The first thing Rei felt was pain.
A deep, cracking ache that pulsed with his heartbeat. His skin burned. His lungs felt raw. Every breath was a blade dragged through his ribs.
Then he heard a voice. Faint. Familiar.
"Kael…? Hey—Kael, wake up. Please."
Myra's voice.
He blinked slowly. The cave ceiling above glowed faintly with bioluminescent moss, casting pale green shadows across jagged stone. His body was half-submerged in a shallow pool, propped against a rock wall. Something warm pressed against his side.
"You're alive," Myra whispered, relief washing over her face. "I thought—gods, I thought you were gone."
He tried to speak, but only managed a hoarse croak. His lips were cracked. His throat burned.
"Don't talk," she said softly. "You lost a lot of blood and I wasn't able to fully heal you."
She dabbed a cloth against his forehead, then helped him sit up. That's when he felt it—his satchel, still clutched in his hand.
The artifact. Still warm, faintly glowing.
Whoever saved me... didn't take it.
His fingers tightened around the bundle.
"What happened?" he rasped.
Myra looked uncertain. "I don't know…. You did something… At least I think it came from you. It drew something in. I don't even know what they were. They looked like they were made of light and bone. I could barely breathe when they came."
"Archons," Rei murmured, throat tightening.
"Is that what they're called?"
He nodded weakly. "Divine enforcers. Anomaly hunters. A monk told me of them and I took it upon myself to research more, although my small town didn't have many answers."
"I didn't know gods had hunters."
"Neither did I… At least I didn't know they were real… until now."
He turned toward her. "Did you... see anything else? The one who stopped them?"
She shook her head. "No. Everything went white when they appeared. But right before you passed out... I think someone or something showed up. I didn't see them—just their silhouette. And then, the Archons were... gone."
"Did they say anything?" he asked, heart thudding.
She hesitated.
"Just a few words. Whispered. I'm not sure I got it right."
"Say it anyway."
"'You aren't ready yet, but soon you will be.'"
The words rang through his mind like bells underwater. He can hear someone saying that before, like a distant memory. It felt deep and ancient. Familiar.
And terrifying.
As they left Myra looked back at the cave, now tumbling to the ground.
The journey back to Bellenridge was grueling.
Rei couldn't walk more than a few steps without stumbling. Myra supported him as best she could, keeping a firm grip under one arm. They moved slowly through the morning mists of the wetlands, using every bit of daylight they could before the terrain turned slick and treacherous.
"You could've died," Myra muttered after he collapsed again. "And for what? A lump of glowing stone?"
"I didn't plan to lose control," he croaked.
"That's the point, Kael. You can't lose control. Not with power like that."
Her words stayed with him the rest of the way.
They arrived in Bellenridge just before dusk.
Guards glanced at them but didn't stop them—battered adventurers were a common sight. The two limped across the uneven cobblestones toward Talrow's Workshop, nestled between a rune-forger's smithy and a dusty herb shop.
The same thin man behind the counter was locking up when they barged in.
"I'm closing—oh."
He blinked at Rei, wrapped in bandages and barely standing. Then his eyes locked on the bundle Rei placed gently on the counter.
The artifact.
The man carefully unwrapped it, hands trembling.
"It's real," he whispered. "You actually found it."
"Barely survived doing it," Myra said dryly. "It tried to kill him."
"Well," the man said, shaking himself, "you've done me a favor no one else could. A promise is a promise."
He handed over a small chest of silver coins and a few vials of rare reagents—more than Rei expected. The man seemed shaken, awed by what they'd brought him.
"One question," Rei said before leaving. "Do you know anything about Archons?"
The man froze.
"Where'd you hear that name?"
"I met three. They nearly killed me."
The man's eyes widened. "Then you should be dead. Don't speak of them. Not in public. They are... old. And dangerous. If they took interest in you, boy... you should vanish."
Rei didn't respond. His thoughts were stuck between that and on the words Myra had repeated.
You aren't ready yet, but soon you will be.
He had come into this world broken and dangerous. He had trained himself to survive. But now, the veil was lifting.
Someone knew what he was.
And they seemed to be waiting.