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The engineer frowned as he looked around. “Er—what?"

"The carvings." She gestured toward the surrounding pillars. "The convergence sigils. The stabilization arrays. This entire chamber is covered in them."

Alyra looked around. "Meaning?" she prompted.

Elowynn struggled to find the right words because the conclusion sounded absurd even to her.

"Because they are all connected. Every one of them.”

She walked purposefully toward one of the broken channels, crossing the floor, and pointed toward the patterns carved into the stone.

"See here? Look. Convergence sigils direct resonance. Stabilization arrays regulate it.” She lifted her eyes, peering at the others. “They are used in observatories, healing platforms, astrylite engines, containment chambers—" Her voice faltered slightly before she continued. "—but not like this. Not on this scale."

Korvel's expression darkened.

"You've seen something similar,” he said.

It wasn't a question, but Elowynn nodded. "In fragments. Um…” she thought, pacing as she did. “Archive diagrams and… incomplete records. Most were damaged, though."

She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "I always assumed they described separate structures."

"But they don't," Caelyn said, his tone hushed as he voiced her thoughts aloud.

Elowynn looked at him, eyes wide.

She shook her head once. "No."

Her gaze drifted toward the massive platform dominating the center of the room and then toward the tunnel descending deeper into the mountain. "I think this place is part of something larger."

The engineer gave a nervous laugh. "Larger than this?"

She turned toward him.

"Larger than Veylspire."

Stunned silence enveloped the chamber.

Elowynn turned slowly, taking in the pillars, the channels, the carvings, and the impossible scale of the chamber around them.

"We called them observatories because that is what they became." Her voice lowered. “But I don't think that's what they were built for."

No one spoke for several long breaths. It was Lora who finally broke the silence.

"Then… what were they built to be?"

"I don't know,” she admitted as her eyes returned to the stabilization sigils carved into the pillars. "But these symbols are not used to study resonance." She licked her dry lips and blinked. Her eyes burned with exhaustion. "They are used to regulate it."

Her gaze followed the channels disappearing into the darkness below, and everyone followed her gaze.

“Which means whatever this place was built for... it wasn't observation.”

The silence stretched, then she turned to look at the others.

"I believe it was built to keep something from getting out."

Chapter Thirty-Five

“We spent centuries searching for forgotten truths. It never occurred to us that someone might have known them all along.”