The ruins they reached at the mountain's base were ancient, carved with symbols no one could read. A massive stone door loomed ahead, half-buried under snow and time. At its center, a faint violet light pulsed—resonating with the energy in Kael's chest.
"It's calling to you," Merek said, eyes wary.
Kael nodded. "I feel it. Like a voice under the surface. It's not speaking words. Just… hunger."
Lyra placed her palm on the stone. "There's no natural magic in this structure. This was built using Forbidden Arts. We shouldn't be here."
Kael stepped forward, ignoring her warning. As his fingers brushed the surface, the runes ignited. The ground trembled.
The Vault opened.
---
Beneath the Door
They stepped into a passageway of black crystal, walls humming with suppressed power. Shadows didn't behave normally here—they bent toward Kael, like they were drawn to him.
Thorn muttered, "This place is cursed."
"It's worse than cursed," Merek replied. "This is where the Order conducted memory extractions. Where they erased entire families from history."
Lyra flinched. "You think this is where Kael's people were taken?"
Kael's expression was unreadable. He only walked deeper.
At the heart of the Vault was a throne room carved of obsidian. A shattered chair sat atop a raised platform. Chained corpses lined the walls, long dead—yet whispering.
Their voices echoed in Kael's head.
"Name-bearer… Heir of Silence… You are not ready."
He collapsed to his knees.
---
Visions of Blood
The room vanished.
Kael stood in the past. In a burning field. He saw his mother again—her eyes wide in terror, arms reaching for him as soldiers dragged her away.
He heard his father's final scream.
He watched his sister fall, not to a blade—but to magic. Her name was plucked from her body, and she died without identity.
And behind it all stood a man in silver, cloaked in raven feathers. Smiling.
The Architect.
"You want revenge?" the man asked, voice like velvet over a dagger. "Then take my gift. Become what they fear."
Kael looked down. His hands were drenched in blood. His own? His enemies'? He couldn't tell anymore.
---
Return to the Vault
He woke, gasping.
Merek had his hand on Kael's chest, steadying his heartbeat. Lyra looked panicked. Thorn had drawn weapons at the shadows dancing across the walls.
"You were out for ten seconds," Lyra said. "But your body—changed."
Kael stood slowly. His right eye now glowed faint violet. A new mark pulsed across his forearm—a brand shaped like a broken chain.
"I saw the Architect," he said.
Merek paled. "That's impossible. He vanished twenty years ago."
"No," Kael said. "He's still alive. And he's waiting for me."
He turned toward the exit.
"We leave at first light. Our next target is the Bastion of Names."
Thorn raised an eyebrow. "We're not ready."
Kael looked at him, eyes cold.
"I'm done waiting."
To be continue...