The chamber lurched.
Cracks raced across the crystal veins in the walls, light spilling out like liquid fire. The rotating construct holding the echoes of the Clan of Seven shuddered, its perfect symmetry breaking as fragments began to drift away.
Kaelion grabbed Eris by the shoulder. "We need to leave. Now."
"But—" Eris looked back at the Clan. "They're still here."
One of the echoes met his gaze, calm even as the vault unraveled.
"Go," the Clan said.
"Our task is complete."
Another added, softer,
"Remember what you learned. The truth will cost you—but ignorance would cost the world."
The hum beneath the chamber rose into a shriek.
The Watcher's Trace inside Eris flared painfully, like a needle pressed against his core. For a split second, he felt something vast brush against his awareness—not a voice, not a presence he could see, but attention.
Kaelion cursed under his breath. "It's focusing on you."
Eris staggered. "I can feel it… like something turning pages inside me."
"That's exactly what it's doing," Kaelion said grimly. "Mapping you."
The floor beneath the construct collapsed inward, pulling shards of crystal into a growing void. Ancient energy lashed outward, tearing grooves into the walls.
Kaelion drew a sigil in the air with his blade. "Run when I say run."
"When?" Eris shouted.
"Now."
Kaelion slammed the blade into the ground.
A wave of force exploded outward, shoving Eris toward the stairs. The two of them sprinted upward as the vault behind them began to implode, light folding in on itself like a dying star.
Eris glanced back once.
The echoes of the Clan of Seven stood unmoving as the chamber collapsed around them, their forms dissolving into motes of light.
The last thing Eris heard was a single voice—quiet, but certain.
"Choose people over prophecy."
Then the stairs sealed shut behind them.
They burst into the upper shrine, gasping for air. The runes along the walls flickered wildly, some going dark forever.
Kaelion leaned heavily on his sword.
"It's done," he said. "The vault is gone."
Eris pressed a hand to his chest. The Watcher's Trace was still there—quieter now, but heavier.
"So I didn't get rid of it," Eris said.
"No," Kaelion replied. "You made it interested."
Eris gave a weak laugh. "That sounds worse."
Kaelion didn't smile.
"Interest is how they decide whether to interfere… or erase."
The shrine trembled one final time, then fell silent.
Eris looked around. "What happens now?"
Kaelion straightened slowly, his expression resolute.
"Now," he said, "we move. We don't wait for fate to come knocking again."
He looked directly at Eris.
"You've been seen. That means every step forward matters more than ever."
Eris nodded, jaw set.
"Then let's make sure they don't like what they see."
Somewhere far beyond the shrine—beyond the world itself—a Watcher adjusted the thread of observation.
And for the first time in ages…
It hesitated.