The Flying Skiff moved west.
Behind them, the towers of Ironcrag slowly disappeared into the haze.
The great city had been strange.
Loud.
Mechanical.
Alive.
But the farther they traveled from its outer districts, the quieter the world became.
The enormous industrial structures became fewer.
The elevated rails disappeared.
The steam pipes that had crossed the mountainsides were eventually replaced by exposed rock and ancient metal foundations.
The Ironcrag Waste began to reveal its true character.
It was not empty.
It was simply old.
Dorion stood at the front of the Skiff, shield resting against his shoulder.
He looked toward the horizon.
Dorion: "How far is Zython Hold?"
Seraya stood behind him.
She had agreed to accompany them only as far as the western boundary of Ironcrag's civilized territory.
Seraya: "Far enough that most citizens never see it."
Bardin leaned over the side.
Bardin: "That's encouraging."
Seraya smiled.
Seraya: "You survived Veridian."
Bardin straightened.
Bardin: "Fair point."
Lirion was examining the Skiff's navigation crystal.
The crystal was behaving strangely.
Every few minutes, its light weakened.
Then recovered.
He adjusted the controls.
Lirion: "We're passing through interference."
Sorion looked at his Compass.
Its needle remained pointed west.
But there was no longer a steady glow.
Instead, the bronze light appeared only in short pulses.
THUM.
Dark.
THUM.
Dark.
Sorion narrowed his eyes.
Sorion: "Something is interfering with the signal."
Seraya looked toward the mountains.
Seraya: "That's one reason people don't travel here."
The Boundary
The Flying Skiff eventually reached a massive stone marker.
Half of it was buried beneath the ground.
The other half was covered in rust.
An old Ironcrag symbol had been carved into the surface.
Seraya motioned toward it.
Seraya: "This is where the maintained routes end."
Valek looked ahead.
There was no road.
Only broken cliffs and a narrow passage between two enormous mountains.
Valek: "And beyond this?"
Seraya answered:
"The old Waste."
Bardin looked at her.
Bardin: "You aren't coming?"
Seraya shook her head.
Seraya: "My authority ends here."
Dorion understood.
She wasn't afraid.
She was respecting a boundary.
Seraya turned toward Sorion.
Seraya: "Whatever you find beyond this point, remember something."
Sorion waited.
Seraya: "The people of Ironcrag don't know everything about Zython."
A pause.
Seraya: "Most of what we know comes from stories."
Lirion asked:
"What kind of stories?"
Seraya thought for a moment.
Seraya: "Stories about a guardian."
Sorion's expression changed slightly.
Sorion: "Guardian of what?"
Seraya looked at the Compass.
Seraya: "That's the part nobody agrees on."
Then she stepped away from the Skiff.
Seraya: "Be careful."
The Flying Skiff lifted.
Bardin waved.
Bardin: "Goodbye, Seraya!"
She waved back.
The Skiff crossed the boundary.
The Silent Waste
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
There was something unsettling about the region.
Ironcrag had been noisy.
Veridian had been alive with birds, insects, drums, wind, and movement.
The Waste was different.
The wind itself seemed muted.
Lirion looked at his instruments.
Lirion: "No active Technomagik network."
Dorion looked around.
Dorion: "Then how did anyone live here?"
Lirion answered:
"Maybe they didn't."
Sorion looked at the mountains.
Sorion: "Someone did."
The Compass pulsed.
THUM.
A faint bronze line appeared across the glass.
It pointed toward a narrow canyon.
They descended.
The Skiff entered.
The walls rose around them.
Hundreds of meters above, small fragments of metal were embedded in the rock.
Bardin noticed them.
Bardin: "Those weren't made by nature."
Lirion looked up.
Lirion: "No."
He scanned one.
His expression changed.
Lirion: "They're ancient."
Dorion frowned.
Dorion: "Ironcrag ancient?"
Lirion shook his head.
Lirion: "Older."
That word stayed with them.
The First Ruin
The canyon opened.
A structure appeared ahead.
It looked like a watchtower.
But it was unlike Ironcrag architecture.
There were no large pistons.
No steam vents.
No mechanical cranes.
Instead, the structure was made from dark stone and bronze.
Thin lines of light ran across its surface.
The questors landed.
Sorion approached.
The Compass immediately reacted.
THUM.
A bronze symbol appeared on the tower.
Lirion examined it.
Lirion: "This isn't a city structure."
Valek: "What is it?"
Lirion looked at the surrounding terrain.
Lirion: "A marker."
Dorion touched the bronze surface.
Nothing happened.
Bardin tried.
Nothing.
Sorion approached.
The moment his hand touched the symbol—
WHOOM.
A circular wave of silver-violet energy spread across the tower.
The ancient lines illuminated.
Then a sound emerged.
Not a voice.
A memory.
Children laughing.
Water flowing.
Leaves moving in the wind.
Then the sound vanished.
Everyone stared at Sorion.
Bardin spoke quietly.
Bardin: "That wasn't Ironcrag."
Sorion shook his head.
Sorion: "No."
Lirion looked at the bronze symbol.
Lirion: "It sounded like Veridian."
Sorion said nothing.
The tower slowly shut down.
But one small symbol remained illuminated.
A shape resembling a root surrounding an eye.
The Wrong Direction
The Compass suddenly spun.
North.
South.
East.
West.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Lirion stepped closer.
Lirion: "It's confused."
Sorion closed his eyes.
He released his resonance.
The Compass stopped.
The needle pointed downward.
Dorion looked at the ground.
Dorion: "Underground?"
Sorion nodded.
They searched the tower.
Nothing.
Bardin noticed a series of small stones arranged in a pattern.
Bardin: "Wait."
Everyone looked at him.
He crouched.
There were twelve stones.
Each carried a tiny symbol.
Bardin touched the first.
Nothing.
The second.
Nothing.
The third.
Nothing.
He looked at the pattern.
Bardin: "This is a sequence."
Lirion crouched beside him.
Lirion: "You're right."
The stones represented:
Water.
Fire.
Wind.
Earth.
Metal.
Plant.
Memory.
Lirion stared.
Lirion: "This isn't a lock."
Bardin smiled.
Bardin: "It's a story."
They studied the sequence.
Sorion realized something.
Sorion: "Memory isn't first."
Lirion nodded.
Lirion: "It's the seventh."
Bardin touched the first six symbols in order.
The seventh illuminated.
Then the remaining five.
CLICK.
The ground moved.
A hidden staircase opened.
Dorion looked down.
Dorion: "So much for the road being empty."
Beneath the Waste
They descended.
The staircase was ancient.
But it wasn't abandoned.
Small crystals illuminated their path as they moved.
Lirion scanned them.
Lirion: "They're still functioning."
Dorion asked:
"Who maintains them?"
Lirion didn't answer.
They reached a chamber.
Inside was a circular table.
At its center was a map.
Not of Ironcrag.
Not of Veridian.
A much larger map.
The questors gathered around it.
Lirion slowly recognized several locations.
Lirion: "These are Veil Gates."
Sorion looked closer.
One marked Veridian.
Another marked Thalorin.
Another—
Ironcrag.
But the final mark was unfamiliar.
It was deeper west.
Beneath the symbol was a single name.
ZYTHON HOLD
The Compass responded.
THUM.
Then another symbol appeared beside it.
A bronze shield.
Dorion stared.
Dorion: "That's our relic."
Sorion nodded.
But something else had appeared.
A faint green mark surrounded the shield.
Lirion studied it.
Lirion: "That's strange."
Sorion looked at him.
Lirion: "What?"
Lirion pointed toward the green symbol.
Lirion: "The shield's resonance isn't entirely mechanical."
Sorion looked at it.
He recognized the pattern.
It resembled the Technomagik roots of Veridian.
But he didn't know why.
Not yet.
Something Else Is Here
A sound came from the darkness.
SCRAPE.
Everyone turned.
Dorion raised his shield.
SCRAPE.
Again.
Something moved behind the chamber.
Valek drew his weapon.
Lirion's Noetic Fluid spread across the floor.
Bardin activated his Frog Exo-Suit.
KSSHHH-CHAK.
A small mechanical creature emerged.
It had six legs.
Its body was made from old bronze.
One eye glowed weakly.
It stopped when it saw them.
Bardin lowered his weapon.
Bardin: "It's a machine."
Lirion scanned it.
Lirion: "No."
The machine looked toward Sorion.
Its eye changed color.
Then it spoke.
The voice was broken.
"Memory..."
Everyone froze.
The machine continued.
"...recognized."
Sorion stepped forward.
The machine raised one mechanical arm.
A projection appeared.
A forest.
Veridian.
Then the projection changed.
A figure standing beneath enormous trees.
The image was damaged.
The face couldn't be seen.
The recording ended.
The machine collapsed.
Silence.
Bardin looked at Sorion.
Bardin: "Do you know who that was?"
Sorion stared at the empty projection.
Sorion: "No."
And he meant it.
But somewhere deep inside the Compass—
something had already remembered.
The Road to Zython Hold
They returned to the surface.
The sun was beginning to set.
The mountains turned black against the red sky.
Ahead lay the deepest part of the Ironcrag Waste.
No roads.
No cities.
Only ancient structures hidden among the mountains.
Sorion held the Compass.
The needle pointed west.
For the first time since leaving Veridian, the signal was steady.
THUM.
A faint bronze shield appeared.
Then disappeared.
Sorion looked ahead.
Sorion: "We continue."
Dorion raised the Skiff's controls.
The engines activated.
WHOOOOM.
The Flying Skiff rose.
Bardin looked toward the dark mountains.
Bardin: "Zython Hold."
Lirion looked at the ancient map.
Lirion: "And somewhere beyond it... Avarra."
Sorion looked at the horizon.
He could still remember the brief vision.
The forest.
The unknown figure.
The strange green Technomagik.
He didn't know what it meant.
Not yet.
The Flying Skiff disappeared into the Ironcrag sunset.
And deep beneath the mountains—
an ancient system detected their approach.
A single memory awakened.
Then the system went silent.