The fire had burned down to soft embers, painting the walls orange.
Riven was already half-asleep, head tilted back, mouth open. His snores echoed like a saw on wood. Seren shoved a scrap into his lap that said Useless. He didn't even notice.
Kael sat across from her, the Key turning slow in his palm. The silence here wasn't heavy like the trial rooms. It was thinner, watchful, but not choking.
Seren pulled out her pouch and set it on her knees. Dozens of scraps, folded and smudged, spilled out. She laid them in neat lines on the floor. Some had words crossed out. Some were half-burned. A few were sharp and clean.
Kael raised a brow. "Keeping records?" His voice cracked low.
She nodded once. Then she pushed a few toward him.
Board of Bonds — wrong step = chain.Whispering Wall — answer truth, or it answers.Bells — memory trades. Never blood.
Kael read them slow. The handwriting was quick but steady. She wasn't just writing notes. She was building a ledger of her own.
"You're cataloguing it," Kael rasped.
She tilted her head, gray eyes calm. Then she wrote: Someone has to remember.
Riven snorted in his sleep, mumbling about stew. Kael almost smiled. "Not him."
Seren's lips twitched, just a little. She scribbled one more scrap and slid it over: You're too quiet. Won't last if you don't speak your name.
Kael's chest tightened. He closed his hand over the scrap, rough. "Names don't matter here."
Her look said otherwise. Sharp. Steady.
He leaned back, staring at the embers. His throat burned with every swallow. Finally, he muttered, "I'm scared I'll forget. That one day the wall calls me Hollow, and I answer without thinking."
Seren's pencil scratched quick. She held up the note: Then I'll write it until you don't forget. Kael.
The word hit harder than the gong.
He tucked the scrap into his cloak, folding it careful. For the first time in a while, he felt something other than the Ledger's weight — like a tether tying him to the world.
The embers hissed. Somewhere deep in the stone, a faint sound rolled through.
BOOOONG.
Riven stirred, groaning. "Ugh. Even my dreams got bells now. This place is hell." He turned, face pressed to his arm, and went back to snoring.
Kael let out a rough laugh, short and quiet. Seren watched the embers, still and calm, her scraps lined neat beside her.
The Labyrinth remembered everything. But maybe so would they.