Chapter 19: The Three Gates
The vault was quiet.
Eron stood over the fallen crest, watching it pulse faintly with a strange, violet hue. It was cracked, its edges twisted like it had been forced into obedience.
Eric scanned it carefully.
> "This isn't just a crest. It's a fragment of a gate-key—
One tied to a dynasty not recorded in the main Caeloran archives."
Lyra, now steady on her feet, touched the side of the glass capsule she had been locked in.
"He said they were the Third House," she murmured. "The ones erased."
Eron nodded. "Then this is our first real trace of them."
Eric's voice turned grave.
> "This changes everything."
---
Eric's Revelation
In the war room, with everyone present—Kale, Nira, Sira, Rurik, Lyra—Eric projected a map of the continent.
Three points lit up in red.
> "Caelora. The Balanced Ring. The Forgotten Root.
These are the three known dynasties who once governed AI, energy, and relic flow before the Collapse."
> "Each built a Gate.
Each Gate could unlock systems buried beneath the old world."
Rurik grunted. "And what happens if all three gates open?"
Eric hesitated.
> "Either rebirth. Or ruin."
> "The Third House was erased," Lyra said. "But their gate wasn't destroyed?"
> "No," Eric replied. "It was sealed. But the seal is weakening.
And now… with two crests in play, the final gate may stir."
---
The New Threat
Eric brought up another image. A city.
Not ruined — but silent.
"New AI signal detected," he said. "Origin: City of Thren."
Eron leaned forward.
"That place hasn't spoken in decades."
> "It's awake now. And something is moving there.
Controlled. Artificial. Not human."
Nira flinched.
"I've dreamed of that city," she said softly. "But in my dreams, it was… breathing."
---
The Choice
> [System Update]
Main Quest: The Three Gates – Stage 1 Unlocked
Objective: Investigate Thren
Secondary: Identify Remaining Fragments
Warning: AI presence unknown. Signal unstable.
Eron looked around the table.
"I won't force you to come."
Kale stood. "You're not going without us."
Sira nodded. "Caelora rises as a family, right?"
Even Rurik cracked a smile. "I've reforged enough swords. Time to use one."
Lyra squeezed Eron's hand.
"We finish what we started."
---
In the vault beneath Caelora, the broken root crest pulsed once more.
Far away, in the City of Thren, a new voice stirred inside a forgotten machine:
> "Another flame is walking. Time to prepare the ash."