The hall was silent but for the faint whisper of the starlight flowing through its inlaid floor.
Every step Iris took echoed strangely, as though the sound moved ahead of her rather than behind.
The Lord of Masks sat unmoving on his throne. His mask was different now—not the cracked, weathered one she'd seen before, but a smooth silver face that reflected the constellations on the floor. In its mirrored surface, she saw herself, Thalen, and Nyx, but distorted—like they were already part of his mask collection.
"I've been waiting for you," he said softly. "All of you."
Thalen's voice was sharp. "You've been leading us here since the Garden."
"Yes," the Lord admitted, rising from the throne. "Because this is where the choice must be made."
Nyx stepped forward, his mark blazing faintly beneath his shirt. "You mean the choice to free the Astral One."
The Lord tilted his head. "I mean the choice to free yourselves. You think you're heroes—keepers of balance. But balance is just another word for prison."
Iris' hand tightened on the watch. "And you'd replace it with chaos?"
"Not chaos," the Lord said, stepping down the throne's steps. "Truth. The Astral One is not some alien invader—it is what we were before the Courts. We shaped stars. We walked time. We were infinite."
He looked at Thalen. "Do you know why the Queen feared me? Why she banished me? Because I remembered. And I would not bow to her shackles."
Thalen's jaw tightened. "You betrayed your people."
"I tried to free them." His voice cracked with something almost like grief. "You've been told the Astral One is destruction incarnate. But tell me, nephew—why does it call to the Seers? Why does it choose them?"
Nyx's gaze flicked to Iris, then back to the Lord. "Because it needs a vessel."
The Lord smiled faintly behind the mask. "Because it remembers them. Because they are its children."
The words hit Iris like a cold wind.
"My bloodline…" she whispered.
The Lord's eyes glittered behind the silver. "You are not cursed, Iris Thorne. You are kin. The watch is not just a relic—it is a fragment of the Heart that was stolen from the Astral One. And when the Heart is made whole again, the Veil will fall."
"And Faerun will burn," Thalen said flatly.
The Lord turned to him, voice low. "Faerun will change. The Courts will end. Time will be ours again. You will not grow old. You will not lose."
He walked toward them slowly, each step deliberate.
"You've seen what the borderlands have become," he said to Iris. "That is the Veil breaking under its own weight. It will happen with or without me. But with me… you can guide it. Control it. Survive it."
Nyx crossed his arms. "And what do you want in return? Our loyalty? The Heart?"
The Lord's gaze flicked to him. "Both. And when the Astral One rises, I will lead its first court."
Thalen's sword slid free with a hiss. "Over my dead body."
The Lord's head tilted. "That can be arranged."
The floor beneath them shifted.
The constellations moved, the starlight rippling outward like water. Masks on the walls turned to face them, empty eyes watching. The hall seemed to stretch, the throne retreating into the distance.
Iris felt the pull from the watch growing stronger—almost unbearable now. The constellations on Nyx's back flared, matching the ones beneath their feet.
"He's trying to bind us to the map," Nyx warned. "If it finishes aligning, we won't be able to move."
Iris looked at Thalen. "We can't fight him on his ground."
Thalen nodded once. "Then we change it."
They moved as one.
Thalen lunged, sword aimed for the Lord's mask. Nyx darted toward the nearest wall, shoving his hand into the starlight patterns carved there. The light flared wildly, breaking the perfect symmetry of the floor.
The Lord caught Thalen's strike with one hand, stars scattering from the impact. "You think you can break what you don't understand?"
Iris raised the watch and willed it open.
Light burst forth—not a beam, but a shockwave of silver that rippled through the hall. The masks on the walls cracked. The floor's map shuddered.
The Lord of Masks staggered back, his silver face flashing with a dozen different shapes in an instant. For the first time, his voice was less certain. "You've touched it already…"
Iris stepped forward, the watch still glowing. "I've seen it. And I'm not giving it to you."
"You think you can keep it from me?" he snarled.
"I think," she said, meeting his gaze, "you're afraid I can."
For a moment, neither moved.
Then the starlight underfoot surged again, and the hall twisted violently, pulling them toward the throne.
Nyx yelled, "We need to get out—now!"
The Lord's laughter followed them as they fought against the pull.
"Run, Seer. Run as far as you can. The Astral One will call you back… and next time, you'll answer."
The hall shattered like glass.
They hit the light-threads of the Fold again, gasping. The throne room was gone. The Lord was gone.
But Iris knew he hadn't been defeated.
He'd just let them go.
Thalen glanced at her, breathing hard. "What did he mean—'you've touched it already'?"
Iris closed the watch. "I think… I think I've been carrying part of the Astral One with me since the beginning."
Nyx gave a grim smile. "Then we'd better figure out what that means before he does."