Heartstone - Chapter 52: Chapter 52

The Council Hall was filled with hushed tension. Torches flickered along the stone walls as Marah, Chief Drakon, Avera, Dalen, and the other village leaders gathered around the war table carved with ancient maps.
The first wave was gone, but all knew the war was not.
Drakon spoke first, voice gravelly:
“They’ll return. Stronger. We need alliances beyond our borders.”
Marah nodded. “We need spies. Eyes in the wind. We need to send runners.”
Then Dalen stood, placing the chip Ashen gave him on the table. “And we need to know more… about this.”
The elders leaned forward.
Dalen pulled the mini computer from his satchel—scuffed, singed at the edges, but still intact. He turned it on.
The screen flickered to life, then pulsed with a soft blue light, the same hue as the . He inserted the chip, Lines of encrypted data scrolled rapidly, unlocking a hidden file labeled: “Project Legacy
It displayed a series of hidden archives—encrypted files. Inside were blueprints of machines, maps of secret US labs, and an ancient document titled:
> “The Seed of Fire: The True Source of the .”
Everyone went still.
Dalen opened the file.
It revealed a buried chamber beneath the mountain—deeper than anyone knew. A hidden vault said to contain something older than the stone itself:
The Flame Core — the original shard that fell from the stars and birthed the line.
Legend said it could awaken bloodlines… or destroy them.
Dalen’s eyes narrowed. “If Ryker finds this... he’ll level the entire mountain.”
Marah slammed her hand on the table. “Then we find it first.”
Avera nodded slowly. “Tomorrow at dawn, I go down. I need to know what’s beneath.”
Silence held the room. Then Drakon spoke.
“You won us the first battle. Now you lead us into the next.”