Chapter Thirty-Five

Lore and Bastian continue deeper into the catacombs, guided by Lore’s inner sense of the Mortem-killed bodies rather than any visible route. Bastian questions how Lore can navigate the tunnels, and Lore explains that other children were born to the Night Sisters, but Lore was the only one among them who could use Mortem and the only one marked to enter Nyxara’s tomb during an eclipse.

The mention of the eclipse makes Bastian urge Lore not to attend the upcoming ball. Bastian does not have proof of danger, but Bastian’s fear for Lore is strong enough that Bastian offers excuses and escape plans. Lore agrees to try to avoid the ball, though Lore privately doubts that defying Anton would be simple, especially with Gabe involved. Lore warns Bastian that Bastian should also stay away because August may try to kill Bastian, but Bastian says Bastian has already begun protecting himself from poison and would answer any open attack in kind.

At a fork in the tunnels, Lore and Bastian find an inscription carved into the stone: divinity is never destroyed, only echoed. The strange words unsettle them, and a nearby old bone suggests someone may have died there long ago. They continue until Lore’s mental map leads them directly to what seems to be a solid wall, making Lore briefly despair that Lore has led them wrong and that the investigation may be hopeless.

Bastian refuses to abandon the search, so Lore examines the wall and discovers a cold patch of stone threaded with Mortem. Lore realizes the wall is a magical lock rather than a physical door. By taking down Lore’s mental barrier, channeling nearby Mortem, and probing a complex knot of death magic that resembles Anton’s work, Lore accidentally slides the hidden mechanism into place and opens the wall.

Inside, Bastian impulsively lights a fuse that ignites torches around a vast cavern. The chamber contains far more than seventy-five corpses, all laid on stone plinths, all well preserved, and all apparently in the prime of life rather than children or the elderly. Lore and Bastian find an eclipse carved into one corpse’s palm, echoing Lore’s own marked hand and the coming eclipse.

Trying to understand what happened, Lore channels Mortem from one corpse and sees dark knots above every corpse’s heart, suggesting the bodies are connected by Anton-like death magic. The Mortem is unusually dense and nearly overwhelms Lore before Bastian steadies Lore. Then every corpse sits up and turns toward them. Instead of attacking, the dead chant that they awaken as do the new vessels, and the chant spreads through the cavern before abruptly becoming screams.