Chapter 3 The Forgotten vein

The storage cells beneath the watch post were colder than Marcus expected.

The stone stairs were narrow and uneven, slick with melted snow that had seeped through cracks in the walls. A rusted lantern swung gently overhead as Garrick led the way downward.

Every few steps, Marcus caught the smell of coal smoke mixed with mildew.

Honestly, the entire place felt one collapsed beam away from becoming a grave.

"These were built before the mines expanded," Garrick explained quietly. "Used to store smuggled ore during the ration riots."

Marcus dragged his fingers across the damp stone wall.

Poor reinforcement.

Water damage everywhere.

If Earth safety inspectors saw this place, they'd shut it down instantly.

Then again, Hollow Crest would probably starve within a month if anyone here cared about regulations.

The thought almost made him laugh.

Almost.

Two guards stood outside the final iron door at the bottom level. Both straightened immediately when they saw him approach.

"Mayor."

Marcus noticed something strange immediately.

Neither guard looked angry.

They looked nervous.

One of them kept glancing toward the cell door like he expected something terrible to happen at any moment.

Marcus stopped in front of them.

"Has she caused any trouble?"

The younger guard shook his head quickly. "No, Mayor."

"Attempted escape?"

"No."

"Threatened anyone?"

"...No."

Marcus exchanged a brief glance with Garrick.

Interesting.

A dangerous saboteur supposedly responsible for killing workers should've terrified the guards.

Instead, these men looked uncomfortable.

Almost guilty.

Garrick unlocked the iron door slowly.

The hinges groaned as it opened inward.

The storage cell was smaller than Marcus expected.

A narrow cot sat against the far wall beside a rusted heating pipe that no longer worked. A single lantern burned dimly near the ceiling, throwing long shadows across the stone floor.

And sitting calmly at the center of the room was Lyra.

She wasn't chained anymore.

That surprised Marcus immediately.

The girl looked up as he entered.

Her dark coat had been taken, leaving only a gray work shirt stained with soot and grease. Burn marks climbed one sleeve almost to her shoulder. Her hair looked uneven, as if chunks had been singed away recently.

But her eyes were steady.

Not frightened.

Not desperate.

Just tired.

Very tired.

For some reason, that unsettled Marcus more than panic would've.

"You came faster than I expected," she said.

Marcus stopped walking.

That wasn't the reaction he'd prepared for.

"You expected me to come?"

Lyra leaned back slightly against the wall. "You're not acting like the real Edric Hale."

The guards shifted uneasily behind him.

Marcus kept his expression neutral.

"And what exactly is the real Edric Hale supposed to act like?"

"He would've signed the exile papers immediately." Lyra studied him carefully. "Then he'd spend the evening drunk while the council blamed everything on me."

Ouch.

Marcus almost felt bad for the original guy.

Almost.

He folded his arms calmly instead.

"The council says you sabotaged the furnace."

"And the council says Hollow Crest still has enough coal for winter," Lyra replied flatly.

That shut the room silent.

Even Garrick looked away.

Marcus stared at her for a few seconds before speaking again.

"You worked in Furnace Three?"

"I maintained pressure valves for the eastern district."

"So you understand how the explosion happened."

Lyra's expression didn't change.

"No," she said quietly. "I understand why it happened."

Marcus felt that sentence click sharply into place inside his head.

Not an accident.

Not bad luck.

A reason.

Behind him, one of the guards muttered nervously, "Mayor, maybe this discussion should happen upstairs—"

Lyra ignored him completely.

"The pressure chamber didn't fail naturally," she continued. "Someone altered the regulator flow two days before the explosion."

Marcus frowned immediately.

"That's impossible. A pressure imbalance that large would've shown warning signs."

"It did."

Marcus blinked.

Lyra pointed lazily toward the ceiling.

"I filed three maintenance reports."

Garrick cursed softly under his breath.

Marcus turned sharply toward him.

"You knew about this?"

"I knew reports were submitted," Garrick admitted. "I didn't know they disappeared."

Lyra laughed once.

Not happily.

"The council burned them."

The room suddenly felt much smaller.

Marcus slowly crouched in front of her.

"Why?"

This time, Lyra hesitated.

For the first time since he'd entered the room, uncertainty crossed her face.

Not fear.

Calculation.

Like she was deciding whether he was worth trusting.

Finally, she spoke quietly.

"Because Furnace Three wasn't producing coal anymore."

Marcus frowned. "Then what was it producing?"

Lyra looked directly into his eyes.

"Something the capital buried years ago."

A draft swept through the corridor outside.

The lantern flickered weakly overhead.

Marcus felt the same sensation he'd had while reviewing the ledgers earlier.

That feeling that the town itself was rotting from the inside out.

He kept his voice level.

"The metal fragment found after the explosion. Was it connected?"

Lyra's eyes narrowed instantly.

Now that got a reaction.

"Who told you about the fragment?"

So it was real.

Marcus ignored the question.

"What was it?"

For several seconds, Lyra remained completely silent.

Then she reached beside the cot and pulled aside a loose stone from the wall.

The guards immediately stiffened.

From inside the narrow gap, Lyra carefully removed a small black object no larger than a coin.

Marcus stared at it.

The surface looked metallic, but strangely smooth. Not iron. Not steel either.

Faint silver lines stretched across it in geometric patterns.

Even in the dim lantern light, the object almost seemed to pulse beneath the soot covering it.

Marcus took it carefully.

Warm.

The thing was warm.

Every instinct in his engineering-trained brain immediately screamed that it made no sense.

Metal didn't retain heat like this in freezing temperatures without an external source.

"How is this still warm?" he asked quietly.

Lyra stared at the fragment for a long moment.

"I don't know," she admitted. "That's what scared everyone."

Marcus turned the object slowly between his fingers.

No visible fuel source.

No chemical residue.

No signs of combustion.

Yet warmth continued radiating steadily from the metal into his skin.

Then Lyra looked him directly in the eye and said the one sentence he absolutely wasn't prepared to hear.

"The council knew the furnace would explode before it happened."