The urgent red glow of the Ledger's warning snapped Elias out of his strategic planning. The threat was immediate, tactical, and aimed at severing the very root of the Dread Echo's existence: the Halloway family. If the Collector succeeded in "neutralizing" them—either by death or by magically erasing their ties to the Anchor Point—the captured Dread Echo would become useless, and the powerful Rite of Self-Refuting Essence (RSRE) would be impossible.
"The Hush House is a quarter-mile southeast, behind the oldest row of spruce trees," Elias barked, grabbing the Lodestone and the Weeping Willow Box. "Silus, get the truck. We need speed and impact."
"The Hush House is protected by a standard Stasis Ward," Silus said, already moving toward the garage. "It only keeps out the dead, not the living. The Collector will walk right through it."
"I'll use the Silver Watch to amplify the Stasis Ward into a defensive Repulsion Field," Elias declared, strapping the Lodestone to his belt. "It will drain me, but it will buy us time to perform a field-capture on the Collector."
The Race and the Obstacle
They reached the Hush House—a quaint, secluded cottage meant for bereaved family members—in under two minutes. The house was unnaturally silent. A faint, high-pitched whine that only Elias could perceive emanated from the porch: the signature of a Cartographer Severance Rite in progress.
A figure was standing on the porch, their back to the approaching truck. They were tall, rail-thin, and wore a practical, dusty-brown trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat—the signature uniform of The Collector.
The Collector had a small, silver spike plunged into the wooden floor of the porch. A thin, purplish-black smoke was rising from the spike and snaking toward the closed windows of the cottage.
"That's the Rite of Spiritual Severance," Elias explained, throwing open the truck door. "The spike is leaching the Halloways' spiritual energy, preparing to sever their connection to the Anchor. If that energy is cut, the Dread Echo is freed from the need to consume them, and it will become an unstable, unsealable Void Echo."
Elias activated the Silver Watch, focusing its filtered power on the Hush House's existing Stasis Ward. The energy flowed out of him, burning through his fatigue.
"Stabilize and Repel!"
The Watch pulsed violently. The simple Stasis Ward surrounding the cottage shimmered, then flared into a crackling, golden-white Repulsion Field. The purple-black smoke from the spike recoiled violently, snapping back toward the Collector.
The Collector spun around, annoyed but unfazed. They had the same unsettlingly pale eyes and controlled confidence as Operative Zero-Six and Elder Thorne.
"The new Gatekeeper has courage," the Collector said, their voice low, dry, and distinctly androgynous. "A regrettable waste of potential. I am Operative The Collector. I am here to neutralize the Halloway Anchor Node as a safety precaution. Surrender the Ledger and let me finish."
The Duel of Will
Elias stepped forward, the Lodestone thrumming at his belt. "The balance requires maintenance, not destruction. You don't leave this property."
The Collector smiled, a cold, empty expression. They reached into their coat and pulled out a simple, silver wire—but unlike Silus's fishing line, this wire pulsed with dark, contained energy.
"The Wire of Oblivion," the Collector hissed. "It doesn't bind; it erases. You are too focused on the past, Gatekeeper. This family is a liability."
The Collector moved with impossible speed, whipping the wire toward Elias's head. Elias ducked, the wire slicing through the air with a painful, resonant shing that made his ears ring.
Silus, stationed near the truck, reacted instantly, raising the shotgun. "Stay back, Vance! I can't risk a salt shell near the Repulsion Field!"
Elias knew this was a magical duel. He couldn't rely on simple projectiles.
He focused his attention on the Lodestone, pulling the inscribed iron ball free from his belt. The Lodestone was a massive piece of magnetized iron, inscribed with the complex geometry of the RSRE.
He hurled the Lodestone, not at the Collector, but at the silver spike planted in the porch floor.
The heavy, magnetized Lodestone hit the spike dead center. The complex, magnetic energy of the iron ball instantly collided with the precise, rhythmic energy of the spike's Severance Rite.
CRACK!
The spike shattered, the purplish-black smoke dissipating instantly. The Severance Rite was broken.
The Collector roared in frustration, the lack of emotion in their voice making the sound even more chilling. "You meddling amateur!"
A Trap of Fear
With the spike destroyed, the Collector shifted tactics. They stopped fighting Elias and instead slammed their hands down on the porch railing.
"If I can't sever the link, I will terrorize the Anchor Node!"
The air around the porch thickened. The Collector wasn't using a physical weapon; they were weaving a rapid Psychic Tapestry of Dread—a magical illusion designed to drive the already terrified Halloways inside the cottage into permanent catatonia.
Elias saw the effect immediately, filtered through the Watch: the windows of the Hush House became dark, swirling vortices of pure nightmare. He could hear faint, internal screams—the psychic breakdown of the mother and daughter inside.
Elias had to break the Psychic Tapestry instantly, but he was too far away to use the Ledger. He needed a ranged, non-lethal counter-magic.
He remembered the secondary function of the Shine of the First Church—the white stone shard, which he had in his pocket. It wasn't just a key to the Eye of Oakhaven; it was a catalyst for localized Anchor Magic.
Elias pulled out the white stone shard. He focused the stabilized energy of the Watch into the shard.
"Eye of Oakhaven, Localized Defense!"
The shard didn't glow. It pulsed with a warm, steady, golden light—the antithesis of the cold Dread. Elias threw the shard like a fastball, aiming it directly at the nearest window.
The shard struck the window glass, embedding itself in the frame. The golden light flared outward. It didn't destroy the Psychic Tapestry of Dread; it simply illuminated it. The nightmares visible through the window were suddenly washed in a blinding light, revealing them as empty, transparent constructs.
The Collector screamed, clutching their hands to their head. The sudden infusion of Unfiltered Hope—the essence of the Oculus Christi—was anathema to their dark magic.
The Final Capture
"Now, Elias!" Silus yelled. "The Collector is broken! Push them into the field!"
The Collector staggered backward, blinded by the golden light, right into the shimmering boundary of the Repulsion Field Elias had amplified with the Watch.
The moment the Collector's trench coat brushed the golden-white energy, the field violently rejected them. The Collector was thrown backward with massive force, slamming into the rough ground fifteen feet away. They lay still, their coat smoking slightly. The field had not physically harmed them, but the spiritual shock was devastating.
Elias sprinted over to the downed Cartographer. He snatched the Weeping Willow Box from his belt and slammed the small, consecrated box onto the Collector's chest.
"Absolute Stasis!" Elias commanded, transferring a massive surge of stabilized energy from the Watch into the Box.
The Weeping Willow Box—a tool designed for containment—pulsed once, trapping the Collector in a state of suspended animation, rendering them harmless.
The Cottage was quiet. The Halloways were safe, the spiritual link preserved, and the Collector was neutralized.
Elias leaned against the porch, gasping for air, utterly spent. He looked down at the Weeping Willow Box resting on the Collector's chest, then back at the Lodestone and the Volume II inside the house.
He had the knowledge, the tools, the prisoner, and the captured Echo. He was ready for the Rite of Self-Refuting Essence.