-Ashes of
r thick with damp and secrets long buried. His boots echoed with every step, flashlight beam cutting throu
g else. Something older. The Cathedral seemed alive, whispering frag
ck One:
ckled in the hearth, casting flickers of gold across velvet drapes and polished mahogany. The M
wooden knight clasped t
n," Elijah ple
d so the knight lifted his sword,
avy. "When I grow up, I wa
's hair. "Then you'll have to learn the
urrowed. "Aren't
ted, his smile fa
. "One brings safety.
-
It had felt real. Too real. Like he'd stood in that room. Like
resse
ered the ground. Faint symbols etched into the stone glowed faintly in the wet air. His f
Two: Five
emonial masks and crumbling pillars. Elijah was older now-maybe sixteen. His fac
heavy with embroidery. The other culti
d close. "Why
le believe in balance. In structure. They
nd, unsettled. "The
t me to pro
ar you. And y
r's jaw t
nderstand," he said. "O
ck. "I'll never th
ther now-Elijah's, the Mayor's, his own. He turned a sharp corner an
hard, bre
orward into darkness, b
ree: The Nigh
nce. Smoke curling up through the marble
h was
tters in the other. Evidence. Truth. Proof of what
oice roared behind him.
et. Maybe it was chance. But as Elijah reached the back gate, a blas
watch-helpless-as his so
es pressing into him like weights. He slowed his steps, no
dn't always b
st somethi
loss... maybe
the tunnel's ceiling. The passage widened.
d through th
d against the openi
d. His coat hung heavy on his shoulders. Hi
sed the f
ne running
yor did
ry, Zion," he said quietly. "I
hen start talking. Because
or turne
led through the ruin
This was a man running from his own sins-and