chapter 14. A clue in the ashes of silence

The silence in the workshop after the guards left was different. She was no longer oppressive or full of reproaches. It was tense, resonant, like the string of a stretched bow. The decision was made. The truce, sealed by necessity, began to take shape with the first, timid plans.

Elina unfolded a blank sheet of thick paper on the table—not for drawing, but for taking notes. Her movements were sharp, precise.

—Okay,— she began, and her voice, accustomed to making shopping lists and household plans, now sounded like the voice of a field commander. — The situation. They know about Gray. They'll be watching. So we need to know more about them. You," she pointed at Hugh, —said that Vivan has supporters in the Guild. Who are they? Where are they?

Hugh, who had perked up after a successful experiment, rubbed his temples.

— They are mostly young, ambitious colorists. Those who see Vivan's innovation as a path to quick power. But he must have someone... higher up. Someone on the Guild Council who is covering up for his more radical experiments. Without approval from above, he would have already been stopped.

"So we need proof,— Elina concluded. — Proof of his methods. Something that can be shown to those in the Guild who have not yet been blinded by his ideas.

"His lab,— Gray said softly. They both looked at him. "He's conducting experiments, isn't he?" So he has a place where he does it. Where does he keep it… all that.

Hugh nodded grimly.

— The old observatory on the hill. He took it under his own needs years ago. But it's impossible to get there. It's not just a building. This is a magic node loaded to the limit. It's protected by spells that..." he paused, searching for words.

— Which ones are "noisy"? Gray prompted.

- yes. Incredibly loud. Any colorist can feel it coming from a mile away. And any non-colorist will be immediately noticed by the guards.

— And if ... - Gray thought about it, choosing the right feeling. — And if you don't approach from the outside? Not as a colorist or as a stranger? What about... nothing?

His father looked at him, not understanding.

"I didn't turn off the light today, but the pulse itself," Gray explained. —It's small. What if I try to extinguish not the spell, but... my own presence? Should I make sure that the defense doesn't "hear" me?

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Hugh paled.

"That's... theoretical… This is autolysis of the soul, Gray! You want to try to become invisible to the world by extinguishing your own aura! It can erase you completely!

"What happens if he catches Gray and does it himself?" Elina asked coldly, looking directly at her husband. "Would that be better?"

Hugh froze, struck by the simple and brutal logic. Should I risk my son in a desperate attempt or put him at the mercy of a man who knows no mercy? There was no choice.

At that moment, there was another knock on the house. But this time the knocking was not loud and metallic, but timid, fast and a little scared.

Everyone froze. Elina darted to the window, carefully pulled back the edge of the curtain.

—It's... that girl. The lyre.

Lyra flew into the house like a hurricane, out of breath and disheveled. She was clutching a bundle of coarse cloth in her hands.

—Are you... are you still okay?" She gasped, looking around at them. "I saw the guards leave you. I thought you were already... well.

"So far, so good," Elina replied dryly. "What happened?"

— He's up to something, - Lyra spoke quickly, the words were confused. — Thank you very much. His entire "winged squad" was gathered today, they were loading something onto carts in the closed courtyard of the Guild. I couldn't get close, but..." she held out the package. "I found this in the trash that was being taken out of his waiting room.

Hugh unwrapped the package. There were charred scraps of paper and... several tarnished, dead-gray fragments of some kind of crystal.

"He was burning something,— Hugh whispered, running his fingers over the paper. —Documents... reports..." He brought one of the fragments to his nose and grimaced. —And this... it looks like slag." From... from a very powerful magical ritual. He burned all the energy from those crystals to ashes.

Gray reached for one of the pieces. As soon as his fingers touched the surface, he jerked his hand away as if from a fire.

—They're... they're not just empty," he said, startled. "They're... hungry." They're thirsty. He looked at his father in horror. "He doesn't use energy, Dad. He burns it out. At all.

Lyra was nodding, her eyes full of fear.

"That's right. I overheard two of his guards chatting. They said that "the spring is almost ready" and that "tomorrow night they will begin the first phase of "Purification"." Whatever that means.

There was a heavy silence in the workshop. The threat has gone from abstract to concrete and deadly.

—Tomorrow night,— Elina repeated, and her voice was lifeless. She looked at Gray, then at Hugh. Everyone understood what that meant.

The time for training and preparation is over.

Hugh closed his fist around the gray, cold shard.

— Laboratory. Tonight. This is our only chance to find out what he's planning and stop it.

He and Gray exchanged glances. The fear in the boy's eyes warred with determination. The strategy he proposed in theory was going to become harsh practice in a few hours.

The first step into the shadows has been taken. The next step had to be taken into the very heart of the darkness.