The vault sealed behind them with a deep, echoing thud.
Silence struck the tunnel like a blade.
No one spoke.No one moved.
The Guardian's final words still hung in the air, heavy and poisonous.
"The one who will betray you… walks with you now."
Lina's heartbeat thundered painfully. Her eyes darted between the three people she trusted most in this moment — or wanted to trust.
Kai.Reyon.Seren.
Any of them.None of them.
She swallowed, throat tight. "Everyone… calm down. The Guardian could've meant something else. Maybe symbolic—"
Kai cut in, voice steady but sharp. "Guardians don't do symbolic. They speak in absolutes."
Reyon let out a scoff. "Convenient for you to say. You seemed very… affected by that 'Oathbreaker' line."
Kai turned his head, icy calm. "Say what you want about me. But I don't betray people."
Reyon smirked. "Funny, because that's exactly what a traitor would say."
Lina stepped between them, palms raised. "Stop. Both of you."
But Kai wasn't looking at Reyon anymore — he was looking at her.
His voice softened. "Lina… I need you to hear me clearly. I won't betray you. Not now, not ever."
Her breath caught.
Reyon frowned, expression twisting — jealousy flickering before he masked it with irritation. "Congratulations. You said the line with perfect dramatic timing."
Kai ignored him completely.
Seren, trembling, finally spoke. "This isn't fair. The Guardian could've meant someone else. Someone waiting ahead of us—"
"No," Kai said quietly. "It meant one of us."
Lina felt her chest constrict. "Then we need to figure this out calmly."
Reyon stepped forward. "Calmly? Lina, I've been helping you since the moment you were accused."
"And I haven't?" Kai shot back smoothly.
"You've been brooding around her like an angry shadow," Reyon snapped.
Kai's tone dropped cold. "I've been protecting her."
"Oh yes, your favorite hobby," Reyon said with a mocking bow. "'Kai Rhen: Eternal Guardian of Lina Veris.'"
Lina squeezed her eyes shut. "Will you both PLEASE shut up?!"
They stopped.
She turned to Seren. "Seren? You've been the quietest. If there's anything — anything at all — you're hiding… now is the time."
Seren froze.
Kai's eyes sharpened. "Seren?"
Reyon crossed his arms. "Don't tell me—"
Seren's voice cracked. "I didn't betray anyone! I swear!"
"Then what are you hiding?" Kai asked.
Seren trembled violently. "I–I wasn't the only one who saw the council member sabotaging the core."
Lina's stomach dropped. "Someone else saw?"
Seren nodded slowly. "Someone higher than me. Someone who told me to stay quiet. Someone who said… the Seventh Flame would only bring disaster."
Reyon narrowed his eyes. "Who?"
Seren's lips trembled. "Advisor Lyrin."
Kai exhaled sharply. "Lyrin. Of course."
Lina frowned. "Who is that?"
Kai looked at her. "Second-highest member of the curriculum council. Quiet. Calm. He signs access requests for the core chamber. If he wanted to frame someone… he could."
Seren nodded frantically. "He told me not to speak. Said he'd 'take care of it.' I didn't know he meant… framing you."
Lina's chest tightened. "Seren… why didn't you tell us this earlier?"
Seren wiped her eyes. "Because… because I was scared you'd blame me. And because I thought maybe… maybe he was right. Maybe the Flame is dangerous."
Lina stepped back as if struck.
Her magic stirred — glowing faintly around her wrist.
Kai moved instantly. "Lina."
"I'm fine," she said quickly — voice thin.
Reyon studied Seren. "So you didn't betray her. But you hid a truth that could have saved her from being accused."
Seren's voice cracked. "I know. And I'm sorry."
Lina opened her mouth to speak — but the tunnel suddenly shook violently.
CRRRRACK.
A fissure ripped across the ceiling.
Kai grabbed Lina's waist, pulling her back just as a slab of stone crashed down where she'd been standing.
Reyon shielded Seren. "We need to move!"
The tunnel behind them collapsed entirely, sealing their escape route.
Only one path remained — leading deeper underground.
Kai turned to Lina, holding her steady. "We go forward. There's no turning back."
Reyon nodded grimly. "And if the Guardian is right… then one of us is playing a longer game."
Seren sobbed quietly. "I'm not— I promise I'm not—"
Lina stared at all three of them.
Kai — fierce, loyal, unreadable.Reyon — charming, sharp, unpredictable.Seren — frightened, fragile, but holding secrets.
Her rune glowed again — brighter this time.Pointing forward.
The magic pulled her toward the next chamber.
"Something's ahead," she whispered.
Kai moved beside her. "We go together."
Reyon came to her other side. "No one touches you unless they go through both of us."
Seren followed in silence.
They walked toward the next chamber — tension thick enough to cut with a blade.
Halfway there, Lina stopped suddenly.
At the tunnel wall — glowing faintly — was a symbol.
The same symbol that had been carved onto her dorm room door.
A watcher's mark.
Fresh.
But this time… it was signed.
Reyon inhaled sharply. "That signature… I've seen it before."
Kai's voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
"So have I."
Lina stepped closer, heart pounding.
The signature read:
R.V.
Her breath caught.
Reyon Vale went still.
"I… I didn't write that."
Kai's eyes darkened.
"Then someone wants us to believe you did."
Lina's pulse raced.
And for the first time —she wondered if the Guardian's warninghad just begun to come true.
To be Continued© Kishtika., 2025All rights reserved.