Free Web NovelCHAPTER 57 — ECHOES OF ANOTHER SKY
The broken tablet remained on the stone table.
No one touched it.
No one spoke.
The silence itself felt sacred.
Vespera finally exhaled.
"I... didn't tell you everything."
Her companions looked toward her.
"The writing changed."
Elyra frowned.
"It changed?"
Vespera nodded.
"When I looked at it..."
"It wasn't written in symbols."
"It was written in words."
Lirael's expression sharpened.
"Only for you?"
"Yes."
Nyxara crossed her arms.
"Can anyone verify that?"
Vespera met her gaze.
"No."
"And that's exactly why it worries me."
Rather than dismissing her...
Nyxara stepped closer to the tablet.
She studied every inch of it.
The symbols never moved.
She looked back at Vespera.
"I believe you."
Kragga blinked.
"That was quick."
Nyxara shook her head.
"No."
"It was logical."
She pointed toward the tablet.
"If she wanted to deceive us..."
"She would have invented something easier to prove."
Vespera smiled faintly.
Nyxara still questioned everything.
That was precisely why her trust meant something.
Elyra carefully wrapped the tablet in a heavy cloth.
"No one outside this room learns about this."
Captain Rowan nodded.
"If the Empire knows these archives are open..."
"They'll assume we've found something important."
"Let's not confirm it."
Everyone agreed.
Some discoveries were safer in silence. freёweɓnovel.com
They spent the next several hours examining the remaining archives.
Most of the records were ordinary.
Trade agreements.
Harvest records.
Royal births.
Military campaigns.
Then Lirael found a shelf devoted to legends.
Normally...
She would have ignored it.
Today...
She didn't.
One scroll described the oldest Dragonkin belief.
Before kingdoms.
Before empires.
Before written history.
The world had once been connected by great gateways called the Sky Bridges.
No one knew whether they were real.
Or merely mythology.
The final line had been added centuries later by an unknown scholar.
Every civilization remembers the Sky Bridges.
None remember who built them.
Vespera quietly copied the passage into her journal.
She didn't know why.
Only that it felt important.
Meanwhile...
Sylvana wandered into a chamber unlike the others.
Instead of books...
It contained preserved seeds.
Thousands of them.
Each carefully labeled.
One cracked clay pot caught her attention.
Its inscription read:
Ashroot Lily – Extinct.
Sylvana frowned. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"This flower..."
She turned toward Elyra.
"It used to grow in my forest."
Elyra looked surprised.
"But this archive says it disappeared over six hundred years ago."
Sylvana gently touched the dried petals.
"It didn't disappear."
"It was poisoned."
The room became quiet.
Another small piece of history...
No longer matched the official record.
Kragga eventually groaned.
"I've read more today than I did in my entire childhood."
Captain Rowan laughed.
"And?"
She shrugged.
"I still prefer hitting things."
Even Elyra smiled.
"But..."
Kragga added after a moment.
"I understand now why history matters."
She looked around the archive.
"If nobody remembers the truth..."
"Someone else gets to write it."
The room fell silent.
No one could argue with that.
As the group prepared to leave...
Nyxara noticed something unusual.
The shelves nearest the deepest wall had empty spaces.
Not damaged.
Not collapsed.
Empty.
She counted them.
Twelve.
Exactly twelve missing volumes.
She crouched to inspect the stone.
"No dust."
Captain Rowan looked puzzled.
"What does that mean?"
"They weren't stolen centuries ago."
Nyxara replied quietly.
"They were removed recently."
Everyone froze.
"Recently?"
Elyra asked.
Nyxara nodded.
"Within the last few years."
Someone...
Had entered the sealed archives before them.
Back in the Hall of Embers...
The discovery dominated the council meeting.
"Who besides the royal family possessed a key?"
Vespera asked.
Elyra thought carefully.
"My mother."
"My grandmother."
"The High Archivist."
She stopped speaking.
The realization slowly appeared on her face.
"The High Archivist..."
Captain Rowan answered softly.
"Died."
"No."
Elyra whispered.
"Officially..."
"He disappeared."
Night settled over Drakhar.
Vespera stood alone on a balcony overlooking the mountain city.
The cool wind carried the scent of fire and stone.
She held the dragon-wing pendant the old blacksmith had given her.
Her thoughts drifted.
Not to war.
Not to politics.
But to the words on the broken tablet.
You are not the first.
If someone else had crossed between worlds...
What had become of them?
Had they returned home?
Had they died?
Or...
Were they still somewhere in Elyndor?
Far below...
The lights of Drakhar flickered like stars.
For the first time since her rebirth...
Vespera no longer felt alone in the universe.
She felt...
Connected to a history far older than herself.
In the ruins of an abandoned monastery far beyond the Empire...
A hooded traveler entered a forgotten crypt.
Upon an ancient stone pedestal rested eleven weathered books.
One space remained empty.
The traveler carefully placed a twelfth volume into the collection.
He looked toward the eastern mountains.
"So..."
"They've finally opened the archives."
A faint smile crossed his weathered face.
"Perhaps..."
"The time has come."
He extinguished the lone candle.
Darkness reclaimed the chamber.
Only the whisper of turning pages remained.
End of Chapter 57
Author's Note:
Thank you all for reading and for your comments and feedback—it really helps me improve. You may have noticed I've been uploading chapters more frequently than usual. The reason is that there's a chance I may not have reliable internet access next month, so I'm trying to publish as much as I can beforehand. I appreciate your patience and continued support, and I hope you enjoy the journey with Vespera.
