The doors to the **Restricted War Mage Archives** were not grand.
They didn't need to be.
Anyone strong enough—or foolish enough—to force their way in wouldn't live long enough to enjoy what they found.
But Kye didn't need to force anything.
He stood before the twin flamebound gates, holding a sigil scroll signed with the **Empress's seal**.
Velden had given it to him without a word.
Not encouragement.
Not warning.
Just… *permission.*
And that made Kye wonder if **this** was the real trial all along.
---
The Archive keeper was an old woman with silver eyes and a blindfold made of living flame.
She said only three words when Kye entered:
> "No lies here."
Kye nodded.
"I won't lie. Not today."
---
The archive was **alive**.
Shelves moved when he wasn't looking. Books whispered. Some screamed. Others refused to open unless fed drops of flame or blood. Sigils on the ceiling rearranged themselves every few minutes to confuse intruders.
And deeper still—
A dark staircase. Cold. Stone.
At the bottom, **a single locked shelf** guarded by a flickering blue rune.
> *KAEL VIREON: ACCESS RESTRICTED — LEVEL ZERO*
> *Status: Deceased*
> *Cause of Death: UNKNOWN (REDACTED)*
> *Associates: UNKNOWN (ERASED)*
Kye placed his palm on the rune.
> **\[Paradox System Override – Permission Signature: Witchfire Fragment I]**
> *Seal bypassed… syncing… access granted.*
The lock clicked.
The drawer opened.
Inside: a scroll.
Black paper.
Gold ink.
No title.
Just a line:
> *"In the end, he only feared **one**."*
Kye unrolled it slowly.
It wasn't a biography.
It was a **journal**. Kael's.
Not much remained—most had been purged.
But one name had escaped the fire.
Scrawled halfway through the last surviving page, in bold slashing ink:
> **"Maerin."**
Kye blinked.
Then frowned.
It wasn't a noble name.
It wasn't a known sorcerer, general, or priest.
Just… Maerin.
> *"She told me to burn only what I could mourn. I never listened. But gods… I still remember her voice. And if she lives—I owe her more than death."*
Kye's fingers curled around the scroll.
If this **Maerin** was alive, she might know the truth about Kael's fall.
She might know why he chose **Kye**.
And what the Ash Circle was so desperate to erase.
---
**Back above ground**, as he stepped out of the archive tower—
Riza waited, leaning against the wall.
She tossed him a water flask. "Find what you were looking for?"
Kye didn't answer directly.
Instead, he asked, "Do you believe in ghosts?"
Riza scoffed. "After watching you turn a fire priest into ash? Sure. Why not."
Kye nodded slowly.
"Good," he said.
"Because I think I'm about to go hunting one."
---
**Far to the west**, in a ruined temple buried beneath black sand…
A woman sat alone at a circle of broken stones, fingers dipped in ash, whispering a name over and over.
> "Kael… Kael… Kael…"
Her hair was silver. Her eyes closed.
But her voice?
It hadn't aged.
> *Maerin is not dead.*
> *She is waiting.*