Valerian's hand hovered over the third mark. "Unknown. But they're not passive. Caelum hinted they were 'awakening early.' Which means they're either being forced out… or reacting to us."
Selene leaned forward. "Do we have time to find them before they find us?"
"No," Kael answered grimly. "Because they're already moving."
A silence settled over the chamber. Then Selene spoke again.
"There's a site. Deep in the Emerald Expanse. An old ruin the Conclave always sealed. Forbidden even to high-ranking Magisters."
Valerian's eyes sharpened. "You think the Third Key is there?"
"I think something is," Selene replied. "We used to call it the Vault of Echoes. And it's tied to a name the System tried to erase from every archive."
Lira raised an eyebrow. "What name?"
Selene hesitated, then spoke:
"Nyreth."
Everyone stilled.
Valerian felt a cold memory stir—faint, fragmented. That name… it had appeared once in a corrupted System message months ago. Deleted almost instantly.
