The guild council chamber burned with tension.
Banners hung heavy on the stone walls — the crimson lion of the Crimson Fangs, the silver tower of Spirewatch, the golden wings of Elysian Dawn. Guild masters and captains filled the long table, their voices rising in anger.
"First, he clears an S-class dungeon alone."
"Then he dismantles Hale's assassins."
"And now — he's survived an encounter with a divine being? Impossible."
Fists slammed the table. Maps of the city shuddered under the weight of rage.
"He's destabilizing everything we've built," Hale growled, scarred arms flexing around his axe. "If people believe power can exist outside the guilds, our control collapses. He has to die."
The Spirewatch leader nodded coldly. "Agreed. We strike publicly. Humiliate him before the people. If he resists, we erase him."
All eyes turned to Lyra Duskveil, who leaned against her chair, staff resting at her side. She hadn't spoken yet.
"You're quiet," Hale said, his voice dripping with disdain. "What's your angle, mage?"
Lyra twirled a strand of silver hair around her finger, violet eyes glowing faintly. "My angle? Simple. I was there when the Editor appeared."
The council stilled.
"What did you see?"
Lyra's lips curved into a thin smile. "I saw Elias Crowe break it."
Gasps rippled through the chamber. The Spirewatch master slammed his fist down. "Lies. Editors are divine. They can't be destroyed."
"They can," Lyra said softly. "Or rather… he can."
The room erupted again. Threats. Plans. Demands. But Lyra only half-listened. Her thoughts were elsewhere — on the calm way Elias had stood before the Editor, on the way he had shielded her without hesitation, on the quiet weight in his voice when he'd said, "Stay behind me."
Her heart beat faster at the memory.
This man… he's not just power. He's inevitability.
---
The Warning
Later that night, Lyra found him where she had known he'd be — in the upper levels of the abandoned archive wing, the Codex floating quietly at his side as he read through dusty scrolls.
"You don't sleep much, do you?" she said.
Elias didn't look up. "Not when the world keeps handing me unfinished pages."
She approached, her cloak trailing softly across the floor. "The guilds have decided," she said bluntly. "They're going to move against you. Soon. Publicly."
Elias turned a page, eyes never leaving the text. "Of course they are."
Her brows furrowed. "You don't sound surprised."
"I'm not," he replied. "Guilds hate what they can't control. I'm just… confirming the obvious."
Lyra folded her arms. "Then what's your plan?"
Elias finally looked at her. His glasses glinted in the lamplight, and for a moment, his gaze was so sharp she felt as though he were reading her entire soul.
"My plan," he said quietly, "is to keep turning pages. And to see how long it takes before the guilds realize they're not the authors of this story anymore."
Lyra's throat tightened. His words shouldn't have rattled her, but they did. She masked it with a smirk. "Careful. Talking like that will make me believe in you."
"Do you?" Elias asked.
The question struck harder than she expected. Her heart skipped. "I…" She hesitated, for once unsure.
She thought of the guilds — their greed, their manipulation, their lies. She thought of the way Hale had sneered at her, the way the council had dismissed her voice until she mentioned Elias. She thought of the Codex shielding her, saving her when she would have been erased like ink from a page.
Her voice came out softer than intended. "I want to."
---
Lyra's Crossroads
Back in her quarters that night, Lyra sat with her staff across her knees, staring at the crest of Elysian Dawn carved into the wood.
She had served the guild for years. Trained, fought, killed for them. But what had it brought her? A ceiling she could never surpass. A role she could never escape.
And then Elias Crowe had appeared — a man with no Class, no guild, no backing — and he had done what none of them could.
He read me like I was just another page.
Her cheeks warmed. She shook the thought away, but it lingered stubbornly.
For the first time, Lyra Duskveil wondered if her story no longer belonged to the guild.
Maybe it belonged… to him.