Chapter 6 The Severed Mark

• Even after leaving the Glasswell and slipping back into the shadows of Erelith, her mind refused rest. The Recollection’s warning echoed in her ears: *The Severed Order will come for you.*
• She didn’t know what frightened her more—that someone wanted to erase the truth… or that part of her still wasn’t sure which side she belonged to.
• By sunrise, she was back in Cael’s workshop. He was already awake, seated at his mapping table, eyes distant, hands moving in careful arcs across a parchment that wasn’t even inked yet. It was how he worked—drawing paths from memory, not vision.
• “You met them?” he asked, without turning.
• “Yes. The Recollection,” Lena said. “They remember everything. Even what the Archives buried.”
• Cael nodded slowly. “Then the city won’t stay quiet for long.”
• Lena placed the pendant on the table. “The Archives… they gave my mother a choice. And now they’ve given it to me.”
• “She didn’t choose to erase it all, though,” Cael said. “She chose to hide you instead.”
• “Because she believed I’d do what she couldn’t.”
• Cael leaned back in his chair. “That’s a heavy torch to carry.”
• Before she could answer, a heavy knock sounded at the door.
• Three sharp raps.
• Followed by two slower.
• Cael stiffened. “That’s not a courier knock.”
• He moved toward the entrance and opened it just a crack.
• A figure stood on the threshold. Pale cloak, hood low, face covered by a veil made of shimmering thread. A small symbol glowed faintly on the edge of their sleeve—a broken spiral.
• Cael shut the door hard.
• “The Severed,” he said, backing away. “They found you.”
• The knock came again, louder.
• And then a voice—calm, controlled.
• “We only wish to speak with the girl. If she comes willingly, there will be no conflict.”
• Lena stepped forward, despite Cael’s raised hand. “I want to hear what they have to say.”
• “Lena—”
• “I have to know what I’m choosing between.”
• She opened the door.
• The Severed envoy lowered their veil.
• Lena saw no emotion on the woman’s face. Only stillness.
• “You are the last link to a dangerous truth,” the woman said. “And your presence threatens the fragile balance this city depends on.”
• “Then tell me your version,” Lena replied.
• The woman nodded once. “Walk with me.” Against Cael’s protest, Lena followed the envoy through the quiet alleys of Erelith until they reached a hidden square where mist clung low to the ground. A circle of stone benches surrounded a dry fountain. There, three other members of the Severed Order waited, each marked with the same broken spiral.
• “We are not villains,” the woman began. “We are caretakers. Custodians of peace.”
• “Peace built on forgetting,” Lena said.
• “Yes,” she agreed. “Because remembrance invites vengeance. Chaos. You’ve seen it in the Vault’s vision. You saw what would happen if memory returned unchecked.”
• “I also saw the truth of who I was.”
• “And you will lose her,” the woman said, stepping closer. “Piece by piece. The more you remember, the less you’ll recognize yourself.”
• Lena swallowed hard. She had felt it already—flashes of pain that weren’t hers, emotions that bled into her thoughts. If she kept digging, would she become someone else entirely?
• “You want me to stop,” she said. “To stay quiet.”
• “No,” the envoy replied. “We want you to choose silence willingly. To protect the city—not by force, but by sacrifice.”
• Lena looked around at the others, their faces blank. Not hostile—just distant. Like they’d already made peace with forgetting.
• And that terrified her more than anything. “I don’t think you’re evil,” Lena said softly. “But you’ve already given up. I’m not ready to.”
• She turned and walked away, the pendant at her chest now cold.
• The envoy didn’t stop her.
• But as Lena rounded the corner, a voice followed her—gentle, final:
• “When you’re ready to forget… we’ll be waiting.”