Private Shadows in Silk

[Kaelon Virex]

Location: The Gilded Veil – Sealed Sub-Chamber, Lower Vaults

Tick.
Tick.
Tick.

The sound echoed through the chamber like a soft knife tapping against a glass coffin.

Kael tightened his grip on the blaster.

 

[Arq*]

Arq crouched near the edge of the altar, eyes scanning the shadows with a twitch of unspoken anxiety.

"That's not a clock," Arq muttered. "That's a message."

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael knelt next to him, eyes narrowed.

"It's coming from the other side of the wall. Behind the altar."

He felt along the stone — warm to the touch, pulsing faintly like it was alive. A thin seam revealed itself under Kael's fingertips. He tapped once. The ticking paused. Then resumed — faster.

 

[Arq*]

"Nope. Nope nope," Arq said, rising quickly. "That's the kind of rhythm that ends with detonation or demonic visitation."

 

[Kaelon Virex]

"Or both," Kael muttered.

With a few precise adjustments on his vambrace, Kael activated a slicer interface, and the seam hissed open. Slowly. Like something behind it wasn't sure it wanted to be found.

 

[Arq*]

The passage opened into a hexagonal chamber with mirrors layered along every surface — floor, ceiling, and walls. Each pane reflected slightly distorted versions of the room. And them.

Only… not just them.

In the reflection behind Arq — someone stood watching.

He spun. No one there.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

The ticking was louder now. Centered on a black pedestal — its top covered by a sheer layer of dust. Atop it, a black cube about the size of a loaf of bread. Etched with red Sith markings.

A holocron, but older. Different.

Kael approached slowly. His voice was low.

"I've seen smuggled Sith tech. That's not museum salvage. That's active."

 

[Arq*]

"And it's not ticking anymore," Arq said, wide-eyed. "That's worse."

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael reached out carefully, scanning the pedestal with his gear. He got three different warnings: high radiation, temporal displacement variance, and latent Force-energy signatures.

"Whatever Therin took… this is what she left."

Then, from the cube—
A single whisper.

"You are already marked."

Both men froze.

The cube… opened.

Light, red and black, spilled outward in slow, rippling bands. A spectral image emerged — not a recording. It watched them. It was aware.

And it looked like a young woman with no eyes.

"She waits for the mask. The Queen of Flame. The boy of blades. The devil in stars…"

She tilted her head.

"And the traitor already among you."

 

[Arq*]

"Shut it down," Arq said, already pulling out his emergency disruptor.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

"We can't," Kael breathed. "This… this is why she was here."

The vision leaned in.

"Therin Vos delivered the offering. The cradle will awaken."

Then the cube snapped shut.

Tick.
Tick.
Tick.

But now the ticking was coming from their own shadows.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

"We're leaving," Kael growled.

 

[Arq*]

They didn't argue. Arq activated the recall beacon to reseal the door behind them. As they fled the mirrored chamber, the whispers followed them, crawling across the walls like vines made of sound.

The ticking faded…

Until they reached the vault lift.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael realized the marking the holocron warned of was on his skin. Glowing faintly. A sigil burned into his palm.