The Mapmaker's Secret

The air was heavy with incense long extinguished.

The chamber beneath Delphi was vast, lined with honeycomb alcoves that had once held scrolls, relics — even human remains. This was not just a place of prophecy. It was a burial chamber for seers.

Elias knelt beside one skeleton, its robes preserved in mineral dust, fingers clutched around a wax tablet.

“She died writing,” he murmured. “Or trying to warn.”

He translated the ancient lines on the tablet aloud:

“When the sky map falls to man, history will burn from both ends.”

Thalia’s voice was low. “They were hiding something. Something divine. Or dangerous.”

Elias pointed to an image etched on the far wall — a depiction of a glowing orb surrounded by serpents and stars, the same design from the blood-sealed scroll.

“They called it The Eye of Delos,” he said. “A map that reflects time, not just space. They believed it could guide empires… or destroy them.”

Before they could study it further, the sound of boots echoed above.

“Someone followed us,” Elias said.

He doused the torch.

The chase — and their reckoning — had begun.