Page 47 of Beyond the Treaty

Azrael led the way, his sword drawn, his posture rigid with tension. Darius followed closely behind, his usual sharp tongue silenced by the weight of what we had just witnessed. None of us spoke. The spirit’s warning still lingered in the silence, as if the cave itself refused to allow us to forget.

The council’s complete authority had been founded on a falsehood.

The war, one that reshaped the realm and birthed the world as we knew it, had not been won by the council. They had not ascended to power as saviours.

They orchestrated it. And now, I held the evidence in my hands.

The tunnel twisted sharply, and suddenly, the cold night air enveloped us as we stepped beyond the cave’s entrance. The Obsidia sprawled out before us in eerie silence, the moon casting ghostly silver over the land. For a moment, I simplybreathed, filling my lungs with the crisp night air, willing my thoughts to settle.

Darius was the first to shatter the silence. “So, what happens

now?”

His voice was rough, as if he were forcing himself to speak

past the weight in his chest.

Azrael didn’t reply straight away. He sheathed his sword but

remained tense, his eyes scanning the molten, barren land as if expecting enemies to materialise from the shadows.

I swallowed hard, running my fingers over the leather-bound tome. “We unlock it,” I said. “The spirit claimed the knowledge was hidden, but it’s all here, within this book. We need to discover how to access it.”

Azrael turned to me, his expression inscrutable. “And what if the truth is more dreadful than we imagined?”

I met his gaze. “Then we shall deal with it.”

Darius scoffed, rubbing a hand over his face. “You speak as if it’s easy. We’ve only just discovered that the council has started a war that has reshaped the world, and you want to dig deeper? Who’s to say the next truth won’t be even worse?”

My grip tightened on the tome. “That’s precisely why we must uncover the truth. If we halt now, we’re just as culpable as they are. We know they constructed their empire on deceit, but if we fail to expose them, no one else will.”

Azrael exhaled slowly, his eyes still shrouded in uncertainty. Yet after a moment, he offered a slight nod.

“Then we’ll discover how to unlock it,” he said. “But we must proceed with caution.”

The wind howled over the scorched earth of Obsidia, carrying with it the scent of ash and something older, some- thing ancient. The barren land stretched before us, a jagged landscape of blackened rock and molten veins that pulsed faintly beneath the cracked ground. The crimson tome in my hands felt warm, warmer than it had been before. It seemed as if it, too,could sense that we were approaching something significant. Something it had been anticipating.

Azrael stood beside me, his jaw clenched and his shoulders taut with tension. I knew him well enough to recognise when he was caught between instinct and restraint. Darius lingered a few steps behind, his unease apparent in the way his hand hovered near his weapon.

We had encountered danger before, but this was something entirely different.

This was the truth. And truth, as we had learned, was seldom kind.

I took a slow breath and glanced down at the book. “We ought to try now,” I said, my voice scarcely above a whisper.

Azrael’s gaze snapped to meet mine. “Here? Right now? Wouldn’t it be best to unlock the tome at my keep?”

“He is right, Elara. Who knows what creatures could be lurking to attack once they smell the hint of power?” Darius agrees.

I hesitate, my fingers tightening around the edges of the crimson tome. Darius had a point, this land reeked of ancient magic, of forgotten things that did not sleep. Yet something within me, a pull as old as the runes in this book, urged me that we couldn’t wait.

“The spirit told us that the knowledge was concealed for a reason,” I said slowly. “What if unlocking it necessitates this place? What if we require the magic here?”

Azrael exhaled, his gaze drifting over the blackened expanse of Obsidia. “And what if the magic here isn’t intended to help us?” His voice was low and cautious. “What if the council left something to guard it?”

A shiver ran down my spine, but I steeled myself to stand

taller. “Then we’ll deal with it.”

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