-Tan'Thalon: Noble district-
"Where did you find this?" Talia asked, her voice carrying a concerned undertone.
She was referring to the data shard in her hands.
Calenelda tilted her head. "In a hidden research chamber beneath the Lower Ring. Deep underground. Old Arcforge architecture."
Talia glanced down at the shard. "And nobody knew it was there?"
"Not officially."
Calenelda rubbed her palms together unconsciously. The faint tremor in her fingers betrayed how much she had pushed herself.
Talia noticed. "You shouldn't have gone alone."
"I know."
"You say that remarkably easily." Talia frowned.
Calenelda smiled faintly. "I wanted to give you space."
Talia almost smiled. Almost. Her attention returned to the projection. The recording flickered.
The chamber appeared again. Lazulli conduits. Restraints. Metal tables. And the creature.
Talia's expression tightened. "There is something wrong with this."
Calenelda turned toward her. "What?"
Talia stepped closer to the projection. "The fire."
Calenelda frowned. "I can't see it."
"I know." Talia studied the blue flames running through the conduits. "They aren't behaving like normal Lazulli discharge."
She had seen something similar before. Not in a laboratory. In temples. In old records. In the stories paladins were taught to recognize before they were trusted with the light.
"That's Ba'Ham."
Calenelda went still. "You're sure?"
"No." Talia hesitated. Then shook her head. "Not completely. But I've seen depictions of his cursed flame. It doesn't simply burn. It clings to whatever it touches." She pointed toward the projection. "Look at the conduits. The fire isn't just powering the equipment."
"Talia…" Calenelda almost whined.
"Right.. Poor choice of wording" Talia rubbed the back of her head. "It is spreading through it."
"Yes." Calenelda's expression hardened. "Then Ba'Ham is involved."
"Or someone is using his magic."
Neither possibility was comforting. The recording flickered again. For a brief moment, the creature inside the restraints became clearer. Four legs. Heavy shoulders. A long muzzle.
Calenelda's face remained unreadable. She could not see what Talia was seeing. But she could hear the hesitation in Talia's breathing.
"You know something."
Talia froze. "What?"
Calenelda turned toward her. "You went quiet."
"I was thinking."
"About the creature?"
Talia looked back at the projection. "Yes."
She couldn't tell her. Not yet. She couldn't make Calenelda look at that image and realize that the thing on the table was Stonefang. Not while Calenelda was already trembling from what she had found. Not while the image of her companion being restrained and cut open was still burned into Talia's mind. And not when Talia herself still didn't understand what she was looking at.
"There's too much distortion," Talia said carefully. "We shouldn't assume we know what that creature is."
Calenelda was silent for a moment. Then she nodded.
"Alright."
The simplicity of the answer made Talia feel worse. Calenelda trusted her. Far more than Talia deserved in that moment. Before either could speak again, there was a soft knock at the door. Hesitant. Uneven. Followed by the quiet scrape of claws.
Foxglove stepped inside. Her cloak was thrown loosely over her shoulders, doing a poor job of concealing her wings. Stonefang followed close behind her, moving more slowly than usual. Foxglove's ears twitched.
"We heard shouting."
"There was no shouting," Calenelda said.
Foxglove looked at Talia.
Talia cleared her throat. "Not exactly."
Stonefang suddenly stopped. His ears flattened. A low whine escaped him. His eyes fixed on the projection. Foxglove followed his gaze. Then she froze. Her pupils narrowed.
"Oh."
Talia's stomach dropped. Foxglove stepped closer. The projection flickered again. The creature appeared clearly enough this time.
Foxglove stared. "That's Stonefang."
Everyone went silent. Talia closed her eyes.
Calenelda's head snapped toward her. "What?"
Foxglove pointed at the recording. "That creature. That's Stonefang."
Calenelda didn't move. For several seconds, there was only the faint hum of the Lazulli lines in the walls.
"You knew."
Talia opened her eyes. Calenelda's voice wasn't angry. That somehow made it worse.
"Talia."
"I—"
"You knew."
Talia looked down. "Yes."
Foxglove glanced between them. "You knew that was him?"
Talia nodded. "I recognized him."
"And you didn't tell her?"
"I wasn't certain."
Foxglove's ears lowered. "You recognized him."
Talia swallowed. "I saw the recording before."
Calenelda's brow tightened. "When?"
"When you were explaining what you'd found."
The lie was small. But Calenelda heard it.
"You've known since we first watched it."
Talia couldn't answer. Calenelda turned her face away. The silence that followed was painful. Stonefang approached her slowly. Calenelda reached down. Her fingers disappeared into his fur.
"I could have handled the truth." Calenelda said quietly.
"I know."
"No." Calenelda's voice remained quiet. "You thought I couldn't."
Talia flinched. "I thought you had already been through enough."
"You don't get to decide that for me."
Talia looked at her. "No." Her voice broke slightly. "I don't."
Foxglove remained silent, clearly realizing this was no longer her conversation. Stonefang pressed his head against Calenelda's hip. Calenelda rested her hand against his skull.
Then she asked the question that mattered. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Talia looked at the recording. Because the creature was Stonefang. Because someone had taken him. Because she had watched him restrained beneath Ba'Ham's fire. Because she had seen what had been done to him and couldn't bear to put that image into Calenelda's mind before she understood it herself.
"I was afraid."
Calenelda's expression softened slightly. "Of what?"
"That you'd go back." She paused. "Immediately."
Calenelda didn't deny it.
Talia continued. "And I didn't know what we'd find if we did."
Calenelda's hand tightened in Stonefang's fur. "We already know they experimented on living creatures." Talia nodded. "And now we know they used Ba'Ham's magic."
Foxglove looked back toward the projection. Her expression hardened.
"The question is why."
Calenelda turned toward her. "And how many others?"
Foxglove looked at the chamber. Her eyes moved over the equipment. The restraints. The empty containment frames. Then she went very still.
"There are more."
Talia stepped closer. "How many?"
Foxglove counted. "Six containment stations."
Only one had been occupied. Calenelda's expression changed.
"They were planning to do this again."
"Or they already did," Talia said.
The thought settled heavily over all three of them. Calenelda slowly stood.
"We need the records."
Talia looked at her. "The Council Archives?"
"Arcforge records. Lazulli requisitions. Construction permits. Research authorizations." She paused. "Anything connected to that chamber."
Foxglove nodded. "And anything mentioning biological Lazulli binding."
Talia looked at the data shard. "If the facility was built through official channels, there will be a record somewhere."
"And if it wasn't?"
Calenelda's expression hardened. "Then someone went to considerable effort to erase it." Talia looked toward her as she continued. "There may be another problem."
Calenelda waited. "The thing I felt from the recording wasn't only Ba'Ham." Talia remembered Calenelda's earlier words. "My aura reacted."
"What did it feel like?"
Calenelda's brow furrowed. "Familiar."
Talia stared at her. "From where?"
"The temple."
Foxglove's expression changed. "The temple?"
Calenelda nodded slowly. "I felt something there. Something I couldn't identify at the time." She paused. "And today, when Eldarion passed outside the council hall…" Her fingers tightened slightly around Stonefang's fur. "I felt it again."
Talia went still. "Eldarion?"
"I don't know if it was him." Calenelda shook her head. "It was something around him. His aura, perhaps. Or something he carries."
Talia's face hardened. "You're saying he felt like something from the temple?"
"Not exactly." Calenelda searched for the words. "More like…" She tilted her head. "The same wrongness."
Talia looked toward the door. Eldarion. The temple. Ba'Ham. Stonefang. The hidden chamber. None of the pieces fit yet. But they were beginning to form the outline of something.
Something buried beneath Tan'Thalon.
"We need the archives," Talia said.
Calenelda nodded. "Together."
This time, Talia didn't hesitate. "Together."
Stonefang pressed against Calenelda's leg. Above them, Tan'Thalon continued to sleep behind its walls. Below it, someone had been building something for a very long time. And now they had finally found the first traces of it.
-Tan'Thalon: The Council Archives-
Tan'Thalon's archives sat deep beneath the Council Hall. The entrance alone felt like stepping into the ribcage of something ancient. Vast stone arches disappeared into darkness overhead, reinforced with centuries of sigils and warding lines. Shelves stretched away in every direction, disappearing into corridors lit by floating glyphs. Talia adjusted the cloak around Calenelda's shoulders.
Calenelda immediately tilted her head. "I can walk."
"I know." Talia pulled the cloak a little tighter anyway. "Humor me."
Calenelda sighed. "You've become very fond of that phrase."
Foxglove padded ahead of them, her talons clicking softly against the stone. She had abandoned her attempt at looking human almost immediately. Her wings were folded tightly against her back, but there was little point pretending to be anything other than what she was. Stonefang followed close behind. The dire wolf's presence earned more than a few nervous glances from the Archivists stationed near the entrance.
Foxglove smiled at them. They looked away.
"Archivists keep nocturnal hours," she whispered.
Calenelda frowned. "Unnatural."
"They're Archivists." Foxglove glanced back. "I'm pretty sure that's the qualification."
Talia suppressed a smile. They passed beneath the Gate of Quills and into the restricted sections. The deeper they went, the colder the air became. Calenelda slowed. Her bare feet pressed against the stone.
She tilted her head. "Records are strange."
Talia glanced at her. "How?"
"They feel…" Calenelda searched for the word. "Old."
Talia smiled faintly. "That's usually how archives work."
"No. I mean the memories." Her fingertips brushed the side of a shelf. "Some records have been handled so many times that they almost feel alive."
Talia's expression became more serious. "Then let's find the ones nobody was supposed to touch."
They reached a restricted index chamber. Rows of sealed catalogues lined the walls.
Talia began scanning the inscriptions. "Arcforge development records."
Calenelda turned toward her. "Good."
"Military applications."
"Better."
Talia continued. "Lazulli containment research."
Calenelda stepped closer. "And biological applications."
Talia found the category. Her fingers stopped. "Restricted."
"Can you access it?"
"Probably."
Calenelda smiled. "Probably?"
Talia gave her a look. "You're rubbing off on me."
She placed her hand against the lock. Light spread through the old sigils. The mechanism resisted. Then, with a deep metallic click, the seal released. Inside were dozens of narrow records. Most were mundane. Mining accidents. Failed containment experiments. Industrial applications. Medical studies.
Then Calenelda stopped. Her fingers hovered over one particular catalogue. "This one."
Talia pulled it free. The title had almost faded away.
LAZULLI-BIOLOGICAL INTEGRATION
Below it was a classification mark.
PROJECT STATUS: TERMINATED
Talia's brow furrowed. "Terminated."
Calenelda ran her fingers over the cover. "No." She shook her head. "Not abandoned."
"What do you mean?"
"The record doesn't feel finished."
Talia looked at her. "Can you tell?"
"Someone kept adding to it."
They opened the catalogue. Inside were references to a research chamber beneath the Lower Ring. Coordinates. Construction dates. Material requisitions. Lazulli shipments. Containment equipment. And then, scattered through several pages, references to biological subjects.
Talia's jaw tightened as she read them all to Calenelda. "Stonefang."
"Probably." Calenelda's hand stopped over the page. "There's something missing."
Talia looked closer. Several pages had been removed. Not torn. Cut cleanly from the binding.
Someone had deliberately removed them.
"Can you tell when?"
Calenelda touched the edge. "Long ago."
Talia turned the page. A final entry remained.
SUBJECT TRANSFERRED TO LOWER FACILITY.
No name. No species. No result. Only a handwritten notation beneath it.
Continue under direct supervision.
Talia stared at the words. "Whose supervision?"
There was no answer. The signature had been deliberately scratched away.
Calenelda's expression hardened. "Someone wanted that person forgotten."
Foxglove approached from behind. "That's usually when things become interesting."
She glanced at the catalogue. "Anything useful?"
Talia closed it. "Enough to know the chamber existed."
Calenelda nodded. "And enough to know it wasn't an isolated experiment."
Foxglove's ears twitched. "Then what are we looking for now?"
Calenelda turned toward the shelves. "Whatever they failed to remove."
They searched deeper. The catalogue led them through several cross-references before finally directing them toward a section that no longer appeared on the public index. A single iron cabinet stood against the far wall. Unlike the other records, it bore no catalogue number. Only a warning.
SEALED BY ORDER OF THE ARCforge MASTER COUNCIL
Talia frowned. "The Arcforge Master Council."
"Does that still exist?"
"No."
"Then nobody has opened this in a very long time."
Foxglove smiled. "Excellent."
Talia sighed. "Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was going to say excellent."
"You were going to say something involving breaking the lock."
Foxglove's grin widened. "Maybe."
Calenelda reached toward the cabinet. Talia caught her wrist. "Let me."
Calenelda hesitated. Then nodded. Talia placed her palm against the seal. Light flowed through the old inscription. Nothing happened.
She frowned. "It's not a normal ward."
Calenelda touched the cabinet. "It isn't meant to keep people out."
Talia looked at her. "Then what is it meant to do?"
Calenelda's expression darkened. "Keep something in."
The words had barely left her mouth when the cabinet gave a deep metallic click. The seal released. The doors opened by themselves. Inside was a single book. It was thick. Bound in dark, almost black leather. No title marked its spine. No author. No archive number. Only a symbol had been pressed into the cover. A simple geometric shape. A circle surrounded by four intersecting lines. Calenelda's hand hovered above it.
Her expression changed. "Talia."
"What?"
"I don't like this."
"That makes two of us."
Talia carefully lifted the book. The moment her fingers touched it, the Lazulli lines in the walls dimmed. Foxglove's wings tightened. Stonefang growled. Talia immediately looked toward him. The wolf stared at the book. Not recognition. Fear.
"Don't open it," Foxglove said.
Talia looked at her. "You said that very confidently."
"I have excellent instincts."
Calenelda reached toward the book. Her fingers touched the cover. She recoiled.
Talia caught her arm. "What?"
Calenelda breathed slowly. "There's a resonance."
"Ba'Ham?"
"No." She shook her head. "Not him." Her expression remained troubled. "It feels like the chamber."
Talia looked down at the book. Then she opened it. The first pages contained diagrams. Lazulli conduits running through bone. Magical filaments woven through muscle. Containment systems designed to accommodate biological movement. The drawings became progressively more ambitious. Larger subjects. More complex integration. Less machinery. More living tissue.
Talia's face went pale. "This is exactly what they were doing to Stonefang."
Calenelda said nothing. She didn't need to. She could hear Talia's breathing. Then they found the first useful reference. A heading.
THE BELOW FACILITY
Beneath it:
All subsequent development shall be conducted beneath the Lower Ring. Surface oversight is no longer advisable.
Talia turned the page. There were references to an individual. Never named. Never described. Only titled.
THE ARCHITECT
Calenelda's head lifted. "The Architect."
Talia read further. The entries were frustratingly vague.
The Architect has approved the revised containment structure.
The Architect rejects the previous biological limitations.
The Architect requires additional Lazulli.
The Architect has ordered all surviving records sealed.
No name. No rank. No identity. Only the title. Talia turned another page. Blank. Another. Blank.
Then the book ended. She stared at the final page. "That's it?"
Foxglove leaned over her shoulder. "All that secrecy for five useful sentences?"
Talia closed the book. "Five sentences that shouldn't exist."
Calenelda reached toward the cover. "This person was real."
"Yes."
"And they were working beneath the city."
"Yes."
"And they were binding Lazulli to living things."
Talia nodded. Calenelda's expression hardened. "Then they're still important."
Foxglove glanced toward the dark corridors beyond the archive. "Or someone is continuing their work."
A faint metallic sound echoed somewhere in the stacks. Everyone froze.
Calenelda's head turned toward it. "Something is moving."
Talia's light ignited around her gauntlet. Foxglove spread her wings. Stonefang lowered his head. From between the shelves came the scrape of metal against stone. A shape stepped into the light. It was humanoid, but barely. An old Arcforge custodial construct. Its body was built from layered brass and blackened steel, its face a smooth plate without features. Lazulli lines pulsed weakly beneath its armor. Another stepped out behind it. Then another.
Talia tightened her grip. "They're ancient."
Calenelda listened. "No." She tilted her head. "They're awake."
The first construct raised its arm. A narrow Lazulli emitter unfolded from its wrist.
Foxglove bared her fangs. "I assume those aren't here to welcome us."
The construct fired. Talia raised her shield. Light exploded across the archive. The impact drove her backward. Calenelda braced and stomped her foot against the floor. Stone rose between the shelves.
The construct's second blast struck the barrier and shattered it.
"They're protecting the records!" Talia shouted.
"Then don't destroy them!"
Calenelda moved. Her foot struck the floor again. A ripple of earth travelled beneath the shelves, throwing the constructs off balance. Foxglove launched herself over them. Her claws struck metal. Somehow she had managed to strike something vital as one of its arms hissed and lost power. Stonefang saw the opportunity and lunged. His jaws closed around an armored forearm. The construct's Lazulli circuits flared. Stonefang released it with a snarl.
Talia drove her shield into the construct's chest. The impact sent it crashing into a shelf. Books rained down.
"Calenelda!"
"I know!" Calenelda couldn't help but grin in the thrill of battle.
She planted both feet and slid into her mantis stance. Metal screamed. The construct's internal mechanisms twisted as Calenelda's magnetism seized the iron within its frame. She pulled. The machine collapsed inward. The construct collapsed.
The others continued advancing. They raised both arms on the group, unfolding their lazulli emitters. Calenelda knew Talia's shield could only handle so much. She also knew Talia would place herself between them and the constructs without hesitation. The emitters started humming with built up charge, preparing to fire. Talia gritted her teeth as she prepared to brace for the impact. The first shot struck the shield and again exploded in a hail of light. The impact drove her back. She scrambled to regain her foothing, expecting the second shot. It never came.
Puzzled, she dared a glance over her shield. The constructs looked like they fought invisible forces. Their arms jerked violently. Their bodies strained against something they could neither see nor understand. The metal surrounding their emitters began to bend inward. Then it started to crumble. Talia looked back. Calenelda stood several paces behind her. Her expression had changed. There was no grin now. No playful confidence. She was completely serious. Her fingers were spread wide, each one slightly hooked. Talia didn't recognize the stance. She had only ever seen Calenelda fight with the praying mantis. This was something else. Calenelda slowly moved her hands. The metal shrieked. "Don't." A piece of metal tore free the construct's chest. "Touch." Inner systems screamed. "My." Wires snapped. "Girlfriend!" Calenelda made a sharp ripping motion. The constructs' cores tore free. The machines collapsed into themselves, spilling oil across the stone floor.
Silence returned. Three broken constructs lay scattered between the shelves. Calenelda stood among them, breathing heavily. Then she realized what she had just said. Heat crept into her cheeks. Talia lowered her shield. Where Calenelda managed a light blush, Talia was on fire.
"Talia.. I.." Calenelda began.
Talia interrupted her. "It's okay." Her voice was quieter than usual. She looked at Calenelda for a moment, still visibly flushed. "It's good to know how you think of me." Calenelda's blush deepened.
A few steps away, Foxglove stared at the wreckage. Then at Calenelda. Then at Talia. She remembered Calenelda pulling Talia's sword and scabbard toward herself in the desert. That had been only days ago. Back then, Calenelda had needed concentration just to move a single weapon. Now she had torn the iron framework out of three armored constructs without even touching them. Foxglove's ears slowly lowered.
"That," she muttered, "was considerably more magnetism than the last time."
Calenelda turned her head toward her. "Was it?"
Foxglove stared. "Yes." A beat passed. "Much more."
Calenelda seemed genuinely surprised.
Then Foxglove looked toward the wreckage again. "And apparently you're learning very quickly."
Calenelda smiled faintly. "I suppose I am."
Foxglove looked between the two women again. She knew these two were somehow going to start flirting again, and she was not going to let the archives become the setting for it.
"These things were protecting one book?"
Calenelda shook her head. "No."
She turned toward the sealed cabinet. "They were protecting what was inside it."
Talia looked down at the black book in her hands. For the first time, the title seemed heavier than the object itself. The Architect. Whoever they had been, they had hidden their work beneath Tan'Thalon. They had erased names. Sealed records. Built laboratories beneath the city. And experimented on living creatures. But whether the Architect was dead, alive, or merely a name passed from one person to another.
They didn't know. Not yet. Talia carefully returned the book to its protective wrapping.
"We take this somewhere safe."
Calenelda nodded. "And then we find out who the Architect was."
Foxglove glanced toward the darkness beyond the shelves. "And whether they're still here."
No one answered. Far below them, beneath layers of stone and metal, something gave a faint mechanical hum. Then stopped. The three women looked at one another.
Calenelda tightened her grip on Talia's wrist. "Let's get out of the archives."
This time, nobody argued.