CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 35 – CARTOGRAPH OF TYN-GOL

The Jade Vulture coasted through a dying starfield.

To the naked eye, the sector was empty—a graveyard of collapsed suns and scattered debris drifting like cosmic ash. But in the void beyond, hidden by collapsed coordinates and erased from public starmaps, lay a place even the Sovereigns feared.

The Rift of Tyn-Gol.

It wasn’t on any known navigation chart. The coordinates had been locked in the Auctioneer’s vault, traded for the Sovereign fragment Kairos now carried. According to the encoded log, it was the final resting place of a relic called the Cartograph of Tyn-Gol.

A Sovereign tool. One that didn’t just reveal hidden routes—

It revealed what was meant to remain lost.

Preparations and Tension

In the ship’s war room, the crew reviewed the limited data.

Raya tapped through a projection of warped space. "The Cartograph is located inside a collapsed hyperspace vein. Normally, anything that enters gets spaghettified and quantum-sifted."

"In English?" Vael asked.

"You get crushed. Your memories get burned. And you probably stop existing."

Kairos frowned. "But the Cartograph survived."

Raya nodded. "Which means something’s anchoring it in reality."

Vael cleaned her blade. "Or something’s trapped it."

Kairos stared at the Sovereign fragment hovering in his hand. Its glow pulsed faster as they neared the sector, like a compass ticking toward a buried secret.

"I say we follow the fragment," he said. "This thing wants to be whole. And the Cartograph is the next step."

The Rift Beckons

The Jade Vulture entered the Rift’s edge slowly, her hull coated in Sovereign dampeners that shimmered like liquid obsidian.

Beyond the threshold, stars bent at impossible angles. Planets flickered like static on a dead screen. The laws of physics warped and danced, held together only by ancient Sovereign stabilizers embedded in the black matter.

"Pulse readings are rising," Raya reported. "Sovereign tech ahead. Lots of it."

Kairos narrowed his eyes. "Is it the Cartograph?"

"No. Bigger. It’s a... ship."

An ancient vessel emerged from the distortion field, shaped like a coiled shell made of fractal metal. It pulsed with energy too old to classify.

"Brace for contact," Kairos said.

The Tomb-Ship

They docked at a gaping wound in the vessel’s side.

Inside was a city.

Not just any city—a Sovereign colony-ship, long dead. Stasis chambers lined the walls, still glowing faintly. Streets of half-crushed spires and frozen plazas lay in silence.

The Cartograph was somewhere within this derelict maze.

Kairos led the team inside, Sovereign fragment in one hand, blaster in the other.

Each step activated old holograms.

Voices of Sovereign Traders long dead.

"This is Recorder Venn of House Ashir—The Cartograph is unstable. We sealed it in the Core Vault. Coordinates: Null. Authorization: Sacrifice."

"We are not alone in here."

"If this log is found... run."

Vael clicked her blade on. "Comforting."

The Core Vault

They followed the pulsing Sovereign fragment deeper into the derelict.

Each room brought new horrors—fractured AI screaming in loops, corridors half-dissolved into raw code, and echoes of lost Sovereign minds flickering like ghosts.

Then they found it.

A vault door sealed by twelve rings of Sovereign script.

Raya’s eyes widened. "This is pre-collapse encryption. I can’t break it without permission."

Kairos stepped forward.

The Sovereign fragment in his hand flared—and the rings spun open.

Inside was a single chamber of crystal and light.

And floating above an obsidian plinth: the Cartograph of Tyn-Gol.

It was beautiful.

A sphere of interlaced memory-silver and quantum filaments, spinning slowly in the air. It hummed with potential. Its surface showed thousands of starmaps, shifting every second.

And at the center—burned an image of the Seven Sovereign Keys.

Raya whispered, "This can lead us to the rest."

Vael stepped in. "Grab it. Let’s go."

But Kairos didn’t move.

The fragment was still pulsing.

Harder.

Like a heartbeat.

The Ashen Trap

A voice echoed through the chamber.

"Bravo."

It was slow. Mocking.

Familiar.

From behind them stepped a shadow—burning faintly at the edges. Cloaked in molten ash.

The Ashen Sovereign.

Again.

"You tracked me," Kairos said.

"No," the Ashen replied. "I led you."

He held up a device. It glowed with residual data—the same as Kairos’s fragment.

"Your fragment was bait. A tracker. Given by Seren."

Raya’s mouth fell open. "She planned this?"

"She serves a higher Sovereign," the Ashen said. "One you’ve yet to meet."

Kairos raised his weapon.

"Take another step, and I burn this relic."

The Ashen Sovereign smiled.

"I don’t want the Cartograph. I want you."

Fight in the Rift

The chamber exploded into combat.

Vael charged with a cry of fury, her blade clashing with the Ashen Sovereign’s staff. Sparks flew. The chamber shook.

Raya activated her neural rig, trying to shut down the vault door to keep reinforcements out.

Kairos ducked under a blast of black fire, reached for the Cartograph—and was hurled across the room by a psychic blast.

The Ashen Sovereign stalked forward, weapon glowing.

"You’re not strong enough, Kairos. You never were."

Kairos gritted his teeth, coughing blood. "Then why are you here?"

"To kill a mistake," the Ashen replied.

Kairos rolled, reached his Sovereign Key—and activated the Resonance Protocol.

The Key merged with the Cartograph.

A burst of light filled the room.

And something woke up.

The Cartograph Speaks

The Cartograph glowed brighter than any sun.

It hovered above them, spinning rapidly—and then spoke in a voice made of many.

"HEIR RECOGNIZED.SOVEREIGN LINK CONFIRMED.MAPPING THE UNMAPPABLE.THE VAULTS SHALL OPEN."

Starmaps spilled into the air like fireflies.

The location of the third Sovereign Key appeared—etched in gold.

The Ashen Sovereign stumbled back.

"What did you do?!"

Kairos stood, aura blazing.

"I made a deal."

He raised his hand—and the Cartograph blasted the Ashen Sovereign with a burst of stellar force, hurling him into a collapsed corridor.

The shadows swallowed him.

Gone.

For now.

Escape from the Rift

Raya grabbed the Cartograph, now dormant but still glowing.

"The maps are saved," she gasped. "We have the next vault coordinates."

Vael pulled Kairos up. "You okay?"

"Ask me later."

They ran.

Back through the crumbling ship. Back through corridors now collapsing. Back to the Jade Vulture as the rift began to collapse around them.

Behind them, the Tomb-Ship detonated.

The Rift sealed shut.

And the galaxy changed.

Again.

Status Summary

Cosmic Units (C.U.): 19,000Star Credits: 91,600Sovereign Keys: 2 (+1 Fragment) / 7New Artifact Acquired:Cartograph of Tyn-GolCrew:

Kairos Vant (Sovereign Trader)

Vael Sarn (Psionic Vanguard)

Raya Quill (Memory Hacker)

Known Threats:

The Ashen Sovereign (Pursuer-Class Sovereign)

Seren (Lucent Path – Alignment: Unknown)

New Vault Unlocked:

Vault #3 – "The Root of Hollow Suns"Coordinates hidden in the Veiled Verge

Next Objective: Reach the Veiled Verge before rival Sovereigns decode the Cartograph. Claim the third key before the balance shifts again.

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