Velmora's jaw flexed slightly. "Because saying his name might still trigger something."
Lilith nodded. "The old texts say he reached a level of power where speaking his name could let him hear it. Could let him peer across time."
"Not just superstition?" Velmora asked, though her tone already suggested she knew the answer.
"No," Elowen spoke up quietly from the side. "The ancients feared him. Not because he ruled, but because he watched."
Velmora took another breath.
"So the Vault wasn't just asleep. It was dormant. Waiting for a signal."
"And Ethan was the signal," Lilith said.
Velmora looked at the others, then back at Lilith.
"Then the threat isn't just what Ethan can do…"
Lilith finished for her, "It's who might come once they know it's awakened."
Velmora's face hardened. "The cults, and the other powerful beings who have been sleeping."
