The orbs glowed like captured stars, their light bathing the Vault's halls in a cold, ceaseless shimmer. I stood at the edge of the Grand Chamber, my apprentice robes scratching my neck, my palms slick as I clutched the first orb I'd ever been trusted to decode. The other Keepers watched, their faces unreadable behind their silver masks, but Elder Torren's eyes held something else—worry, maybe, or a warning. "Focus, Kael," he murmured, his voice low enough to drown in the orbs' hum. "Some truths are heavier than they seem."