2026-11-11 20:18:59
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Chapter 14: The One Who Was Buried
The seated man reached straight for Tavian, and the Ninth Collector screamed out in pure panic."Don't let him touch you!"The urgent warning came far too late. Tavian felt an invisible, crushing weight violently seize his chest. His feet left the cold stone floor as the unseen force dragged him helplessly toward the ninth chair. Ordan lunged forward and grabbed the tail of Tavian's coat, but the momentum dragged both of them across the rough floorboards.In a desperate frenzy, the little girl screamed and threw her wooden horse straight at the seated man.The toy struck his forehead with a dull wooden thud.For one extraordinary, suspended moment, the entire cavernous chamber fell dead silent. The man's outstretched hand halted mere inches from Tavian's face. Slowly, he lowered his gaze to the black wooden horse resting in his lap, and his grim expression softened into something fragile."You kept it," he whispered.The little girl backed away on trembling legs. "I didn't keep it for
Chapter 13: The Ninth Night
The staircase was climbing upward with a terrifying, mechanical momentum.Tavian watched in horror as the ancient stone steps rose relentlessly out of the darkness, one after another, looking for all the world as though an invisible giant were physically carrying the entire subterranean passage toward the upper chamber. The surrounding walls groaned under the massive structural strain, while the shards of broken mirrors along the perimeter began reflecting an impossible staircase that stretched in the exact opposite direction."Move!" the Ninth Collector shouted above the deafening grind of moving earth.Ordan seized the little girl by her shoulders and violently pulled her away from the cradle just as the first rising step burst through the floorboards. A shower of sharp stone fragments struck the archivist's back, forcing him down to his knees with a grunt of pain.Tavian reached out to help the girl, but before he could grasp her hand, something cold and unyielding wrapped tightly
Chapter 12: The Child They Buried
The infant reached toward Tavian's throat with sudden, predatory intent.Tavian jerked backward as a tiny black hand shot straight through the cradle's wooden bars, its fingers stretching far beyond the normal length of an ordinary child's arm. The air tightened around his neck like an iron collar, and the nine circles etched into his wrist erupted with unbearable, searing heat."Get away from it!" Ordan shouted, his voice cracking with urgency.The former archivist seized Tavian's heavy coat and dragged him across the chamber just as the entire wooden cradle violently exploded into splinters. Sharp shards of wood tore viciously through the air; one struck Ordan's cheek and opened a thin line of bleeding skin, while another buried itself deep into the stone wall right beside the little girl's head.Despite the close call, she did not flinch or move an inch. Instead, she stood frozen, staring wide-eyed at the shattered fragments of the cradle while clutching her black wooden horse tigh
Chapter 11: The Body Beneath the World
The staircase collapsed before Tavian could pull his hand away from the Ninth Collector. A violent tremor tore through the chamber, throwing him hard against the broken stone wall. As dust exploded from the ceiling, the enormous eye embedded beneath the staircase blinked for the second time, sending a suffocating wave of pressure through the room that crushed the remaining pillars and forced Tavian down to his knees.Ordan seized Tavian’s coat just before the floor gave way entirely."Move!" the former archivist shouted above the roar of crumbling masonry.Tavian struggled against the man's tight grip, staring down into the abyss beneath the shattered staircase. Something enormous shifted in the depths below, producing a grinding roar that sounded like mountains colliding.A short distance away, the Ninth Collector stood perfectly still. His crown of nine floating rings hovered serenely above his head, entirely unaffected by the violent shaking that should have sent it crashing down.
Chapter 10: The Man Wearing Tomorrow
Before Tavian could even draw breath to scream, his mother’s face vanished from his mind entirely.One moment, he could clearly picture Mara kneeling beside his childhood bed, her warm fingers brushing damp hair from his forehead during a feverish night. The next, the memory collapsed into a vast, terrifying void, leaving behind a hollow space so immense that he could not even comprehend what had just been stolen from him.He still remembered that he loved her with every fiber of his being. He still remembered the desperate, burning need to find her. But when he tried to visualize her soft eyes or her gentle smile, all he could summon was the silhouette of a woman-shaped shadow standing quietly behind a locked iron door.The masked stranger slowly withdrew his hand, his slender fingers dropping to his side."There, that is much better," the man remarked, speaking in Tavian’s exact voice. "Now we can finally converse like civilized men, without her memory constantly getting in our way.
Chapter 9: The Name That Should Not Exist
The porcelain-masked collector lunged forward, reaching with pale, unblemished fingers directly for Tavian's throat.Tavian instinctively raised his marked hand to summon the ancient power, but Sella moved with breathtaking speed, striking him sharply across the wrist before a single spark could ignite beneath his skin."Are you trying to get us all killed in the span of a single breath?" she shouted over the rising tension.The collector's grasping fingers stopped barely an inch away from Tavian's skin. Its smooth porcelain mask tilted curiously toward Sella, and the heavy brass rings embedded in its palm began to hum with a low, vibrating resonance."Interference with official Treasury business is punishable by the immediate surrender of your identity," the creature rasped.Without hesitation, Sella snatched a heavy glass jar from the nearest shelf and hurled it with all her strength at the collector's face.The thick glass shattered violently against the porcelain mask, instantly r
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