Legacy of the Vessel
Morning light filtered through the Sanctum's tall windows, but Kael had not slept.
The book still lay open on his lap, its pages no longer blank. New words appeared every few hours, glowing faintly before fading into ink, as if Ardynus himself was rewriting from beyond.
Sister Marien entered quietly with tea. She paused at the sight of him still seated by the fireplace.
"You read all night again?"
Kael nodded slowly. His eyes were tired but sharper now, filled with something more than curiosity.
"It keeps showing me more. Memories. Lives. Spells I've never learned but now... I know them."
He turned the page. Lines of unfamiliar glyphs twisted into meaning in his mind, and for a moment he swore he heard distant chanting.
Marien set the tray down. "The vessel is awakening. That much is clear."
Kael looked up. "You believe me now? That I carry something ancient?"
Marien didn't answer immediately. Instead, she walked to the window and stared toward the distant spires of the capital city.
"I always believed. I just hoped it wouldn't come so soon."
Kael frowned. "Why?"
"Because if Ardynus is awakening, then so is everything that once hunted him."
---
Far from the Sanctum, in a tower laced with black crystal and gold, a man knelt before a pool of dark water.
Ripples danced across the surface until an image appeared Kael, seated with the book, surrounded by golden light.
The man stood. He wore royal colors, but his face bore the mark of the Inquisitors: a scar shaped like a sunburst over one eye.
"He has returned," he whispered. "The Vessel breathes once more."
Behind him, a group of cloaked figures stirred.
"Orders, Lord Calveran?"
He turned. "Assemble the Sealed Flame. Send the First Blade. If he resists... erase the town."
"And the book?"
Calveran's eyes glinted. "Bring it to me."
---
Back in Glayvern, Kael stepped outside the Sanctum for the first time that morning. The town was waking merchants preparing stalls, children chasing birds. Life moved normally.
But Kael no longer felt normal.
Every step he took, he could feel the mana around him react. Threads of light whispered against his skin. The wind carried voices only he could hear now.
"We see you."
"Healer reborn."
He flinched, but no one else reacted. He wasn't hallucinating. The world was speaking to him.
---
He wandered toward the southern path a small cliffside trail overlooking the lake.
There, he sat alone and opened the book once more.
And this time, what he saw was not memory.
It was prophecy.
A battle beneath twin moons. A beast wreathed in shadow. A healer standing alone atop broken stone, arms stretched as if to shield the world.
"You will choose," the book read. "To save the world, or to save the ones you love."
Kael's hand trembled.
"I can't make that choice."
A voice behind him answered.
"You may not have the luxury to hesitate."
He turned quickly and saw a woman standing beneath the tree.
Not Sister Marien. Not a townsperson.
She wore pale armor etched with golden leaves. A sword rested at her back. Her eyes cold blue held memories he didn't understand.
"Who are you?" Kael asked, rising.
She stepped forward slowly. "I am Lireen, knight of the Hidden Flame. I've come to take you to the capital."
Kael stiffened. "I never agreed to that."
Lireen tilted her head. "This is not a request."
In a flash, her blade was drawn. Not aimed at him yet but gleaming with silent warning.
Kael took a step back. "If you knew what I carried, you wouldn't threaten me."
"I do know. That is why I was sent."
He reached for the book.
Lireen's eyes narrowed. "Don't."
But the moment his fingers touched the leather, light exploded from it, forcing her back.
"Ardynus's will protects me," Kael said, his voice steady despite the pounding of his heart.
Lireen's gaze sharpened not in fear, but in recognition. "Then it's true."
She sheathed her sword. "If you won't come willingly, then I will remain here. Until you're ready."
Kael blinked. "You're staying?"
"I was told to retrieve you. But I was also told you would resist."
She turned away. "The next time the capital sends someone... it won't be me."
Then she walked off, leaving him alone with the book, the lake, and the whispers of a fate he never asked for.
---
That night, the book opened itself.
A map appeared, glowing in golden ink lines connecting sanctums across the land, with one at the center pulsating like a heartbeat.
Kael touched it.
Visions flooded him. A tower of glass. A throne carved from crystal. A child locked in chains, crying his name.
"Ardynus..."
His knees gave out.
"What am I becoming?"
And the book answered.
"More than you were. More than they fear."
To be continued...
---
💌 Reader's Teaser – Next Chapter
📜 The book awakens not only memories, but power.
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