Darkness.
Kaelion's eyes fluttered open. His head pounded like a drum, and every part of his body ached. Stone walls surrounded him—cold, cracked, and ancient. Faint red light pulsed from the seams of the floor, like the heartbeat of something alive beneath the castle.
He sat up slowly, groaning. His wrists were heavy. Looking down, he saw thick black iron cuffs around them, etched with glowing runes.
Sealing cuffs. Magic ones.
The last thing he remembered—the knight's sword flashing—then... nothing. Now he was here, dumped like a broken toy into a place he didn't know.
A door stood at the far end of the room, massive and made of dark metal. No handle. No window. No way out.
Kaelion rose shakily to his feet. The stone beneath him felt... wrong. Like it wasn't just stone, but something older, something that watched him.
The Earth Stone inside him stirred, but weakly—like it, too, was trapped by the magic around him.
Heavy footsteps echoed outside the cell.
Kaelion tensed.
A small panel in the door slid open. Sharp yellow eyes glared through the gap.
"He's awake," a voice muttered.
Another voice, deeper and full of disdain, replied, "Good. The Soul King will want to see the boy soon."
The panel slammed shut.
Kaelion's fists clenched. I have to get out of here.
He paced the room, searching for any weakness in the walls. Every few steps, a memory flashed across his mind—the knight's words, the surge of earth magic, the crushing defeat.
I'm not strong enough yet...
But deep inside, where fear usually lived, something else burned now.
Anger.
Determination.
The Earth Stone pulsed again, faint but steady. Like it was waiting. Like it believed in him even when he doubted himself.
Kaelion closed his eyes, feeling the weight of the stone inside him. The magic-sealing cuffs dulled his power, but they couldn't erase it.
Not completely.
When the time comes... I'll break these chains. I'll shatter this castle if I have to.
The ground beneath his feet trembled slightly—as if the earth itself heard his silent promise.