The road to the old Imperial capital was silent.Not peaceful.Silent.There was a difference.Kael understood it now.Peace was something people built.Silence could mean something was waiting.Lira walked beside him, one hand resting near the short blade at her waist.Elias followed several steps behind.Serah, Sol, Evan, and Aren traveled together farther back.Vale came last.No one trusted him completely.Not even Kael.But nobody had asked him to leave.For now, that was enough.They reached the first hill before sunset.The Imperial capital appeared beyond it.Kael stopped.He had seen the city before.Years ago.From a distance.Back when the Empire still stood behind its walls and the Blade Registry controlled every road leading toward it.Now the walls were broken.The imperial banners were gone.Watchtowers leaned over empty streets.Smoke rose from several districts.But there were people everywhere.Thousands of them.Former soldiers.Merchants.Families.Refugees.People

Morning came without an alarm.No bells.No commands.No soldiers marching through the streets.The people of the old Imperial capital woke to a strange reality.Nobody was telling them what to do.For some, it felt like freedom.For others, it felt like falling.By sunrise, arguments had already begun.A group of former soldiers claimed the eastern district.Merchants demanded control of the market.Several families refused to leave buildings that others had already claimed.A group of young men began gathering weapons.Kael watched from the steps of the ruined palace.Lira stood beside him.“This is going badly.”Kael nodded.“Yes.”“You don't sound surprised.”“I wasn't expecting perfection.”Across the square, a soldier shouted.“We need someone in charge!”Another answered.“No more rulers!”A third voice rose above them.“Then who decides?”The crowd went quiet.Kael looked at Elias.Elias looked back.Neither moved.Lira turned toward Kael.“You could answer.”“I could.”“But y

Freedom arrived at the capital carrying hungry people.By sunrise, the western refugees had filled three districts.By noon, the food stores were almost empty.By evening, the first argument became a fight.Kael stood in the market as two men pushed each other beside a grain cart.“This belongs to the city!”“We brought it from the west!”“You brought it through our gates!”“And you invited us!”The argument grew.More people gathered.Some shouted for the grain to be distributed equally.Others demanded that those who brought it should keep it.A former soldier raised his voice.“There is not enough for everyone!”Silence followed.That sentence frightened Kael more than an army.Not enough.The oldest reason people had ever given for taking from one another.Lira stepped beside him.“What do we do?”Kael looked at the grain.Then at the crowd.“We don't decide for them.”Lira stared.“Seriously?”“We help them see the consequences.”He climbed onto the cart.The market quieted.“We

The first chamber opened with a hiss.Then another.Then hundreds.The sound traveled through the underground city like rain.Kael stood at the entrance, watching pale light spread through streets that had not seen a living person for centuries.LiraNext chapter whispered,“How many are there?”The woman who had called herself a Continuation looked across the city.“Enough.”“That isn't a number.”“It was never meant to be.”Kael looked at the sealed chambers.Some were small.Some were enormous.Some were already opening.Others remained dark.Elias stepped forward.“Who are these people?”“People who volunteered.”“For what?”“To sleep.”Lira stared at her.“That doesn't make sense.”The woman turned.“They believed civilization would eventually destroy itself.”Kael glanced at Edrin.Edrin looked uncomfortable.“They were afraid.”“Yes,” the woman said.“They were.”She walked toward the city.“They believed that if humanity failed, someone would need to remain behind to begin agai

The passage descended for hours.No one spoke much.The deeper they went, the colder the air became.Kael walked at the front.Lira followed.Elias and Aren stayed behind them.Edrin and the Continuation walked together farther back.Vale remained near the rear.For once, he had nothing to say.The passage eventually changed.Stone became metal.Metal became something neither Kael nor Aren could identify.The walls seemed to breathe.Not literally.But every few minutes, a faint pulse moved through them.Boom.The sound of Damar.Kael stopped.Everyone halted behind him.“What is it?” Lira asked.“Nothing.”“You stopped.”“I felt something.”Aren looked at the wall.“What?”Kael placed his palm against it.A memory entered his mind.Not his.A child stood in a white room.An old man knelt before him.The old man said:“You will forget us.”The child asked:“Why?”“Because remembering us will make you afraid.”The child looked confused.“Afraid of what?”The old man touched his forehea