The chains snapped with a sound like tearing parchment.
The black gate groaned open, releasing a gust of stale air that smelled of dust and ink. Hunters raised weapons, their breath misting in the unnatural cold.
Elias stepped forward first, the Codex glowing faintly at his side. Lyra and Caleb followed close, while guild elites fanned out warily behind.
The Hall of Drafts stretched before them — an endless corridor where walls were not stone but scrolls, stacked and bound together. Their edges fluttered though there was no wind, whispering like voices half-heard.
Caleb's breath hitched. His hands shook as he scribbled notes even while walking. "These scrolls… they're not records. They're drafts. First versions of the world. Abandoned beginnings."
Seraphine Kael smiled faintly, her golden hair glowing in the pale light. "Abandoned by the Authors, perhaps."
Roderick Hale grunted. "Or hidden because they feared what they wrote."
Elias adjusted his glasses, eyes narrowing. "Or both."
---
The First Editor
The scrolls rustled louder. Then one peeled away from the wall, unfolding midair. Its parchment curled, forming limbs of script and a face of blank paper. A quill of bone extended from its hand.
An Editor.
Its voice was ink burning in their minds:
> [Unauthorized Readers Detected.]
Commencing Redaction.
The quill slashed downward. The sound of boots, swords, even breathing vanished instantly.
The world went silent.
Hunters staggered in panic, mouths moving but no sound emerging. A Spirewatch mage screamed voicelessly, clutching her throat.
Lyra's eyes widened. "It erased… sound itself!"
The hunters lashed out anyway, steel flashing. But without shouts, without orders, their coordination collapsed instantly.
---
Elias Responds
The Codex burst open, pages flaring with light.
> [New Page Recorded: Erasure of Sound]
[Annotation Available.]
Elias's hand hovered. His voice, though inaudible, echoed in their minds through the Codex.
"If it erases sound… then we give it back."
He rewrote.
> [Annotation: Erasure of Sound → Echo Archive]
The cavern trembled. Suddenly, every sound returned — but magnified. Every bootstep, every heartbeat, every swing of steel echoed like thunder, overwhelming the silence.
Hunters gasped, clutching ears, but their voices were back. Orders barked. Shields raised. Formation returned.
Elias's glasses glinted in the glow. "Read louder than they erase."
---
Caleb's Contribution
The Editor recoiled, parchment-face wrinkling. It slashed again, this time erasing the light from the hall. Darkness swallowed them.
Panic surged.
But Caleb, crouched low, furiously scribbling notes, suddenly shouted: "It's predictable!"
Hunters turned in confusion.
Caleb's voice shook, but his words were clear. "The Editors can only erase one sense at a time. They redact line by line, not the whole page. They're bound by rules!"
Elias looked at him, and in that moment, respect flickered in his eyes. "Then map its rhythm."
Caleb nodded furiously, sketching the pattern of its strikes — sound, sight, movement. "It follows order. It's not free. It's… a reader's markup!"
---
The Finish
Elias raised his Codex, rewriting again.
> [Annotation: Erasure + Echo → Reversal Draft]
The Editor lunged, quill stabbing to erase Elias himself. But the Codex's page flared. The strike reversed midair, the quill erasing its own body.
The Editor convulsed, parchment peeling apart into ashes of script. Its voice burned away into silence, leaving only the echo of Elias's words:
"Your draft was weak."
---
Aftermath
The hall was still again. Hunters gathered, shaken, but alive.
Caleb slumped against the wall, sweat dripping as he clutched his notes. "I was right… I actually… helped."
Lyra knelt beside him, a faint smile on her lips. "More than helped. You read it better than half the guilds here."
Elias closed the Codex, its glow fading. He looked at Caleb, voice calm but carrying weight.
"You're not mad, Caleb. You're necessary."
The scholar's throat tightened. For the first time in years, someone had said that to him.
But before he could respond, the scroll-walls shifted again. The hall twisted, stretching into impossible dimensions.
And from the shadows, more Editors stirred.
The Hidden Library had only just begun.