Kael stood in front of the library door, his hand trembling just inches from the panel. The seal had re-formed after Mira left, as if the stones themselves had swallowed her whole.
He wasn't sure if he wanted to open it again.
The night before, he'd dreamed of the whispering books.
They had no voices just pulses of memory, like light pouring into his skull. Words without sound, knowledge without form. It had been beautiful.
It had been terrifying.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out the note Mira had left folded in his hand before she disappeared behind the wall.
You came back. That's a beginning. The library answers beginnings.
Cryptic, like everything she said.
But it worked.
He touched the panel. It glowed faintly, scanning something beneath his skin. There was no fingerprint reader, no mechanical lock only a hum, like the door was thinking.
And then it opened.
Inside, the library was still and vast.
It wasn't a place it was a memory carved into stone.
The ceiling soared above like a cathedral, shattered by roots and vines that curled through broken glass. Shelves leaned like tired soldiers, their contents clinging to life. Some of the books were missing spines. Others seemed to breathe, faint pulses of light blinking between their pages.
He stepped inside and the door sealed behind him.
No turning back now.
"Hello?" he called, instantly regretting how loud his voice sounded.
No answer.
Kael moved forward, drawn to the central pedestal where the holographic projection had first burst to life. He didn't touch it this time. Instead, he looked around, taking everything in.
To the left: a spiral staircase descending into the dark. To the right: a sealed archive, faintly glowing red. Locked.
Ahead, near the base of a broken pillar, lay a book. Open.
Its pages were blank.
He stepped closer. The moment his fingers brushed the edge of the page, a sharp, electric pain shot through his temple. His vision swam and then something slipped in.
A memory. But not his.
A voice: "They burned the Index. But the Core is buried under Spire Three. If you reach it—"
Another voice, urgent: "They've rerouted the Firewall. They're watching everything now."
Kael gasped, stumbling back.
The book snapped shut.
Sweat beaded down his neck.
It wasn't just information. These were recorded minds. Ghosts of people who'd fought, hidden, died leaving behind more than ink. They'd embedded their thoughts into this place. Like neural echoes.
A data mind. Ancient tech. Illegal beyond reckoning.
He was holding the memories of criminals or saviors.
A sudden ping echoed through the library.
Kael froze.
A soft light blinked to life on the far wall.
Not part of the library.
A small silver box, wedged into the stone. It blinked again—three short bursts. Then silence.
A tracking beacon.
Kael cursed and ran to it. It wasn't large, no bigger than a coin, but it was humming.
Hot.
Fresh.
Someone had planted it here.
Which meant someone knew.
He crushed it underfoot, sparks sputtering beneath his boot.
Not good enough.
He needed to erase his trail. Any record of entry. Any signal.
He remembered what Ryn had once said: If you're being tracked, don't run. Confuse them.
He looked around. The room didn't have cameras—but that didn't mean it wasn't being watched. If the Enforcers had old-world tech, they could use thermal echoes, EM scans, pressure signatures…
He had to scramble them.
He ran for the spiral stairwell. Descending fast.
The steps led to a room even older —older than the city, maybe. Stone and metal fused together. Symbols etched into the walls, glowing faintly.
On the far end, a control panel hummed.
Kael didn't know how he knew what it was.
But he did.
His fingers moved like they remembered something he hadn't lived.
The library answers beginnings…
He activated the override sequence.
Alarms didn't blare. Nothing exploded.
But the hum of the beacon above died.
All surveillance –gone.
He hoped.
And then, a voice.
Not in his head this time.
Behind him.
"You learn quickly. That's rare."
Kael turned, startled.
Mira stood in the doorway, arms folded, eyes dimly lit by the glow of the walls.
"You left a tracker in the library," he accused.
She raised an eyebrow. "No. I found a tracker in the library. And I came to see if you knew what that meant."
He didn't answer.
She stepped forward.
"They know someone came here. That means they'll come back. And next time, they won't send a scout. They'll bring fire."
Kael clenched his fists.
"I didn't mean to–"
"You read a memory node," she said coldly. "That leaves a mark. On you."
She pointed to his forehead.
He touched it instinctively. Felt nothing.
But he could still hear the voice in his head. Spire Three. The Core.
"What do they want?" he asked. "Why ban knowledge like this? Why hunt memories?"
Mira's expression softened.
"Because knowledge breaks chains. And they need us bound."
Kael met her eyes. For the first time, she didn't seem like a relic. She seemed like a warrior.
"What do we do?" he asked.
She smiled faintly.
"We start with firewalls. Then we learn how to tear them down."