The tunnel shook with every footstep behind them.
Kael ran, the former Vaultkeeper just ahead, leading him through the rust-choked corridors of the forgotten underground. The Reclaimer's screech echoed through the dark like a jagged blade across bone.
"The gate's close!" the Vaultkeeper shouted. "Delta-Seven lies just beyond the flood doors!"
Kael clutched the Memory Core tighter, its heat now blazing — no longer just a pulse, but a heartbeat synced with his own. His skin flickered with golden sigils, markings alive with power he still didn't understand.
They turned a corner — and there it was.
A massive vault door stood embedded in the wall of the tunnel, coated in frost and age. It was sealed shut, untouched for centuries. Strange glyphs — glowing faintly — spiraled around its edges.
"Hurry!" the Vaultkeeper barked.
Kael stepped forward, pulled the shard from his coat — the key the man had given him. As he held it up, the Core resonated violently. Light spilled from his hand, activating something buried deep in the vault's mechanisms.
The glyphs lit up — one by one.
Then—
CLANK.
The vault door groaned.
A hiss of steam.
And slowly, it began to open.
Beyond it was a space unlike anything Kael had seen — not just ruins, but a sanctuary. Machines hummed softly. A massive, crystal-like structure floated in the center of the chamber, suspended in an electromagnetic field.
"The Heart of Dawn," the Vaultkeeper whispered. "This is where it all began."
Kael stepped toward it, drawn like gravity.
Suddenly — an alarm blared.
BOOM.
The wall behind them exploded in fire and shrapnel. The Reclaimer burst through — but it wasn't alone.
With it came an Echo — a tall, humanoid figure, skin metallic and faceless, its voice a choir of static.
"The Dawnbearer must be erased."
Kael raised his hand, golden light already forming — but this time, the Echo didn't attack.
It pointed at the Heart of Dawn.
"You are not ready."
Then — without warning — the Echo surged forward, faster than anything Kael had fought. The Vaultkeeper threw himself between them—
"GO!" he screamed.
The blow struck him. The Vaultkeeper hit the floor — unmoving.
Kael shouted in rage, light bursting from his entire body.
He lunged.
The Core exploded with power. The chamber was consumed in gold.
The Echo froze — staggered.
Kael moved in a blur, striking with light, thought, instinct.
He wasn't fighting like a scavenger anymore.
He was fighting like a weapon.
Like a Dawnbearer.
The Echo shrieked, collapsing in a burst of static. The Reclaimer retreated, limbs burning.
And then… silence.
Kael dropped to his knees, panting. The Vaultkeeper lay dying, blood spreading beneath him.
"You're… not like the others," he whispered. "You… might actually make it."
Kael grasped his hand. "What is this place? Why was I chosen?"
The Vaultkeeper coughed. "The sun… didn't vanish. It was… imprisoned."
His eyes locked on Kael's glowing hand.
"You're not just the key… You're the flame."
With that — he was gone.
Kael stood slowly.
Alone again.
But now… standing before the Heart of Dawn — a massive archive of forgotten truth.
He placed his palm against the crystal.
Light engulfed him.
Memories surged — not just his own, but those of the world.
The First Eclipse.
The Architect's betrayal.
The rebellion of the Dawnbearers.
And… a final message.
A voice — not the AI, not the Architect — but a child's.
"If you're hearing this… it means hope isn't dead."
Kael's eyes widened.
The world wasn't lost.
It had just been waiting.
Waiting for someone to light the way.
Far above, in the orbiting Citadel, alarms rang.
Sol watched the light erupt from the vault.
He unsheathed his blade.
"No more hiding," he said. "The Dawnbearer walks the path."
He stepped into a black portal of his own design.
"To Delta-Seven, then. Let us end the prologue."
End of Chapter 9