No playful teasing. No dramatic retellings of their day.
As they rounded the final bend into Sector 4C, their boots crunching over familiar gravel, both Ilyari and Tazien slowed to a stop.
Their breath caught. Soldiers. Dozens of them.
Clad in dull, blackened armor with the Emperor’s insignia stamped on their breastplates, they stood like statues along the narrow streets—lining the fence posts, clustered near the well, even stationed in front of Brinna’s and Ma’Ryn’s homes. Their eyes were sharp, scanning every movement, every whisper of sound, hands resting on spear shafts and mana-triggered blades.
A heavy mana ward crackled faintly over the perimeter—an invisible dome that hummed just beneath the skin, making the hairs on Ilyari’s arms stand on end.
“What… is this?” Tazien breathed, shifting closer to her.
Ilyari’s eyes swept the soldiers. “A lockdown,” she said tightly. “They're guarding something. Or someone.”
At the corner, an older man—Jeral, the village butcher—hurried past, his basket of scraps rattling. He glanced at them once, then leaned in close as he passed, whispering without stopping:
“Corrupted beast sighting. Broke out two villages east. They say it was… bigger than usual. Drove a whole caravan mad.”
He didn’t stop to say more, only scurried down the lane, head down, eyes averted from the soldiers. Ilyari and Tazien exchanged a long look. “Bigger than usual?” Tazien muttered. “How big is ‘big’ exactly?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Ilyari said, voice low. “If they're locking down here… something spooked them bad.”
She moved forward, carefully keeping her hands visible, her posture as non-threatening as possible.
One of the soldiers near Ma’Ryn’s home raised a hand, palm out. “No entry without cause,” he barked. His face was obscured by his helmet, voice rough. “We live here,” Ilyari said, pointing to their door.
The soldier hesitated, eyes narrowing.
Finally, he grunted and stepped aside. “Fine. Go in now. Don’t leave again until further notice.”
Tazien saluted mockingly behind his back. Ilyari elbowed him in the ribs before he could say something stupid.
They slipped inside, bolting the door.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Tazien finally exhaled loudly and peeked through the slats of the window. “I count… twelve just around Brinna’s and ours.”
Ilyari pressed her back to the door, heart pounding. “They’re scared of something. Or—”
“Of someone,” Tazien added darkly.
The familiar walls of their home suddenly felt smaller. And outside, the quiet crackle of mana wards and the sharp clink of soldier’s boots promised one thing:
The storm wasn’t over yet.
They moved in tandem, drawing blankets from their beds and hanging them over the windows, pinning corners into place with broken tools and old nails. The last sliver of light disappeared, plunging the house into the soft hum of shadow.
Ilyari reached for the key.
Tazien knelt beside her.
Together, they pulled up the floorboard beneath Ma'Ryn's bed.
The black stone box still waited there. Patient. Heavy.
Ilyari pressed the iron key into the single slot on top. It fit.
The lock clicked.
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The box creaked open.
A breath of air whooshed out like something exhaling after years in slumber.
And then — Glyphs poured out.
They weren’t like the ones Ilyari and Tazien usually glimpsed from the corners of their vision. These were tangible. Glowing. Alive. Silver and blue light spun into delicate coils, streaming into the air and swirling around them like misty dancers.
The glyphs pulsed once, twice—then surged downward, pooling into a circle on the floor.
There, a second keyhole glinted in the wood.Nestled inside the box: a smaller silver and angled key. The glyphs on this one seemed to glow white hot, then warm gold.
Tazien snatched it out of the box and was thrusting it toward the keyhole without hesitation.
"Wait—!" Ilyari began.
But he had already pressed it into the new keyhole and turned it. The floor shuddered. And Tazien's body convulsed. His head jerked back violently, and a stream of light burst from his eyes and mouth in a soundless scream.
"Tazien!" Ilyari shouted, grabbing him by the arms, trying to yank him back. "Let go! Let go of it!"
But the moment she touched him — The light leapt into her too. Agony, pure and total. Blinding light devoured everything. The room, the air, her thoughts. And then— Ma’Ryn’s voice. Ilyari and Tazien could see each other in a world of white. Then she called out to them again. They turned and saw Ma’Ryn, standing, smiling, in beautifully intimidating silver armor. Her presence was warm, steady and strong. And she had both her arms.
She smiled and sighed as she approached them. "If you’re seeing this, then I have already gone."
They hovered now in a field of stars, their bodies floating side by side, a soft ripple of memory surrounding them.
"You are the last of Nyameji. Ilyari… you remembered some. I know. Tazien… you were too young."
She smiled gently.
"Your mother was my cousin. And the truest sister I ever had. Niece to the current Emperor. Taken as a prisoner of war. But loved by the Nyameji Prince. And when the war ended… they wed. Not by conquest. By choice."
A flicker of a royal wedding appeared—petals falling, light weaving through gold.
"She was supposed to return home to visit her family, but fell ill and never went back. Her mother—your grandmother—refused to believe that she would betray them of her own will, died, thinking her daughter betrayed her. Your uncle, the man who rules now, never forgave her."
The stars pulsed darker.
"He killed his own kin to take the throne. And someone… helped him. A master manipulator. One who intercepted every letter she wrote, every plea and request. Who fed his hate like fire."
Ilyari shook. Tazien floated silently beside her.
"You were spared as infants. Too small. Too unknown. He let you live as prisoners. Hidden and monitored. He didn’t know the Code of Fallen would still awaken in you."
Ma'Ryn knelt before them.
"I kept you alive as long as I could. But they poisoned me, little by little. I could never fully heal. I…"
Her voice cracked.
"I'm sorry you have to do this alone. But you must survive the Academy. Seven years. You must be the top two students. It's the only way to access the Elite Library."
Fragments of maps flashed. Symbols. A sealed door in a high tower.
"Inside, I had a connection hide six texts. It was safer there than constantly having them search here. They hold the knowledge of what is left of the greatest information of our kingdom. Magic, codes, strategies, war and history Each of these things, your great uncle thought that he could erase from you."
"The glyphs have a name. I know you both called it the Primordial Code” Ma’Ryn laughed at the thought. “You both were too cute to correct, but now you must know it’s true name in order to wield it like you need to. The Code of Fallen. They were gifted to our bloodline by the god Fallen—the protector of Nyameji. But another god rules this land. One who seeks to destroy Fallen’s legacy. To corrupt this land through the Emperor himself."
She leaned forward and hugged them both. Ilyari could feel the warmth of the hug and unconsciously both Ilyari and Tazien melted into it.
"I love you. Both of you. More than you know. My time has truely come to an end. I am so glad that I was able to see the both of you one last time. It is time to rise my two mischief makers, and for what it’s worth, I'm sorry that my parting gift is a headache, it will be worth it, trust me but we are short on time and there is no other way." And she grinned in a way Tazien had never seen, the mischief in her eyes made him both excited and shudder.
She placed a hand over both their foreheads and as her hands touched their brows—
They screamed as they were flung backward — light blasting out of their mouths, their eyes, and their fingers.
They hit the floor with a grunt, back-first, pain flooding every nerve.
Ilyari clutched her skull.
Tazien rolled onto his side and groaned.
“By the stars, that’s not a headache,” he gasped. “That’s a war inside my skull.”
He shakily raised his fist and aimed it at the ceiling.
“You smiled, Ma’Ryn! You smiled before you fried my brain! What kind of goodbye gift was that?!”
Ilyari wheezed a laugh — then winced, cradling her head.
“…I think my bones are buzzing,” she whispered.
They lay there a while longer, the world slowly quieting.
And then, with a low hum, a hidden panel in the floor slid open.
Below it: a narrow stairwell, bathed in faint blue and silver light.
Across the threshold shimmered two barriers — one silver, one blue.
Ilyari approached first. She raised a hesitant hand — and when she touched the silver light, it vanished.
Tazien followed. The blue light shimmered, then disappeared as he touched it.
They exchanged a glance.
And descended.
Into the room Ma’Ryn had hidden from the world.
Into the truth. At last.
that happened. ??
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really was.
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waiting for them beneath that floor.
?? What do you think is inside the hidden room?
?? Any guesses about the mysterious "master manipulator" pulling strings behind the Emperor?
?? And real talk—would you have touched that second key like Tazien did, or noped out HARD? ??
love hearing them. ?? Drop a comment, hit that ? if you're enjoying the journey, and stay tuned… things are about to get way more dangerous.