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Chapter 22 - Siege of the Forgotten Vault

There is a library that no mortal remembers.

Not because it is hidden…

But because the gods erased the memory of its existence.

It is called the Vault of Forgotten Flame — the place where all erased names, censored histories, and divine crimes are buried beneath time.

And now, it had a visitor.

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🛡️ The Ashborn March

At dawn, the Ashborn army stood at the edges of the Flame-Ravine — the last border before celestial territory.

Aedric stood in front of them, wearing the Crown of Ember. It floated above his shoulder like a sun about to collapse.

Lyara approached, limping slightly. The Eye of Fate had been quiet… too quiet.

> "This Vault… if it truly holds everything they erased…"

> "Then it holds proof. Of everything."

Aedric nodded.

> "It holds my death."

> "And the truth that they've killed flamebearers for centuries."

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🏛️ Inside the Vault

The Vault of Forgotten Flame wasn't a building.

It was a prison.

Carved into the roots of a god-tree that once bled time.

The doors were made of silence — black stone that hissed when touched.

Aedric walked forward.

The flame around him flared.

The door screamed.

Then opened.

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Inside was an infinite spiral — shelves of glowing scrolls, sealed memories, and orbs containing moments removed from history.

Each one hummed with pain.

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📜 The Memory Traps

The gods had not left their secrets undefended.

The moment Aedric touched the first memory — the Vault attacked.

The scroll shattered.

And from it rose a shadow.

His mother's face.

Her voice.

Her final scream.

A memory not of his — but of her erasure.

Lyara screamed beside him.

Her Eye opened without consent.

Visions poured in.

Too many.

> "They're trying to drown us in forgotten pain!"

Aedric gritted his teeth.

> "Then we become fire."

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He called on the Emberborne glyph.

Flame surged — not to destroy, but to illuminate.

Each memory froze.

Each scream calmed.

The Vault recognized him.

> "You… are not forgotten."

> "You… are one of us."

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📚 The Hidden Archivist

At the Vault's core, someone stood.

A woman wrapped in inked robes.

Eyes ink-black.

Skin marked by thousands of sealed glyphs.

She had no name.

She had erased it herself — to guard this place.

She bowed deeply.

> "We've waited for one who remembers."

> "Take what you seek."

> "Rewrite what they feared."

She handed Aedric a scroll.

It burned in his hands.

> "What is this?" he asked.

She smiled.

> "Your original death."

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🩸 The Truth Revealed

As the scroll unsealed, the Vault shook.

Images spilled out.

Aedric, chained by gods.

Caelen watching from the shadows.

The gods branding him a threat — not for what he did, but for what he might remember.

He had never committed a crime.

He was erased because he asked the wrong question:

> "Why do only gods get to write the story?"

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💥 Betrayal Confirmed

Lyara gasped.

> "They lied."

> "Everything."

> "Your flame was never corrupted. It was pure."

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Aedric stood still.

Then turned.

> "Burn the copies."

> "Release the memories."

The Archivist hesitated.

> "The gods will kill me."

Aedric touched her hand.

> "Then be remembered."

Her eyes widened.

Then… smiled.

She stepped into the fire.

Her name returned.

Alira.

The fire engraved it into the world once more.

She lived.

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🌌 Final Scene: Heaven Reacts

In the celestial realm, bells rang.

Scrolls burst into flame.

The Vault had been breached.

The gods screamed.

> "He has released the forgotten."

> "He has begun the undoing."

> "Find him."

The Masked God stood still.

> "No."

> "Let him run."

> "Let the world hear his flame."

> "Then… we show them what forgetting really means."

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