CAGED BY THE LYON
The figure stepped forward into the dim light, and I found myself studying an old woman, ancient in a way that made even Vane look young by comparison, silver hair pulled back severely, dressed in clothing that looked woven rather than sewn, something out of an older century entirely.
"You may call me the Keeper," she said, voice calm, unhurried, entirely unbothered by the weapon still trained on her. "It's the only name I've answered to for longer than any of you have been alive."
Vane made a small, strangled sound beside me, disbelief cracking through her composure entirely for the first time since I'd met her.
"That's not possible," she said. "The Keeper died decades ago. I attended the c