Page 179 of The Last Remaining Light

A chill crawled down Elowynn's spine, and Vaelor lifted his tired gaze to her.

"Then he walked into the rivers during the last Blackwake and was never seen again."

Only the erratic breathing and shuffling feet of those gathered around disturbed the silence.

Elowynn searched his face for deception, but could find none.

"The network is real, then,” she whispered.

Vaelor nodded. "Yes."

"And the Great Vigil didn't build it,” she added.

"No. They didn’t.”

The words echoed in the room.

Several people exchanged nervous glances, and the engineer, particularly, looked physically ill.

Every theory she had formed inside the map chamber was suddenly becoming reality.

"Then who did?" she asked.

Vaelor moved his attention toward the darkness in the tunnel leading down. Toward whatever waited farther in. Uncertainty entered his expression.

"I don't know," he said. The admission sounded painful.

That didn't bode well, because if Master Vaelor didn't know, then perhaps nobody did.

After a long moment, Caelyn finally spoke. Until then, he had stood near the back without saying a word. It was his question, though, that seemed to surprise everyone.

"What’s this place for?"

Vaelor studied him longer than seemed necessary. Elowynn could have sworn it was recognition in Vaelor’s eyes, but she couldn't be certain.

"The observatories were not built to study the stars," Vaelor said, exhaustion threading through his voice.

“Yes,” Korvel said dryly. “We’ve gathered that.”

“Good,” he said quietly, holding Korvel’s gaze. “Now forget everything you believed they were.”

Everyone waited for the explanation, because what else would they have been used for?

Vaelor sighed as he continued.

"The stars were simply the safest explanation.”

Every discovery pointed toward the same conclusion. The observatories had been built for something else. Something dangerous enough that entire civilizations had erased its true purpose from history.

"Then what were they built for?" Elowynn asked.

Vaelor's expression closed. He drew a slow breath before answering.

"I believe they were never observatories at all. But are part of some sort of… containment system.”

The implication did not have long to settle over the group.

A low vibration rolled through the stone beneath their feet. Every head turned toward the darkened tunnel.