Lumis Sphereward's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Lumis tilted the obsidian mirror over their documented symbols and laid them out across the bench. The marks weren't random. Lined up by angle and direction, they formed a crude map. One symbol pointed past the studio wall, toward something Lumis had never bothered to look for. They followed it out. The path led through scrub and broken stone until they reached a tall fountain of shimmering ribbons, magnetized strands hanging like frozen rain. A symbol was etched at its base, pointing further on. Lumis rolled past it, heart tight. Another waypoint. Then another carved into a flat stone half-buried in moss. The trail ended at a low domed structure Lumis had never seen. Its front was a cabinet-like door, welded crude, covered in the same symbols carved inside their own studio's cabinet. Lumis pressed against it. The seam split open. Inside waited a second workshop. A glowing obsidian orb hung above a stone podium, casting starlight across unfinished tools and dust-thick benches. The creator had worked here too, and then walked away. Lumis stood in the doorway, shaking, and understood they had found the room but not the person. The search was no longer circling. It had split in two.