CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34 – ASHES IN THE AUCTION HOUSE

The galaxy was awake now.

Two Sovereign Keys had been claimed. Their echoes rippled through deep markets and forbidden channels, stirring old players from ancient slumber. Data-chatter increased tenfold, whispers of hidden relics and unseen rulers rising again.

And in the middle of it all—stood Kairos Vant.

The Jade Vulture cruised through the drifting nebula of Kalderon Verge, its hull shielded from the static bursts of nearby stellar radiation. Ahead loomed Omiron Prime, a space-city built into the collapsed shell of a Dyson Swarm.

It was called the Ash Vault.

Because nothing came out of it whole.

A New Lead

Kairos stood at the helm, studying a coded invitation Raya had decrypted hours ago.

"To the Holder of the Flame:An artifact bearing the Sovereign sigil has been scheduled for trade in Lot 7.Come, if you dare the Ash Vault’s bid.Your presence will not go unnoticed."—The Auctioneer of Emberglass

Vael grunted. "It’s a trap."

"Obviously," Kairos said.

"That’s not a reason to go."

"It’s the only one we have."

Raya flicked through data scrolls in the ship’s interface. "The Ash Vault is run by exiled data-kings. Nobody owns it. Nobody controls it. But everyone trades there... for a price."

"Let me guess," Kairos said. "The price is your soul."

"Or worse. Your memory."

Arrival at the Ash Vault

They docked in Sector Nine, where gravity was optional and laws were fluid.

A hundred different species wandered the neon-lit corridors—humans, synthetics, bonewalkers, silicon-etched monks, and even the enigmatic Gladefolk. Black-market traders lined the walls with stalls full of forbidden relics: psionic amplifiers, soul-bonded weapons, living AI crystals.

And above them all hung the Auction Spire—a tower of spiraling platforms built inside a gravity-inverted zone. Time moved slower at the top. That’s where the Vault kept its best secrets.

Vael adjusted her blade harness. "I hate this place."

Kairos smiled. "Good. Means it’s working."

The Auctioneer’s Game

They were greeted by a seven-foot-tall automaton dressed in a tattered velvet cloak. Its face was a smooth, obsidian plate that reflected back not what was in front of it—but the worst moment of your life.

Kairos didn’t flinch when he saw himself as a boy—starving, alone, after his parents were killed by raiders.

Vael gritted her teeth when she saw herself holding a bloodied sword, staring down the body of her own sister.

Raya merely blinked. Her reflection was herself, staring back with dead eyes.

"Welcome, Traders," the automaton rasped. "The Auction begins at sunset. Your invitation grants access to Tier Three bidding. Try not to bleed on the merchandise."

As they passed, it whispered one last thing to Kairos alone:

"The Ashen One knows you are here."

Into the Auction

The Auction Spire defied architecture. Its halls bent inward, then spiraled out in fractal patterns. Sound behaved strangely—louder in whispers, muted in screams. Currency was irrelevant here. Bids were made in memories, promises, debts owed to forgotten gods.

Raya narrowed her eyes. "Kairos. You need to keep your Sovereign Key hidden. There are scanners everywhere. Even thoughts aren’t safe."

Kairos nodded. "Let them scan. I want them to see me coming."

The platform they were assigned to was suspended above a sea of molten data—raw code harvested from decayed civilizations. Other bidders surrounded them in cloaks, masks, and illusions. Some weren’t even biological.

A massive bell tolled.

And the Auctioneer appeared.

The Emberglass Auctioneer

She floated.

Her body was translucent flame, contained inside a suit of living crystal that hummed with ancient Sovereign code. Her voice echoed across dimensions.

"Welcome, Gathered Minds. Tonight, we bid not on matter... but on meaning."

Kairos felt the room tense.

"Lot One: A memory of the first star’s death.""Lot Two: A soul-encoded contract with the lost Choir of Vurn.""Lot Three: An incomplete map to the Vault of Entropy."

Then, the room dimmed.

"Lot Seven: A fragment of Sovereign technology—undocumented, unclaimed, unbound."

Raya’s fingers twitched. "That’s it."

The vault doors opened—and a crystal floated forward.

Inside was a piece of a Sovereign Key. Not whole. Just a shard.

But its presence burned with impossible power.

Bidding War

The Auctioneer raised a hand. "Bidding begins at five Chrono Echoes."

A being of smoke hissed. "Six."

A robed archon responded. "Eight."

A sentient data-cloud blinked into form. "Ten."

Kairos stepped forward.

"Fifteen—and one secret of Aetherion’s pre-collapse map."

The room froze.

All eyes turned.

The Auctioneer’s flames danced. "A bold offer."

But then a new voice emerged.

Smooth. Male.

Sharp enough to cut stars.

"Thirty echoes. And one death. His."

Kairos turned slowly.

A man stood across the circle.

Tall. Hair like burning ash. Eyes like dead suns.

Clad in Sovereign armor that shimmered with decay.

The room went silent.

Raya whispered:

"The Ashen Sovereign."

Ash and Fire

The Auctioneer flinched. For the first time, her voice faltered.

"This... was not expected."

The Ashen Sovereign smiled.

"I never follow rules. That’s why I win."

He turned to Kairos.

"You’re not ready, boy. Not yet. But I’ll give you a choice."

He held out a coin made of burning iron.

"One duel. One outcome. You win—you keep the shard. I win—I take your Key. And your crew."

Vael stepped forward. "Over my dead body."

He smiled wider. "That’s the idea."

Kairos stared.

And took the coin.

Duel in the Ash Hall

The Spire shifted.

They stood now in a chamber of molten stone and frozen glass.

A timer hovered overhead.

[DUEL INITIATED – SOVEREIGN RITE: ASHEN CHALLENGE][10 MINUTES UNTIL DEATH BIND SEAL ACTIVATES]

The Ashen Sovereign drew his weapon—a blade of scorched memory.

Kairos raised his pulse saber, heart pounding.

Then they clashed.

He moved fast—but the Ashen Sovereign was faster.

Every blow struck at his memories—trying to burn away who he was. Every parry tested his resolve. Every step cracked the ground beneath.

"You don’t belong in this war," the Ashen Sovereign hissed. "You were meant to trade pebbles. Not hold stars."

"I decide what I hold," Kairos snapped.

And then, in a single perfect moment—he activated the Sovereign Link.

Memory Surge

The shard in the auction chamber pulsed.

So did the Key on his chest.

They synchronized.

And Kairos remembered—

Not just his life—but hundreds of lives before. Traders. Warriors. Sovereigns. Their knowledge flowed through him like a river of stars.

He countered.

He struck.

He fought back.

And the Ashen Sovereign staggered.

"You... accessed the Echoes," the Sovereign hissed. "That’s not possible."

"I don’t follow rules either," Kairos growled.

One final strike—through memory and fire.

And the Ashen Sovereign vanished.

Not dead.

But banished.

For now.

Aftermath

The room flickered back into the Auction Hall.

The crystal shard floated toward Kairos.

[You have acquired: Sovereign Fragment – Echo Pattern B3]

The Auctioneer bowed. "Payment rendered. Blood for knowledge. Accepted."

Kairos exhaled.

Vael gripped his arm. "We need to go. Now."

Raya looked shaken. "He’ll be back."

Kairos nodded. "Then we’ll be ready."

Status Summary

Cosmic Units (C.U.): 15,800Star Credits: 83,400Sovereign Keys: 2 (+1 Fragment) / 7Crew:

Kairos Vant (Sovereign Trader)

Vael Sarn (Psionic Vanguard)

Raya Quill (Memory Hacker)New Figures Introduced:

The Ashen Sovereign (Hostile – Unknown Alignment)

Emberglass Auctioneer (Neutral – Transactional)

Next Objective: Seek the lost Cartograph of Tyn-Gol, needed to restore the Sovereign Fragment and find the Third Key.

The war between Sovereigns had now gone public.

And the galaxy was watching.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)𝒆bnov(𝒆)l