Three hours of marching through the foothills of the Iron Desert. The night was cold, and the wind carried particles of rusted sand that crunched between the teeth. Lyall led the group, his Teral vibrating with every pulse of the ground. Behind him, Elara struggled to keep up not from fatigue, but from the silence of her stone. The Solis no longer responded. Since leaving the outpost, it had gone dark, leaving a cold void in her chest.
"Are you all right?" Lyall asked quietly.
"I can't feel anything anymore," Elara replied. "No intentions, no flows. It's like one of my senses has been torn away."
"You still have the others," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "And we're here."
Ahead, the Waltzer stopped. He raised an arm.
"There it is."
The Tomb of Ether was not a simple airship. It was a flying fortress, a mountain of black brass and copper bristling with mana cannons. It floated above a rocky peak, held in levitation by four enormous spiroïde thrusters that pulsed like diseased hearts. Reddish lights blinked at its base holds, perhaps, or cells.
"The codes," Elias said, turning to the Waltzer. "Give them to us."
The assassin pulled a crumpled parchment from his jacket. He handed it to Elias.
"Here are the activation sequences for the east and west airlocks. But there's a problem: the stasis field. It's powered by Kaelen himself. As long as he's alive, the field is active."
"And if we kill him?" Lyra asked, devoid of any apparent emotion.
"The field collapses, but so does Kaelen. We need him alive."
Lyall stared at the airship. An idea began to form.
"What if we don't destroy the field? What if we… bypass it?"
"The field covers the entire perimeter," Elias objected. "Except…"
He consulted the parchment. His eyes widened.
"Except the waste evacuation duct. At the rear, beneath the starboard thruster. The shielding there is weaker."
"Because Vane's guards don't think anyone would agree to crawl through an airship's sewers," the Waltzer added with a grimace. "That's our way in."
They crawled for twenty minutes through a dark metal duct where viscous, hot liquid seeped from the walls. Lyall felt his Teral burn him the proximity of the stasis field was disrupting his gift. Elara coughed, her hands protecting her face from splashes.
The duct opened into a machine room. Enormous pistons thundered in a deafening racket.
"This way," the Waltzer signaled, pointing to a service ladder.
They climbed. They crossed empty corridors, avoided two patrols thanks to Elias's precognition. Lyra smothered an isolated guard's cries with her shadow.
Finally, they reached the stasis chamber.
Kaelen hung in the center, floating in a sphere of bluish light. His body was emaciated, his white hair standing on end, copper tubes running from his arms and neck to a central generator. His eyes were open but fixed a prisoner of time that did not pass.
"My God," Elias whispered.
"Get him out," Lyall ordered.
He activated his Teral, projecting a wave of heaviness against the sphere. The stasis field resisted, crackled, then fractured. Pain struck Lyall like a hammer to the back of his neck. Blood ran from his nose.
"Keep going!" Elara shouted.
Lyall pushed harder. The sphere exploded in a blinding flash. Kaelen fell heavily to the floor. Elias rushed to him, lifting him up.
"Kaelen! Kaelen, answer me!"
The old man blinked. His voice was barely a breath.
"Elias… you came back."
"I found you. We're taking you out."
Kaelen shook his head weakly.
"Too late. The field… it was coupled to my heart. Without it, I have only a few minutes left."
"No!" Elias cried.
"Listen to me," Kaelen said, gripping his student's arm. "Vane doesn't want power. He wants… transcendence. The Heart of the World is not a machine. It's a being. An ancient one. The Mother-Plants put it to sleep centuries ago to drain its mana. Vane has discovered how to wake it… and how to merge with it."
"Merge?" Lyra repeated, her black eyes widening.
"He will become the new Heart. He will control all mana, everywhere. The Empire, the Maritime Kingdoms, everything. Forever."
"Where is he?" Lyall asked.
"Beneath the Glass Mountain, where the Archon was born. But you cannot go there without the Counter-Keystone."
"The Counter-Keystone?" Elara asked.
Kaelen searched his torn tunic. He pulled out a fragment of black crystal – similar to the Keystone, but smaller, duller.
"It cancels the transfer. Breaks the fusion. But to use it… a sacrifice is needed. Pure energy. The gift of a stone bearer."
His eyes settled on Elara.
"You. Your Solis is nearly extinguished. If you give it what remains…"
"She will lose her gift forever," Lyall finished, his voice choked.
"It's only a pebble," Elara said coldly. "I'll sacrifice it."
"No," Lyall said.
"It's not your choice, smith."
She took the fragment from Kaelen's hands.
Suddenly, the alarm sounded.
"They've spotted us," Elias announced, his precognition racing. "A dozen guards. They're coming from both corridors."
The Waltzer drew his blades.
"I'll hold them off."
"You'll die," Lyra said bluntly.
"I know."
He looked at Lyall.
"Don't forget your promise. Mira. The Weavers' Quarter."
"I won't forget," Lyall replied.
The Waltzer smiled a sad, almost gentle smile.
"Then it's all right."
He launched himself into the corridor, light as the wind, his blades spinning. The shouts of guards and the clash of steel filled the chamber.
"He's buying us time. Go," Kaelen ordered.
Elias lifted the old man. They ran toward the emergency exit, Lyra in the lead, Elara in the center, Lyall bringing up the rear.
They reached the outer airlock. Behind them, the sounds of fighting faded.
"He's down," Elias murmured, his voice breaking. "The Waltzer… he's down."
Lyall did not look back. He couldn't.
They jumped onto the evacuation platform. Below, black night and rocks.
"Do we jump?" Lyra asked.
"We jump," Elias confirmed.
They threw themselves into the void.
The fall was short, brutal. They landed on a metal ledge, rolled, collided. Kaelen groaned.
"Go… faster," he whispered. "I'm running out of time."
They found refuge in a cave, on the cliffside. Elias laid Kaelen on the rock.
"I failed," Kaelen said. "I couldn't protect the Order. Or you, Elias."
"You failed nothing," Elias replied, tears in his eyes.
"Yes. But you… you will succeed. You and them."
He pointed to Lyall, Elara, Lyra.
"The Keystone… the fragment… protect them. And when Vane falls… remember that he was only a man. Like you."
He closed his eyes. His breath stopped.
Elias remained motionless, his hand on his mentor's chest. Lyall placed his Teral on the stone, in silence.
"He died a free man," Lyra said.
"He died a hero," Elara corrected.
Lyall stood up. He clenched the Counter-Keystone fragment in his fist.
"We're going back to Thalassa. We need to warn the coalition. And then… we go after Vane."