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Chapter 53 - The Memory That Burned

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Riven stared at the statue, the cold stone face cloaked in a crown of jagged iron. Half of it was shattered, split down the middle like a cracked mirror. Yet somehow, the fragments still held his gaze. Held his breath. Something in his blood hummed violently, screaming for recognition.

It wasn't just a monument.

It was a grave.

Not for a man, but for a memory.

Behind him, the others waited in tense silence. Lyssa stepped forward cautiously, voice soft.

"Riven… what is this place?"

He couldn't answer yet. His lungs felt like stone. Each breath labored.

The statue had his father's eyes.

Not exactly. But enough. The shape of the brow. The way the armor sat—royal, worn with pride. A noble's stance, but weary, like the figure had borne too much weight for too long.

The memory hit like a blade, sudden and sharp.

Flames. Red and wild, screaming up from marble floors. His mother's voice—screaming his name. A blade slicing the air. The feeling of hands grabbing him, dragging him through ash. The smell of burnt silk. The sound of someone shouting—"Protect the boy!"

Then… blackness.

He stumbled back, clutching his head. Veyron's voice whispered from within, too close this time, almost gentle.

Ah… there it is. Took long enough. That moment? That's when everything ended… and began.

Kael rushed forward, grabbing Riven's shoulder. "Hey. You with me?"

Riven nodded shakily. "I… I saw it. I remembered something. My mother. The fire. I was here when Ashlock fell."

Kael glanced around. "This is where it happened? Where your kingdom… died?"

Riven looked at the ruined statue. The jagged cracks on its face felt almost like a mirror of his own mind—splintered, healing, and still too sharp to touch.

"Yes," he whispered. "This is where they made me forget."

Lyssa stepped up beside him, her eyes unreadable. "Who?"

"The Eclipse Order." His voice was steadier now. "They didn't just kill the crown… they wanted the heir. And they didn't want me dead—they wanted me empty."

A silence settled over them.

Kael exhaled slowly. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel a bit underdressed for a place like this."

It drew a weak smile from Riven. Just for a second.

But then the air changed.

A low rumble echoed through the chamber. The walls vibrated faintly, and the Seal embedded in Riven's hand flared with sudden light. Lyssa's did the same. Even Kael's eyes widened as his own insignia—a fragment from the Third Seal—burned briefly across his wrist.

"What's happening?" Liora asked, backing away from the dais.

Before Riven could speak, the statue cracked further.

The crown atop the figure crumbled to ash.

Then the dais shifted, sinking into the floor with a slow grind of stone. A pulse of energy burst from beneath it, rippling through the room like a heartbeat.

A hidden door revealed itself beneath the statue's base—spiraling downward, into darkness laced with red light.

Riven stepped forward, but Lyssa grabbed his arm.

"Wait. What if it's a trap?"

He looked at her, calm but resolute. "Then I'll walk into it with my eyes open."

Veyron chuckled softly. That's more like it, little heir. Time to descend, isn't it? Into the place where they broke you.

He took the first step.

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The descent felt endless.

The air grew hotter with each step. The walls changed from stone to obsidian, veined with glowing red lines that pulsed like veins. Ancient runes whispered as they passed, too old to understand, too dangerous to ignore.

Riven could feel the weight of memory pressing down on him. Not thoughts. Not dreams. Instinct. Like his bones remembered things his mind still refused to face.

When they reached the bottom, they found it—a chamber bathed in deep crimson light, fed by the slow glow of a dormant Seal.

But not one they'd seen before.

It hovered above a circular platform, suspended in midair like a bleeding star. Jagged. Violent. Writhing with unstable energy.

Kael stared at it. "That's not one of the Six."

"It's older," Liora whispered. "Maybe even… unfinished."

Riven stepped forward, the Seal in his hand reacting violently. A surge of power rushed through him, painful and hot, nearly driving him to his knees.

Memories flashed again—his father's voice yelling, a sword dropping, a shattering sound—and then silence.

He gasped, dropping to one knee.

Lyssa ran to his side. "Riven!"

"I'm fine," he choked. "It's just… trying to remember me."

Liora's eyes widened. "It's a tether. This Seal—it's connected to you directly. Like it recognizes your bloodline."

Riven rose slowly, staring into the swirling red mass. "Then it's time I stopped running from it."

Kael frowned. "You don't even know what it is."

"I don't have to," Riven said, stepping onto the platform. "I was born from this fire. I'll walk into it again."

He reached out.

The Seal met his hand.

Light exploded.

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The vision came all at once.

He was a child again, barefoot in the halls of Ashlock. The palace was still whole, the sky blue beyond the high windows. He saw his mother—beautiful, strong, gentle—kneeling to fix his collar. His father stood nearby, laughing. Guards lined the walls. Peace. Home. Belonging.

Then screaming.

Flames burst through the walls.

Dark-robed figures flooded the hall, blades flashing. Blood. His mother's scream. His father drawing his sword.

"Protect the prince!"

And then—a figure cloaked in eclipse symbols, reaching for him. Hands on his face. Darkness swallowing everything.

"No!" Riven screamed.

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He came back gasping.

The chamber shook. The red Seal sank into his chest—painfully, violently—and vanished.

Riven collapsed, smoke rising from his back, his heartbeat thundering.

The others rushed to him.

Liora knelt beside him, pressing her hand to his chest. "He's burning up!"

But Riven's eyes opened—glowing faintly red, rimmed with golden sparks.

Kael stepped back, uncertain. "Uh… is this normal?"

Riven sat up slowly. The burning faded. He looked at his hand—now marked with a second Seal, twisted and unfamiliar, but somehow right.

"I remember," he whispered.

Lyssa leaned in. "What do you remember?"

Riven looked at her, expression dark. "The Order didn't just kill our family."

He looked at Kael.

"They branded me. Broke my mind. Sealed away my past and used me as a pawn to find the ancient Seals."

Kael stared at him. "So what now?"

Riven rose slowly, his shadow stretching long in the crimson light.

"Now," he said, "we burn their lies to ash."

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