Elena Vasquez stepped closer, the fragment of crystallized parchment still glowing with otherworldly light in her hands. In the grimy alley that smelled of urban decay, she seemed oddly out of place—not because of her appearance, but because of the presence that surrounded her like an invisible aura of ancient knowledge.

"The Vault of All Things Lost," Maya repeated, her newly enhanced senses picking up resonances in the woman's voice that spoke of power carefully controlled. "That sounds ...