Chapter 15: Mark of the Forgotten
They left the Vault of Serith before dawn.
Eron walked in silence, the fragmented key tucked beneath his cloak. The mountain behind them sealed itself with a slow grind of ancient stone. No one spoke for hours.
Finally, Sira broke the silence.
"We survived. But that thing… Nira—she isn't just one of us anymore."
Eron glanced back at the girl trailing them. Her silver eyes were no longer glowing, but something had changed. The vault had touched her. Or awoken her.
"She was always something more," he said. "Now she knows it."
---
Caelora Hall – Return
The forge burned hot when they returned. Rurik met them with a worried scowl. Lyra was already preparing bandages.
Eron dropped the broken helm of a Hollow Flame soldier onto the stone table.
"They weren't mercenaries. They were engineered—part flesh, part machine."
Eric confirmed it aloud for the others.
> "Modified neural implants. Their thoughts were suppressed, their identities removed.
Likely controlled from a remote node."
Lyra's voice was tight. "So whoever sent them is still out there."
Eron nodded. "And now they know we can fight back."
---
Nira's Change
That night, Eron found Nira staring into the flame basin.
She didn't flinch when he sat beside her.
"They called me a node," she said. "Back in the vault. Do you know what that means?"
"I don't," Eron admitted. "But Eric thinks you're linked to a lost line of AI-human integration experiments. Ones buried before the Collapse."
She smiled weakly. "So I'm a lab ghost."
"No," he said. "You're Caelora."
---
Eric's voice chimed softly.
> "Her body is human. But her mind… carries old echoes.
Not all of them were hers."
> "Meaning?"
> "Fragments of other lives may surface. Dreams. Skills. Pain."
Nira looked up. "And if one of those lives tries to take over?"
Eron's voice didn't waver.
"Then I'll fight it. And so will you."
She smiled. This time, it reached her eyes.
---
A Message From the Shadows
Late that night, a sealed drone reached Caelora's gates.
It carried a message crystal. No name, no crest.
Eron activated it alone in the vault.
A face appeared — pale, sharp-boned, wearing a velvet collar.
"I watched your vault spark," the man said. "I watched the fire rise."
"You took something that belongs to more than just you."
He leaned forward.
"I don't want to kill you yet. But I do want the second key."
Then the image distorted… and showed a familiar face:
Lyra. Bound. Hooded.
> "You'll find her if you're worthy. But understand this—Caelora's past wasn't buried. It was locked away for a reason."
The crystal shattered.
Eron stood in silence.
Then turned to Eric.
"Trace it."
> "Already begun."
---