Vane's soldiers were shooting all around them. Elias saw the red lights of the rifles shining in the mist of the gardens. He understood right away that going to the top was a mistake. That was exactly what Vane was waiting for. He looked at the Vestal who was fighting alone against a dozen men, then he squeezed Lyra's hand. Her skin was burning hot. She could no longer stand up on her own. Elias pulled the Keystone out of his bag. Instead of looking for an elevator or stairs, he turned toward the huge trunk of the nearest Mother-Plant. The wood was a light blue, almost clear, and you could see the sap moving inside like electric water.
Elias pressed the Key against the bark. He closed his eyes and tried to stop thinking about the sound of the battle. He asked the Key to open a path for him. A soft light began to come out of the object, and suddenly, the wood opened like a door. It wasn't a broken hole, but a clean entrance, a passage to the inside of the plant. He pulled Lyra with him and they jumped inside just before an explosion destroyed the platform where they were standing a few seconds earlier. Inside the trunk, the noise of the war suddenly disappeared. It was calm, warm, and the air smelled like fresh earth and clean metal. They were in an "Ether Vein."
They started walking in this tunnel of blue light. The ground was soft under their feet. Elias was almost carrying Lyra, but he noticed something strange. Here, in the heart of the plant, the purple spots on Lyra's face were not glowing as much. She seemed to breathe more easily. The raw mana, the kind that had not yet been changed by the Empire's machines, did not hurt her. It was as if the plant was protecting her. Elias also felt stronger. His head did not hurt anymore and he saw things clearly, without the weird visions that usually tired him out.
After walking for a long time in the dark and the blue light, they came to a small metal ladder. They climbed it and opened a hatch. They were not at the top of the city, but in a hidden place, very high in the branches, far from the soldiers. It was a old round tower made of glass and copper. On the door, there was a drawing of a compass and a star: the sign of the Ether Cartographers' League. This place was called the Canopy Outpost. It looked abandoned for years, but the lights were still working thanks to the energy from the trees.
Inside, there were large tables covered with maps. But they were not maps of the city or countries. They were maps of the sky and the stars. Elias found a machine that projected images into the air. He pressed a button and a recorded voice began to speak. The voice explained that the first Archons had not found mana in the ground of the planet. They had caught it from space, using the branches of the Mother-Plants like giant antennas. Mana was an energy that came from the stars.
Lyra walked over to a window. She looked at the black and purple marks on her skin. She told Elias that she finally understood. The void inside her was not a bad sickness. It was the rest of space, a force that was trying to take back the energy that the Empire had stolen from the stars. The more mana the Empire used, the stronger the void became to try to balance things out. She was not a monster, she was just a part of nature trying to defend itself against the machines. This discovery changed the way Elias saw the Keystone. It was not just a weapon, it was a tool to give the energy back to the sky.
They sat on the floor, in the middle of the old maps and dusty books. For the first time in days, they were not afraid of being caught. Vane was still looking down in the gardens, or way up near the throne. He did not think they would be here, in this old forgotten tower. Elias looked at Lyra. She was smiling a little, even though she was tired. They knew the final fight was coming, but now they knew why they were fighting. They didn't just want to win against Vane. They wanted to free the world from this energy that was choking it.