The stairwell was carved from obsidian that seemed to absorb the light of their lanterns, swallowing it whole. Each step Kael took sounded too loud, echoing back at him like a voice repeating in a dream. As they descended deeper into the mountain, the temperature dropped and the air thickened, full of something sharp and metallic.
"The Vault Line marks where recorded memory ends and primal memory begins," Lira said behind him. "Everything below this point is... unstable."
"How unstable?" Kael asked.
Lira's voice was quiet. "Sometimes, your thoughts aren't your own down here."
Corren walked ahead of them, a lantern swinging from his hand. His expression was unreadable, though his silence carried weight.
The stairs ended at a wide stone platform suspended over a black chasm. The walls pulsed faintly with veins of crystal, and a low hum buzzed in the bones rather than the ears.
A figure stood at the edge of the platform, arms folded, robed in white trimmed with violet thread. His skin was dark, his hair silver and bound in tight braids. He turned as they approached, eyes like mirror-glass, cold and unfocused.
"The Duelmaster," Corren said. "House-appointed. Trains the minds of memory tacticians."
The man nodded once.
"You seek passage," he said, not asking.
"We seek permission," Lira replied. "To enter the deep corridor."
The Duelmaster studied Kael.
"He must prove his mind is his own. Memory is not given freely in these halls."
Kael stepped forward. "What do I have to do?"
"You will duel."
The word hung in the air like the toll of a bell.
"Not with blades," the Duelmaster continued. "With memory. With presence. You will confront another, shape a realm, and protect the truth of yourself within it."
Lira's voice was sharp. "What if he loses?"
"Then he forgets," the Duelmaster said. "And we do not waste time retrieving the lost."
Kael met his gaze. "And if I win?"
"Then the Vault opens."
Corren placed a hand briefly on Kael's shoulder.
"You were always good at this," he said, almost a whisper. "Even before you knew what you were."
Kael said nothing.
He stepped into the ring as the Duelmaster raised both hands.
The floor pulsed beneath him. Light coiled upward from the stones, forming a circle etched in silver fire.
Kael took a breath.
The memory war was about to begin.