Kaelen lay motionless on the slate platform for a long, necessary minute, allowing the ambient Aether of the riverbed to begin the slow process of core restoration. The energy required for the Phase Shunt Rune had been monumental; he was now magically weaker than he had been after the initial remote Transfiguration.
Elara was beside him, helping him sit up. "The Executor is finished. Valerius has nothing left that can eliminate you with certainty without risking an open, magical war that would expose his entire plan to the King."
Kaelen nodded, his eyes fixed on the destroyed chasm. "This is the point where the future radically diverges from the book. The main antagonist has deployed and lost his final asset. The timeline is broken."
He carefully collected the Codex of Echoes from the slate. The obsidian scroll was cold, heavy, and now their single most valuable asset.
"The Codex and my life are secured, but we have revealed everything: the Echo Guard, the Temporal Echo, and the Phase Shunt," Kaelen analyzed, his voice gaining strength. "Valerius will not send another assassin. He will seal the entire kingdom and initiate a direct, political purge, attempting to frame the Archmage before the King can question the Executor's loss."
"We need to disappear completely," Elara concluded, knowing the next phase of the novel detailed a protracted political siege. "We need to go beyond his reach, beyond the borders of Eldoria, and secure the Codex."
"We return to the Sunstone Caves," Kaelen decided, using the Staff to leverage himself to his feet. "Not to hide, but to activate the ultimate defense of the Varr lineage: the Dimensional Lock."
He explained the technique—a ritual known only to the Archmage. It was designed to open a temporary, unstable portal to a pocket dimension used by the Varr family during times of great political upheaval. It required the full power of the Codex and the energy of the Sunstone Caves working in tandem.
"It will take four days to cast, and it requires continuous Aether infusion. Once we pass through, the portal collapses permanently. We will be completely removed from the timeline, safe from Valerius's purge."
"And then?" Elara asked, her gaze steady.
"Then, we study the Codex in absolute safety," Kaelen stated. "We will learn the true extent of the Varr magic, preparing to return when Valerius's position is weakened by political strife. We will not return to fight him; we will return to end him."
They turned their backs on the smoking riverbed, the site of their terrifying victory. The sun was fully risen now, casting long, stark shadows across the wasteland. They began the long, quiet walk north, Kaelen leaning heavily on his Staff, the Codex secured, and Elara—the civilian reader—now the co-architect of a shattered, uncertain future.
Their path led back to the Sunstone Caves, and beyond that, into the utter silence of the unknown.