voice Jason couldn't hear. Their silhouettes flickered in the lightning.
"I've done what you asked," his father said. "But I won't give you the second key."
The cloaked man's reply was soft but sharp. "Then your son will suffer for your defiance."
Jason had leaned forward, heart pounding.
"Let them come," his father growled. "I'll bury them with the Gate itself if I must."
Jason had never told anyone about that night.
Until now.
---
Back in the present, Jason turned to Elias. "My father was involved with these people before they even called themselves Remnants."
Kaelith's jaw tightened. "That means he knew about the Anchors, the Codex… everything."
"But why wouldn't he tell me?" Jason whispered.
Leah placed a hand on his arm. "Maybe he wanted to protect you."
Jason nodded slowly, but doubt churned in his chest. Protection or secrecy—it felt the same when truth was kept locked away.
He opened the Codex once more. New pages had burned themselves into the book.
Second Anchor: Beneath the Skyvault. Hidden in the city swallowed by silence.
Elias's face grew pale. "That's… Elowen."
Kaelith stiffened. "That city fell into the earth centuries ago. The sky broke above it. No one who entered ever came out."
Jason looked toward the horizon. "Then that's where we go next."