"That weapon…"
Kael raised Stormfang.
The blue and crimson light running along its blade reflected across the commander's face.
"Finish that sentence."
For the first time since entering Virelith, the commander didn't answer immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on the sword.
Not on Kael.
Not on the Crimson Heart.
Stormfang.
Around them, the Crimson Vault continued to tremble.
Crimson veins pulsed beneath the walls like blood moving beneath skin. Ancient roots twisted across the stone floor, reacting to the battle raging through the chamber. Suspended machines hung above them, their damaged lights flickering through the smoke.
But the commander barely seemed to notice.
His expression had changed.
The confidence was gone.
Kael tightened his grip.
"What?"
The commander slowly lifted his eyes.
Then he spoke.
"The King's Fang."
Silence.
Even the nearest sentinel stopped moving.
Kael's brows drew together.
"What did you call it?"
Elaris looked at Stormfang.
The crimson light around the blade flickered once.
Xyren immediately turned toward his scanner.
"Hold on."
Symbols raced across the display.
His eyes narrowed.
"Searching ancient records."
AURIXA stepped closer.
"No."
Xyren looked at her.
"No?"
"Stop."
That made him pause.
Kael noticed the change in her expression.
AURIXA wasn't simply confused.
Something was wrong.
Kael turned back to the commander.
"That's not its name."
The commander gave a small smile.
But there was no confidence behind it now.
"No."
His gaze returned to Stormfang.
"That is the name it had before you were born."
Kael didn't move.
For a moment, the words didn't seem to mean anything.
Then they did.
"Before I was born?"
The commander's eyes widened slightly.
A flicker of realization crossed his face.
He had said too much.
One of the soldiers behind him stepped forward.
"Commander—"
"Enough."
The commander's voice cut through the chamber.
Sharp.
Immediate.
The soldier stopped.
Kael took a step forward.
"No."
Stormfang crackled.
"You don't get to stop now."
The commander looked at him.
"You should ask yourself why you were never told."
Kael's grip tightened.
"Ask yourself why you know."
For a second, neither moved.
Then the commander lifted one hand.
Every soldier in the vault shifted.
Weapons rose.
Kael's eyes hardened.
"Of course."
The first shot came from the left.
Kael moved.
Stormfang flashed.
Blue lightning cut through the air and struck the ancient wall. Crimson veins beneath the stone exploded with light.
Kael spun.
A soldier rushed him.
He caught the strike against Stormfang.
Metal screamed.
Kael twisted his wrist and drove his shoulder forward.
The soldier stumbled.
Stormfang struck the weapon.
It shattered.
Before the soldier could recover, Kael sent him crashing backward with a controlled burst of storm energy.
Another attack came from behind.
"Kael!"
Elaris's warning reached him just in time.
He turned.
Roots burst from the floor.
They caught the attacker's legs and pulled him sideways.
His shot tore into the ceiling instead.
Stone rained down.
Elaris stepped through the falling dust, green light moving beneath her skin.
"Try watching your back."
Kael looked at her.
"I was."
Elaris gave him a look.
"Apparently not well enough."
Xyren's voice echoed from somewhere behind them.
"Can we save the flirting for after the heavily armed strangers stop trying to kill us?"
Kael turned.
"We weren't—"
A blast struck the wall beside him.
Xyren raised a hand.
"Excellent timing."
Kael moved again.
The fight spread through the Crimson Vault.
The chamber itself seemed alive now.
Ancient roots snapped upward whenever the ground shook. Crimson veins brightened beneath the walls. Suspended machines rotated overhead, trying to determine whether they were witnessing an attack—or waking from centuries of sleep.
At the center of the vault, the Crimson Heart fragment pulsed.
Bright.
Small.
But impossible to ignore.
Its crimson light moved through the ancient containment field around it.
Stormfang answered.
A thin line of red light crawled along Kael's blade.
Xyren saw it.
"That's what they came for."
The commander blocked a sentinel's attack and looked toward him.
"You have no idea what that is."
Kael cut through another strike.
"Then explain it."
The commander smiled.
"If I did, you'd stop calling that thing a sword."
Kael froze for half a second.
Only half.
But it was enough.
A soldier lunged toward him.
Elaris's roots caught the attacker before the blade reached Kael.
She threw him against the wall.
Kael looked at her.
She didn't look back.
"Focus."
He exhaled.
"Right."
The commander moved toward the containment structure.
Kael saw him.
"No."
He ran.
Two soldiers intercepted him.
Stormfang flashed.
The first strike sent one weapon spinning across the chamber.
Kael ducked beneath the second.
His elbow struck the attacker's ribs.
Stormfang came up.
The soldier barely managed to jump back before lightning exploded against the floor.
Crimson energy followed.
The vault shook.
Then—
THUMP.
Everything stopped.
Kael lowered Stormfang.
The sound had come from somewhere beneath the chamber.
Xyren looked down.
"Tell me that wasn't the floor."
AURIXA's eyes widened.
Another pulse followed.
THUMP.
The Crimson Heart fragment brightened.
Stormfang answered.
Blue and crimson energy surged simultaneously.
The entire Crimson Vault shook.
Roots along the walls began moving.
But they didn't attack.
They pulled away.
Ancient stone layers shifted behind them.
Dust poured from the ceiling.
A deep grinding sound filled the chamber.
Everyone stepped back.
Behind the containment structure, the wall began to separate.
Xyren stared.
"That wasn't there before."
AURIXA didn't answer.
"AURIXA?"
"No…"
Kael looked at her.
"What?"
She took one step backward.
For the first time since Kael had met her, fear crossed her face.
"That chamber was never supposed to open."
The wall split.
Roots pulled away from ancient metal.
Massive mechanisms began rotating behind them.
Slowly.
Heavily.
As though they had not moved for centuries.
Then crimson light spilled through the opening.
Blue followed.
Xyren swallowed.
"Please don't tell me that's another defense system."
AURIXA stared into the darkness beyond.
"I don't think it is."
The opening widened.
And the chamber beyond revealed itself.
Kael forgot about the commander.
Forgot about the soldiers.
For several seconds, everyone simply stared.
The space behind the Crimson Vault was enormous.
Roots descended from the ceiling like living pillars, thicker than the trunks of ancient trees. Dark metallic structures rose between them, fused into the stone. Crimson crystal veins crossed the walls, while thin lines of storm energy moved through ancient circuits.
At the center of the chamber—
stood a throne.
Not gold.
Not carved from ordinary stone.
Roots twisted around dark metallic structures.
Crimson crystal pulsed beneath its surface.
Blue storm-energy circuits moved through the ancient material like lightning trapped inside the throne itself.
The Root Throne.
Xyren stared.
"Okay."
No one answered.
He pointed toward it.
"I know we have bigger problems, but that's definitely a throne."
Elaris took a slow step forward.
"It feels alive."
Kael felt it too.
Stormfang hummed in his hand.
Then the Crimson Heart fragment began to rise.
Everyone turned.
The ancient containment field around it shattered into streams of light.
The fragment floated toward the newly opened chamber.
The commander suddenly moved.
"Stop it!"
Kael looked at him.
The fear in the commander's voice was unmistakable.
Elaris's roots immediately rose between them.
The commander fired.
The roots exploded apart.
Kael raised Stormfang.
Lightning crossed the chamber.
The commander barely escaped the strike.
But the Crimson Heart fragment continued moving.
Slowly.
As though something was calling it home.
Near the Root Throne stood an ancient structure.
A circular cradle surrounded by intertwined roots and dark metal.
Empty.
Waiting.
The fragment drifted toward it.
Then settled.
THUMP.
The entire city answered.
The floor beneath Kael's feet vibrated.
A wave of crimson light erupted from the Root Throne Chamber.
It passed through the Crimson Vault.
Every intruder's device immediately flickered.
One weapon shut down.
Then another.
Displays went dark.
A soldier cursed and struck his communicator.
Nothing.
Xyren stared at his scanner.
"That's convenient."
AURIXA looked around.
"The resonance network is restoring."
Kael turned toward the commander.
The man wasn't looking at the devices.
He was staring at Kael.
Then at Stormfang.
Then back at Kael.
His face had gone pale.
"No…"
Kael frowned.
"What?"
The commander took a step backward.
The roots around the Root Throne began moving.
Elaris immediately stepped beside Kael.
Her hand lifted.
Green light gathered around her fingers.
Xyren looked between the roots and Kael.
"That's usually a bad sign, right?"
AURIXA said nothing.
Kael watched the roots.
One of them moved closer.
Then another.
Elaris shifted in front of him.
Kael caught her arm.
"Wait."
She looked at him.
The roots stopped.
Kael slowly took one step backward.
Nothing.
Then he took one step forward.
The Root Throne ignited.
Crimson light raced through its veins.
Blue storm energy followed.
The roots bowed away from the path leading toward it.
The commander whispered.
"It recognizes him."
Kael turned sharply.
"Who?"
The commander didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the throne.
Then—
the chamber spoke.
Not with one voice.
With hundreds.
Ancient.
Mechanical.
Living.
The sound came from the roots.
The walls.
The machines.
The throne itself.
"HEIR DETECTED."
No one moved.
Xyren slowly looked at Kael.
Then at the throne.
Then back at Kael.
"...Okay."
Elaris turned toward Kael.
Her expression was unreadable.
AURIXA stood completely still.
Even Bloomfall—
standing at the edge of the chamber—
had stopped moving.
Kael stared at the Root Throne.
Stormfang tightened in his hand.
"What heir?"
The throne remained silent.
But the commander answered.
"No…"
Kael turned toward him.
The commander took another step backward.
For the first time—
he looked genuinely afraid.
And Kael finally understood something.
They hadn't come to Virelith by accident.
They knew about the Crimson Heart.
They knew Stormfang.
And somehow—
they knew something about him.
The Root Throne pulsed again.
THUMP.
The ancient lights brightened.
The roots moved.
And behind Kael—
the lost kingdom of Virelith began to wake.