They didn't speak for a while after the mirror faded.
The wind had grown eerily still. Even the unnatural crimson sky overhead seemed to dim, as if the realm itself were holding its breath.
Juno sat beside Lyle on a warped stone ledge, one boot braced on the edge, arms resting on her knees.
"You saw her?" she asked.
Lyle nodded. "She knew Quinn. Maybe even more than that. She helped build all of this… and then walked away."
He rubbed his temple, still dizzy from the vision.
"The Codex—this entire system—it's not his. It's a reconstruction."
Juno turned to him, her voice hushed. "Then what is it actually?"
Lyle opened the Codex. A page near the center shimmered with a new heading, freshly formed.
> [Legacy Thread Discovered: Architect Sigil Imprint]
New branches unlocked. Access to alternate casting pathways granted.
Warning: Conflicts detected with Shadow System tier permissions.
Do you wish to activate?
He stared at the prompt.
Activating it might break his sync with Quinn's Shadow arts.
Or worse—it could make him a threat.
To everyone.
Even to Juno.
She must've read his silence. "You're hesitating. That's rare."
Lyle exhaled. "It's not just power. This is about direction. Quinn sees me as a successor. But whoever she was—this Architect—she wanted something else. Not conquest. Not dominance. Something… freer."
Juno's eyes stayed locked on his.
"So who do you want to be?"
---
They returned to the city at dusk.
No words from Quinn.
No guards at the gate.
But the shadows in the walls shifted a little more urgently as they passed, as if agitated by something unseen.
And in the heart of the throne chamber, Quinn sat alone—eyes closed, cloak hanging from the obsidian seat like living smoke.
The Codex trembled in Lyle's bag as they crossed the threshold.
He knew.
---
"I gave you three days," Quinn said quietly.
Lyle swallowed.
"I didn't run. I followed a signal from the Codex."
Quinn opened his eyes. "Not from my Codex."
He stood slowly. "Do you know what you've seen?"
Lyle hesitated. "The Architect."
Quinn's gaze turned distant. "Her name was Asera. She carved the first Codex from threadlight. Her glyphs weren't tools—they were choices. Each one carried consequence."
"And you rebuilt it," Lyle said. "To make it easier. Sharper. Weaponized."
Quinn didn't deny it.
"I made it survivable."
He stepped down from the throne, cloak fluttering around his boots.
"You think you're ready for her path? You're not. She walked a road with no armies, no shields. She trusted others. That got her killed."
Lyle stood tall. "Then maybe I need to finish what she started."
Quinn's jaw tightened.
But he didn't strike.
Instead, he turned and gestured to the far wall.
"There's one place left you haven't been."
---
They walked in silence to the edge of the city, where a deep chasm split the land. A long staircase led downward, carved into the bones of an ancient creature.
Quinn stopped at the first step.
"This is the well of echoes. It connects to every shadow user that's ever lived."
Lyle stared into the swirling black below.
"You want me to go down there?"
"No." Quinn's voice was low. "I need you to. If you're really hers… it'll either awaken you further—or destroy everything inside you."
---
That night, Juno sat alone in their quarters while Lyle stood at the mouth of the well.
He held the ring in one hand. The Codex floated before him.
A message pulsed across the page:
> [Thread Alignment Choice: Confirm Access to Architect Glyph Path?]
Result: Divergence from Shadow System – Unique Integration possible.
Warning: Further evolution may alert hidden systems beyond known realms.
Lyle placed his hand on the page.
"Yes."
---
He stepped into the well.
And the shadows did not consume him.
They welcomed him.
As if they remembered him from another life.