"You were saying," he prompted gently, "about the Founders' seal."
Thalia nodded, gathering her thoughts.The knowledge seemed to slip through her mind like sand through fingers—there one moment, scattered the next."The seal was the first binding," she said slowly."The first time the Deep Ones were forced back into the abyss."
"Over a thousand years ago," Luna corrected quietly from where she'd settled on the floor beside Thalia's chair, legs folded beneath her."Based on the oldest texts I've found in the archives."
"Yes," Thalia agreed, grateful for the anchor of specific information."It was...different then.Frostforge wasn't a military academy.It was a place of learning, of collaboration between magical traditions."
She paused, taking another sip of tea, using the moment to organize the fragments of memory that continued to surface and submerge within her mind."The Founders weren't who we think they were."
Kaine frowned."What do you mean?Who do we think they were?"
"Tell me," Thalia said, setting her mug aside."When you picture the Founders of Frostforge, what do you see?"
He considered for a moment, running a hand through his dark hair."I suppose...Northern cryomancers.Powerful ice mages from the Reaches, building a fortress against some ancient threat."
Thalia shook her head, wincing slightly at the dull pain the movement triggered."That's what I would have thought, too.Before."She closed her eyes, trying to recapture the clarity of the vision."But I saw them, Kaine.I watched them perform the ritual that created the seal."
"And?"Luna prompted, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"They were from everywhere," Thalia said, opening her eyes again to look at them both."The Southern Kingdoms, the Northern Reaches, the archipelago—representatives of all three regions, each practicing different magic.There were cryomancers, yes, but also storm-callers.And root-singers—people like me, who could sense and manipulate the currents in the earth and growing things."
The firelight seemed to intensify as she spoke, casting long shadows that danced across the walls like the figures from her visions."They stood in a circle, in a chamber beneath what would become the Howling Forge.One caster from each tradition.The runes carved into the floor—the same pattern that's still there today, where Maven tried to—" She broke off, the memory of her near-sacrifice at Maven's hands still raw despite everything that had happened since.
"Go on," Kaine urged, his voice gentle.
Thalia drew a steadying breath."They formed a triangle within the circle—one cryomancer, one storm-caller, one root-singer.The others stood at the edges of the chamber, witnessing.They began to chant, and the runes started to glow—blue beneath the cryomancer's hands, white beneath the storm-caller's, golden beneath the root-singer's."
Luna's eyes widened."The same colors we saw emanating from you when you were in your coma.The same energies."
Thalia nodded, the connection solidifying something that had been hovering at the edges of her understanding."The power built until it was almost blinding.And then—" She hesitated, the memory piercing her with unexpected grief for people who had died centuries before her birth."They collapsed.All three of them, at the same moment.They gave everything.Their power, their lives."
"The Founders' Price," Luna breathed, the words barely audible over the crackling of the fire."You witnessed the actual Founders' Price being paid."Her eyes met Thalia's, alight with realization."That's why you said it was 'willingly paid' when you first woke up.The Founders themselves were the price."
"A sacrifice," Kaine said, his voice hoarse."To create the seal that's been holding back the Deep Ones all this time."
Silence fell over them, heavy with the weight of this revelation.The Founders hadn't simply built Frostforge and established traditions of magical learning—they had given their lives to create a barrier between humanity and annihilation.A barrier that was now failing.
Thalia looked around the common area, suddenly aware of an absence she should have noticed sooner."Where's Roran?"
Kaine shifted in his chair, a flicker of something—discomfort?regret?—crossing his features before disappearing behind his usual stoic mask.It was Luna who answered, her voice gentle.
"He's resting.Finally."She touched Thalia's arm lightly."He didn't leave your side the entire time you were unconscious.We practically had to drag him away when he started swaying on his feet from exhaustion."
A pang shot through Thalia's chest, sharp and sweet at once.She pictured Roran sitting beside her bed, his wild curls even more disheveled than usual, his dark eyes lined with fatigue as he maintained his vigil.While she had wandered through ancient memories, he had remained, anchoring her to the present with his stubborn presence.
"He was...very worried," Luna continued, a small smile touching her lips."We all were, of course.But Roran took it particularly hard."
Thalia nodded, unable to find words for the emotion swelling in her throat.Instead, she reached for her tea again, using the simple action to compose herself.
Luna rose in a single fluid motion, moving to a table near the hearth where several weapons had been laid out for cleaning or repair.She picked up a hammer—heavier than a standard weapon, with a head that gleamed with bluish-silver light, runes etched into its surface that pulsed faintly in the firelight.
"You said something when you first woke," she mused, turning the hammer over in her hands."About 'three becoming one.'What if it wasn't just about the three magical traditions being used in concert in the original ritual?"She traced one of the runes with her fingertip."What if it's about thefusionof magical disciplines being the only way to truly combat the Deep Ones?"
She held up the hammer."This weapon combines ice-metal forging with storm magic—we've seen how effective it can be against the shadows.But what if there's more?What if we need to incorporate all three traditions—not as separate casting, but as singular, fused magic?"
Kaine straightened suddenly, his expression clearing as though pieces of a puzzle had just aligned in his mind."That's what Jorik was talking about," he said, excitement edging his voice."His band of survivors—Northerners, Southerners, Isle Wardens—they discovered hybrid magical techniques out of necessity.Different combinations for different purposes.They found that certain magics, used together in specific ways, were more effective against the Deep Ones than any single tradition alone."
Thalia stared into the fire, feeling the truth of it resonate with the fragments of ancient knowledge still settling within her.The Founders hadn't just built a fortress against the darkness—they had shown the way forward through their unified sacrifice.Not Northern might alone, not Southern ingenuity, not Isle Warden fury, but all three together, their powers intertwined like the strands of a rope that could not be broken.
