Darkness.
Tayven drifted—weightless, breathless—falling beneath the shattered bridge.
No sound. No pain. No fear.
Only silence...
And then—him.
The man in the coat. The one with his(Tayven's) face.
But older. Weathered. Eyes glowing with a storm of white fire. Hair dark and tangled. A cloak of flickering shadows curled around him like smoke—living, breathing.
His voice didn't echo in the air.
It echoed inside Tayven's bones.
> VEYDRIN (Loud whisper)
"So it begins again…"
>Tayven(Weak voice)
Who the hell are you?
Flashes.
Fire.
A world collapsing beneath thunderous skies. Screams of people Tayven had never met—but felt deeply responsible for.
The man walked through those memories like a ghost bound to his own regrets—burning cities at his back, blood dripping from fingers curled like claws. Glowing marks scorched across his chest and arms like ancient circuitry etched by time and sorrow.
> VEYDRIN
"I was the first to awaken the Phantom… and it consumed me."
"Every bearer before you failed. Their souls couldn't bear the fire. Their minds—shattered."
"But you, Tayven Vale… you're different. I feel it. And that's what terrifies me."
Tayven tried to move—speak—but the marks were appearing on him now. Crawling like flame beneath his skin. His forearms glowing faintly, veins pulsing light like some forgotten language etched into flesh.
The spirit turned. Looked straight into him.
> VEYDRIN
"You're next. Maybe you'll break the cycle…"
"Or burn like the rest."
The void shattered.
---
GASP—
Tayven's eyes shot open. Chest rising violently.
He wasn't on the bridge anymore.
He was lying in a cold, decaying subway tunnel—walls cracked, graffiti smeared across rusted metal. The air reeked of damp metal and rot. Rats skittered in the shadows.
His heart thundered. Breath ragged. Rainwater and sweat clung to him like chains.
He rolled up his sleeve.
There—on his forearm—faintly glowing: a symbol. Ancient. Pulsing like a second heartbeat. Then... fading beneath his skin.
> TAYVEN
(whispering)
"What the hell was that…"
He wasn't dreaming.
That man—that spirit—was real.
A memory of power. A warning in flesh.
And Tayven was now its vessel.
> VEYDRIN (whispering)
"You survived the first awakening. That matters. But survival... is only the beginning."
Tayven flinched. Looked around. No one there. But the voice—it lingered, deep and cold behind his thoughts. Not menacing. Not warm.
Just... watching.
---
Hours Later. Midnight.
Rain fell in knives. The streets lay silent. Tayven staggered from the tunnel, soaked and shaking.
Every step felt like dragging a dead god behind him.
Finally—home.
The front door stood still beneath a flickering porchlight.
He knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again—harder.
A slip of paper was taped to the door. Ink blurred by rain, but the words still cut:
"You're too late. You'll stay outside tonight. That's your punishment."
Tayven stared.
Silent.
The thunder above echoed the ache inside him.
He sank to the concrete, back against the door, rain soaking through his soul.
> TAYVEN
(softly)
"Mom… I'm hungry... please…"
"Dad… I'm tired… please open the door…"
No one came.
He was strong enough to handle those abuses of his parents. But today it was too much to bear for him alone.
For the first time after last few years, his tears falls freely as if a dam which was holding tears of pain just broke free.
His tears mixed with rain. Silent. Relentless.
> VEYDRIN (whispering)
"Pain makes you honest. It strips the lies clean. That's why it always comes first."
His vision blurred. But in that quiet, something stirred inside him.
The ground shivered. Tiny pebbles lifted slightly. The streetlamp flickered in sync with his shallow breaths.
Tayven didn't notice.
He drifted into sleep.
---
Dream.
A field of stars. Floating embers.
And then—her.
Her face, glowing like a secret, remembered. Eyes silver-grey, calm and distant. She looked like a goddess, a fairy.
Tayven saw her standing in front of a throne, holding the hand of someone with a crown who looks just like him, same person, maybe different age, different timeline.
Around them was only ashes, dust, chaos and leftovers by destruction. Tayven tried to reach her...
But she faded along with everything—like morning fog in flame.
---
Morning.
The door creaked open.
Tayven lay curled on the porch like a cast-off memory. Clothes soaked, skin pale.
His father stepped out—coffee in hand, still in his work uniform.
He stared down at Tayven like someone inspecting a broken thing.
> FATHER (Jared)
(cold)
"Still out here?"
Tayven sat up slowly, groaning.
> TAYVEN
"You left me here... all night."
> FATHER
"You disappeared. Again. What were we supposed to do? Reward you?"
> TAYVEN
"I didn't mean to disappear. I... something happened."
> FATHER
(mocking)
"Let me guess—aliens? A secret destiny? Get inside before the neighbors see."
Elira, his mother, peeked through the doorway. Her eyes were tired. Red-rimmed. Guilt lingered there—but not enough.
> MOTHER (Elira)
"I didn't sleep at all. I thought you were dead."
> TAYVEN
(quiet)
"Would that have been easier for you?"
> FATHER
"Watch your damn mouth."
> TAYVEN
"You think I'm doing this on purpose? That I like feeling like a ghost in my own home?"
> FATHER
"You act like you're the only one who suffers. You think life gave us choices? We work. We bleed. That's the deal."
> TAYVEN
"You gave up on who you wanted to be and now you want me to fold into the same mold."
> MOTHER
(No emotions)
"We didn't know how to raise someone like you. Someone who thinks that he's too special for this reality. You always had... too much inside you."
> TAYVEN
"Then maybe stop trying to smother it."
He stood, swaying slightly.
> VEYDRIN
(murmuring)
"You're starting to see. Good. Don't stop now."
Jared's jaw clenched. Elira looked away.
> MOTHER
"Go shower. You look like you walked through a nightmare."
> TAYVEN
(whispers)
"I did."
---
A While Later – Bathroom Mirror
Steam curled along cracked tiles. Tayven wiped the fog from the mirror with the side of his fist.
The image that stared back wasn't quite him.
And for a moment, he stared into the mirror.
There—just barely beneath his collarbone—the glowing mark flickered. Like a brand of something ancient claiming him from within.Pulsing dimly under skin. Alive.
He wiped the fogged mirror. His reflection looked less like him than ever before.
And for one flicker—
> His reflection shifted.
Not his face.
Veydrin's.
Then gone.
> VEYDRIN (Whispers)
"You carry my fire now. And I carry your shadow."
---
Later – College Hallway
Tayven walked the corridors like a ghost among puppets. Students passed in waves, faces blurring into white noise.
But every sound was sharp now.
Every word.
Every heartbeat.
> VEYDRIN (whispering)
"Your senses are aligning. You're no longer limited by the surface."
Lockers clanged. A teacher scolded someone. A phone buzzed three rooms away—and Tayven heard it.
He reached his classroom—
And then froze.
Across the hallway—walking alone—her.
Hair like moonlit ink. Eyes like frozen time. Her aura muted the corridor, made everything else flicker.
She turned her head slightly—just enough to meet his eyes.
Only for a moment.
And the world… stilled.
His breath caught.
The mark beneath his sleeve pulsed—once.
And in that silence:
> VEYDRIN (whispering)
"Her. That presence... she is not what she seems."
Before Tayven could speak—she disappeared around the corner, vanishing into a different wing of the building.
Gone.
But Tayven couldn't move. Not yet.
He'd seen that face before.
In his dream.
And the Phantom inside him—recognized her.
---
TO BE CONTINUED...