“You don’t remember your old Granna, do you?” the woman asked.

  Kar blinked, trying to put the pieces together.

  “You would have been young the last time you saw her,” Nat said softly, “Three or four. She’s your great-grandmother.”

  Granna’s face was wrinkled, her hair whiter than Encryst. She shuffled farther into the room, pausing beside Isa and taking her arm for support. Together, she and Kar’s sister crossed to the foot of his bed.

  “I’m sorry,” Kar answered. “I don’t remember much from back then.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that.” Granna’s smile was gentle and disarming. “We’re all here now, and we’ll have plenty of time to catch up.” her eyes flicked over his encased arm, the bandages, the pallor in his face. “You’ve gotten yourself into quite the pinch, it seems. Seems that’s what you Asenia boys do.”

  A hesitant smile tugged at Kar’s mouth. He glanced around at all the familiar faces, here in this room with him. Somehow, after everything that had happened since coming to Iridess, those closest to him were here. Alive. Together.

  At what cost, though?

  Images flashed through his mind. Morrow’s face. The man he hadn’t meant to kill saving Lore. Smoke rising above the rubble of Darby…

  He drew a shaky breath and shifted in the bed. “I’m… really happy to see you all.” He struggled to keep his composure. “I’m a little disoriented. Sorry.”

  Lore squeezed his arm and rubbed his leg comfortingly.

  Guilt wormed through him. “I—where is Caroline?” he asked. “Morrow’s daughter?”

  Isa reached out with her free hand and grasped Kar’s ankle. “She knows what happened. She’s going to be okay. We’re bringing her with us, to the Enclave.” Isa squeezed harder, “She’s been asking when you’ll wake up.”

  Derek’s voice split in, cracking. “It’s not your fault, Kar. What happened. If anyone’s to blame, I am. He stepped in to save me.”

  “Hey,” Aldwin’s tone froze the room. “Don’t either of you do that.” He looked from Derek to Kar. “Morrow was a good man. He wouldn’t want either of you taking the blame on yourselves, trust me. He’d just be happy to see you both here, alive. And we’ll make sure Caroline is cared for. That’s what we owe him.”

  Kar sniffed and rubbed at his eyes. There were still so many more questions.

  “Kiya?” he asked, turning to Lore.

  Lore shook her head. “Don’t know yet. Valorcryst have been told to look out for her. Eventually, she’ll have to come back through the Archives.” Her jaw tightened. “I’m gonna stick around here for a bit—to see if she does.” Kar felt a clamoring pang. He didn’t want to be apart from Lore.

  “You have some choices to make.” Granna said gently.

  “Yes,” Erio echoed from where he rested by the door.

  Kar looked from Erio back to Granna, confused.

  “You are still Marked,” Tharn said, his deep voice resonating from where he stood beside Erio.

  “Hmnn,” Granna nodded, as if the words settled something she’d already known. “And you need to be trained. And tested.” Her gaze shifted to Nat. “Your aunt Natalie will be coming back with me and the other Guardians. She will have to stand trial, for taking you and your sister from us.”

  “Wait, what?” Kar blurted.

  “It’s okay,” Nat said quietly. “I already agreed to it. That was part of the deal. I knew it would be when I went to them for help.”

  “Oh, it’s not the end of the world,” Granna said, waving a hand dismissively. “She’ll be alright.” Her eyes softened as she looked at Kar and Isa. “And it would be good for you two to get reacquainted with the family. You’re needed up there. A lot has happened in the Enclave since you left.”

  Kar’s head was already shaking before she finished speaking. “I can’t leave. That Herald woman—”

  “Melisdra will deal with her,” Tharn rumbled.

  “Yes. No need to worry.” Granna tone was maddeningly gentle. “The Elder Guardians have been given Encryst weapons, and besides-“ she tapped a knuckle lightly against Kar’s encased arm, “-with the Causeway shut she won’t be able to replenish her Sinistía. Herald’s aren’t nearly so tough when you take their Warping away.”

  The words held no meaning to Kar, but he felt like they should.

  He started to protest anyway, but Granna held up one finger, silencing him.

  “Rest, for now,” she said. “There’s no rush to anything. The immediate danger is over.” Her smile softened. “You did well Karalinde. You closed one Causeway.”

  Then her eyes glinted eagerly. “Source bless us,” she murmured, “you’ll help us close another.”

  ----

  It was a few days later when Kar stood with Lore on the street outside the entrance to the Archives—the same corner where she had startled him all those weeks ago. Ember’s voice echoed faintly in his head.

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  “Are you ready, Karalinde?”

  “Just… give me a minute.” He muttered under his breath, battling irritation.

  “Hey,” Lore’s lips quirked up at the corners. “We’ll see each other again soon. You go get things settled with your magic crystal cult family, while I track down my fire-breathing, kidnapping, raider of a sister.”

  She laced her fingers around the back of Kar’s neck, and his heartbeat quickened. He kissed her, one last time.

  Lore pushed him away gently, laughing. “Go on, or you’ll never leave.”

  Kar reluctantly headed down the street, boots crunching on cryst-buds that clung to the cracks in the old stone.

  “See you soon,” he called back.

  Lore waved, watching until he disappeared into the Ruins.

  Birds whistled busily from empty window frames. Kar breathed deeply, admiring the green vines that draped in vast sheets along the faces of the crumbling towers to either side of him.

  For now, there were no roaring cryst-beasts around. But Kar wasn’t overly concerned. He’d fought worse.

  His reserves were full. And he’d learned the proper names for things, too: Valoría, for ordinary Focusing. Potentía, from Ember—Granna called what he did with it Melding. It would always be Ember-forging in his mind, though.

  And Sinistía… Sinistía’s call was always there, whether he held any or not. All he had to do was Absorb and Convert.

  Granna hadn’t given him answers about that yet, not the ones he wanted. But Kar was getting something: Names, rules, a path forward. The world still didn’t make sense. Not fully. But he was no longer walking into things blindly.

  Memories of Darby and the Causeway still haunted him. Part of him knew they would until the day he died. But they drove him too. He had power now—power to fight horrors like that. He wanted to understand it. To become stronger. To make sure nothing like that ever happened again.

  “You are almost there, Karalinde. Turn at the next corner…”

  Kar did as instructed, and emerged onto a familiar street. This was where Kiya had left him, on his first foray into these Ruins.

  He followed the path the cryst-beast had taken in pursuit of him—the Bastion, as he now knew it was called—and found the collapsed rubble where its body still lay buried.

  Natalie waited for him there, Ember in the sling against her chest. A faint haze of Potentía shimmered around the Prism wherever she carried it.

  No one else had come. Ember had asked that what came next stay between the three of them.

  “You sure about this Ember?” Kar asked.

  “Oh yes. I am sure.” Ember’s voice was soft. “There is something important that I cannot remember. I keep thinking about the woman—the one you found me next to, Karalinde. I think… she was my friend.”

  Kar nodded. If it mattered to Ember, it mattered to him.

  “Thanks for coming,” Kar said to Nat.

  She offered a wan smile, “I’ve been curious to see this for myself anyway.” Her gaze flicked away. “And it puts off going back to the enclave for a bit, too.”

  That left Kar unsettled, but they’d deal with things as they came.

  He forged a pick on the stub of his right arm and used it to help clear a path through the rubble into the building where he’d been trapped. As he worked, he raised thin pillars and beams of Encryst to stabilize the wreckage, bracing things enough for them to slip through to the hallway beyond.

  Chunks of crystal still littered the floor where Kar had left them. Ember’s light leaked out in a steady glow, suffusing the dark around them.

  They descended into the long tunnel, the warm glow of the crystal fixtures still constant to either side of the empty channel in the floor.

  “Oh, Kar.” Nat breathed when they paused for rest. She settled beside him, and he passed her a piece of bread from his pack before taking a swig from the canteen. “I can’t believe you were down here all alone.”

  Kar just shrugged. After everything else, this wasn’t so bad.

  “Do you think that man will be there?” Ember asked.

  Kar swallowed. The canteen creaked in his suddenly tight grip. Old Set. Was he something like the Heralds? Or something worse?

  He was ready, regardless.

  ----

  Water dripped in the cavern. A steady plop, plop, plop in the dark. The ground was a churned, muddy mess underfoot, but they trudged on.

  The ship was close. Kar recognized rock formations by Ember’s Prism-glow.

  Up ahead, firelight danced, casting shadows with a different kind of glow.

  Kar lifted his hand, slowing Nat behind him. He didn’t want to speak—the sounds would echo—but knowing Old Set, the man would already know they were here.

  “Stay close,” Kar whispered, and climbed the rise.

  His stomach turned. There was that familiar hooded figure, sat down with its back to them next to the fuel-less fire. The heat it cast was real though.

  “My, oh my.” Old Set’s crackling voice said without turning.

  Nat had frozen atop the rock outcropping, staring, baffled.

  Kar jerked his head for her to follow and descended toward the flames.

  They sat down across from Old Set. Kar kept his Encryst arm in front of him, as a ward.

  The flames flared bright as Ember drew near—then subtly leaned away from Kar’s arm, their roar dampening in its presence.

  Odd.

  Set’s impish grin curved under his hood. “You two have had quite the adventure, haven’t you?”

  Kar kept silent, unsure what to say.

  “Who in the Rift are you?” Nat demanded.

  A spark of annoyance flashed in Set’s eyes. “Just a weary traveler trying to get home.”

  His attention returned to Kar. “You’re well on your way. And I know that look.”

  Kar narrowed his eyes, searching Set’s decrepit face for clues. “Are you a Herald?” he asked.

  Set’s smiled thinned. “Oh no. No, no.” He tilted his head. “I have no interest in giving up my mind to the will of another.” His gaze sharpened. “I am not your enemy, boy.”

  “Does that make you a friend?” Kar grunted.

  Old Set rose slowly, joints creaking. “I can be whatever you make of me.” He turned his head slightly, as if listening to something far off. “Now. If you intend to revive Saya, you best be quick. Her injuries are severe.” There was a pause. “You up to the task of stabilizing them?”

  Kar nodded slowly, sensing the thrum of Valoría within himself. He’d intended to Imbue the woman—Saya? Was that her name? Old Set’s familiarity was disconcerting.

  “Well,” Set said, clapping his hands once, “far be it from me to stand in your way. You remember how to get down?”

  “I remember,” Kar said. Nat stood with him.

  “Just mind the others,” Set added. His grin returned, wicked. “I wouldn’t advise waking them if I were you. My Brethren are not so friendly as I.”

  With that, Set vanished. No thunderclap, just one moment there, the next simply gone.

  “What in the Hells…” Natalie whispered.

  They made their way down to the ship. Its silvery sides reflected Ember’s light brilliantly. Kar saw now that it was lined with filaments of Encryst embedded along its hull like veins.

  They stepped carefully around Set’s brethren, frozen in time.

  Nat led the way up the ramp. At Ember’s approach, the doors slid open without a sound.

  “It is so quiet in here,” Ember said.

  Their footsteps rang as they traversed the corridors. Kar felt absurdly guilty for the mud they tracked behind them.

  At the door to the chamber where he’d found Ember, Kar hesitated. Nat had already stepped inside.

  He followed, pulse quickening, and stopped beside her at the strange clear enclosure. The woman—Saya—lay still within, her wounds as grievous as Kar remembered.

  Kar breathed deep and steadied himself. Then he set his hand against the enclosure and prepared for what came next.

  “You sure this is what you want, Ember?”

  “Yes,” Ember answered. “Please, wake her.”

  The surface of the enclosure was warm, and a hum thrummed through the Encryst of his left arm as Kar broke whatever field held her suspended.