The echo of the Rift rumbled deep beneath the bones of Cinderguard—so faint it was more memory than sound. But Daru heard it.
She stood barefoot in the Citadel's central courtyard, surrounded by workers and soldiers who gave her a wide berth. The child moved silently, fingers outstretched, tracing invisible lines in the air. Wherever she walked, memory echoes whispered—faint, ancient things clinging to her like smoke.
Kess watched from the top of the ramp with arms folded and face unreadable.
"She's triggering latent architecture," she murmured.
Beside her, Gellon frowned. "Can we contain it?"
"No. But we can study it."
Down below, Veyna crouched beside Daru and offered a piece of dried fruit.
Daru stared at it, then stared at her.
"I'm not hungry," she said.
"That's okay," Veyna replied, smiling. "Neither am I. But I still eat. Because it helps me punch things later."
Daru blinked. "I don't punch."
"You might someday."
Kian approached slowly. "She already did. That crater wasn't nothing."
Daru looked up at him. "You're still broken."
Veyna narrowed her eyes. "You keep saying that."
"I'm not wrong," Daru replied simply.
Kian knelt so they were eye-level. "What do you mean, Daru?"
"You built something beautiful… but you buried something terrible underneath it. Something sharp. It's trying to get out."
[Architect Codex: Alert]
▸ Warning – Foundational Instability Detected
▸ Deeper Vaults Stirring Below Cinderguard
▸ Root Structures Reactivated by Proximity to Beacon-Class Entities
▸ Possible Connection to: Vault of Lament
Later that day, in the Codex Chamber, Kian gathered his team.
A projection hovered above the table—a 3D glyph-etched model of Cinderguard. New threads of light pulsed downward, showing old buried vaults, previously inaccessible or thought collapsed.
"We were building on top of one of the First Architect's Vaults," Kess said. "A sealed space known as the Vault of Lament. According to system theory, it shouldn't even be reachable without tier-three Architect clearance."
Jerie frowned. "That's bad, right?"
"It's catastrophic," Kess said. "If the vault stirs, it could release constructs we don't even have names for."
Veyna leaned against the wall. "So what's the plan?"
"We descend," Kian said.
Everyone turned.
He continued, "We enter the Vault. Before it opens on its own. Before someone else does it for us."
The descent began that evening.
Seris led the way through the undercatacombs, blade drawn, silent. Jerie followed close behind, throwing sparks of glyphlight to keep the path clear. Gellon and Kess brought scanning tools and weapons—relics from Hollowfang, refined and rebuilt for subterranean traversal.
Veyna stayed near Daru, who walked as though drawn by invisible threads.
Kian brought up the rear, his Codex casting soft pulses of light from his bracer. The closer they got, the heavier the air became. Not in pressure—emotion. Regret. Grief. Buried sorrow.
As they entered the final spiral, Daru paused.
"It remembers you," she whispered.
"Who?" Kian asked, but she had already moved on.
At the base of the spiral lay a massive stone gate, sealed with six interlocking glyph-wheels, each spinning slowly around a core that pulsed like a heart.
[Architect Codex: Vault Detected – Tier-3 Access Pending]
▸ Initiate Override?
▸ [Y/N]
Kian didn't hesitate.
▸ Y
The wheels clicked into place.
The gate cracked open, groaning like a buried god stirring from sleep.
Beyond it, a vast chamber spread like a wound carved in the world.
Massive walls etched in forgotten language. Floating platforms connected by shifting bridges. And suspended at the center—glowing with unbearable sadness—was a construct in the shape of a man, head bowed, arms bound by memory-chains.
Daru stepped forward.
"That's the one who tried to build a city out of sorrow."
[Codex Alert – Vault of Lament]
▸ Identity: The Forgotten Architect
▸ Status: System-Rejected Entity
▸ Warning: High Cognitive Hazard
▸ Advisory: No one leaves unchanged
Kian swallowed.
"What happens if we speak to him?"
Kess looked pale. "Depends on what he remembers."
End of Chapter 45