The air inside the civilian freight Aerostat was dense and cold. Lyall lay stretched out on a pile of tarpaulins, his travel gauntlet removed. Pain was a heavy drum in his skull, the recoil from his act of brute force at the Domain of Cinders. Elara, her features drawn, applied pressure to his forehead with her emerald shawl.
In front of them, Isar, the pilot, watched the skies with an anxiety not seen in Imperial pilots. His jacket was worn from freight runs.
"Vane turned my home into a pressure machine," Isar said, his voice low. "I saw what he did to Sydia. Our pneumatic lines, our pride, are now forced pipes, pumping raw nexium for his exclusive use. He's killing the breath of a people to fuel his own ambition."
Lyall closed his eyes, sensing the truth of that discord, even from afar. He understood Vane's crime was not merely technological; it was imperial.
Hours later, as the Aerostat neared the capital area, the silence was broken by a sharp hiss from Isar's console. The pilot glanced at Lyall and Elara before disabling the alert.
"I have a coded signal on the private freight channel," he said, his face grim. "The Red Alert is launched. Vane isn't using the Guard. He's using his own network of private hunters. They aren't talking about a Countess, but a 'Saboteur of the Domain of Cinders' who damaged a master valve."
The news hit Lyall like a shockwave. Vane was moving fast, and he wanted him alive or dead.
Isar dropped them in a peripheral port district, a maze of piping and small copper factories.
"The city is loud, Lyall," Elara whispered, helping him down.
Lyall felt the crush immediately. It wasn't sound; it was the Discord of the millions of Aethelburg's pneumatic systems. Clapping valves, grinding gears all of it created a vibration wall that overwhelmed him. His body, still traumatized by the act of brute force, reacted like an over-calibrated sensor to the city's nexium cacophony. He couldn't focus, much less detect subtle danger.
"Vane cannot use the Imperial Guard," Elara explained, as they walked, cloaked. "But his agents are everywhere. We don't have time to hide."
Elara guided him toward the immense blackened bronze structure of the Imperial Pneumatic Cathedral. Lyall focused solely on moving without collapsing.
"We are going to the Order of the Veiled Ones of the Breath in the Sepulchre. They are the only ones who can validate the nexium proof."
She tightened her grip on his arm and lowered her voice. Her gaze scanned reflections in the glass and the passersby without lingering. Lyall was the target; Elara was the sentinel.
"You must understand this, Lyall," she whispered. "The danger isn't just Vane. It is within the Order itself."
She explained the factions: the Purity faction (the doyenne, mother Atara), who see nexium as a spiritual force to be protected, and the Power faction, who see nexium as a raw force to be exploited.
"Vane has powerful connections with the Power faction. They are idealists who believe force is the only way for the Empire. If we fall into their hands, Lyall, they won't hand us over to Vane. They will recruit you to analyze his machine and validate his vision."
The danger was not death, but forced cooperation and the betrayal of his own conscience.
They reached a dark alley behind the Cathedral. Elara stopped in front of a simple service door, made of thick, massive copper.
"This is the Sepulchre of the Breath," Elara said. "The Gate of the Order."
Lyall approached, the nausea of the urban nexium intensifying. But when he placed his hand on the copper, the chaos fell silent.
There was no Discord.
It was absolute silence. The nexium behind that wall was pure, stable, breathing the perfect contrast to the discordant scream he had heard at the Domain of Cinders. It was living proof that a peaceful coexistence with the Heart of the World was possible.
Elara took out a small, carved box, opened it, and touched a hidden valve. A thread of green steam, the Order's calling nexium, escaped.
The copper door opened soundlessly, revealing a cool, silent darkness.
"You are their only chance to see the truth," Elara said to Lyall, her gaze intense. "And we are their only chance."
They stepped into the silence of the Sepulchre.