The storm rolled over Eldryn Valley like a beast awakened, its roar swallowing the world in deafening thunder.
Inside the abandoned observatory, where the crumbling stones bore marks of centuries-old magic, Aerin Caerwyn knelt before a circle of runes drawn in blood and ash. The faint glow from enchanted candles bathed his pale skin in eerie gold.
His breathing came ragged and uneven, chest heaving as if his body already knew this was a mistake.
It was forbidden magic. The kind that had been erased from every academy archive, outlawed by the Crown, hunted by the Order of Light. And yet… here he was.
"Just one last incantation," Aerin whispered to himself, fingers trembling as he traced the rune at the center of the circle. His voice cracked slightly, carrying over the distant rumble of thunder. "This will work. It has to work."
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
He hadn't wanted power. Not at first. He only wanted answers answers about the parents he'd never known, about the strange fragments of magic that had haunted him since childhood, about the dreams that burned like wildfire in his veins.
And so, when he discovered an old tome buried beneath the academy's forbidden archives pages inked in languages older than kingdoms curiosity won over caution.
Now, as lightning illuminated the shattered dome above him, Aerin raised the obsidian dagger high and whispered the last word of the spell.
"Kael'Tharion."
The name struck the air like thunder.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened. The candles flickered, the shadows remained still, and Aerin's chest tightened with both relief and disappointment.
Then the ground shuddered beneath him.
A searing wave of heat burst from the runes, knocking Aerin backward onto the cold stone floor. The air thickened, heavy with sulfur and smoke, and the circle of runes bled crimson light that burned into his skin.
And then he felt it something pulling at him, threading into his veins, into his very soul.
A voice, deep and resonant, spoke from nowhere and everywhere all at once.
"Who dares summon me?"
Aerin scrambled to his knees, heart hammering, but before he could speak, the air tore open with a violent rip of shadow and flame. From the center of the circle, a figure stepped through tall, broad-shouldered, with hair black as midnight and golden eyes that burned like molten suns.
Kael'Tharion.
The Demon Lord of the Seventh Realm.
The forbidden name Aerin had whispered the one the histories claimed had been sealed away forever now stood before him in the flesh.
Kael's boots clicked against the stone as he stepped forward, the shadows curling eagerly at his heels. He scanned the room with a predator's stillness before his gaze locked on Aerin.
"You," he said softly, and even that single word carried the weight of centuries.
Aerin's lips parted, but his throat refused to work. He stumbled back, palms scraping against the cold stone. "I-I didn't mean"
"You spoke my name." Kael's voice was deep, smooth, and unyielding, like a blade dragged across silk. "You called me here."
"I… I only wanted to"
Kael's molten gaze flickered down, noticing the glowing sigil beginning to form on Aerin's wrist, thin crimson threads pulsing beneath the skin. His expression sharpened instantly, voice dropping to a near growl.
"Foolish human."
Before Aerin could ask what he meant, a violent pain shot through his arm, forcing a scream from his throat. The sigil burned like liquid fire, the crimson glow spreading upward, wrapping around his veins like a serpent.
Kael closed the distance in an instant, his gloved hand gripping Aerin's wrist tightly. The pain dulled almost immediately, but Aerin gasped when he felt it a pulse beneath his skin. Like a second heartbeat.
"What… what did I do?" Aerin whispered, voice trembling.
Kael's gaze bored into his. "You didn't summon me, little mage." His words were sharp, almost bitter. "You bound us."
Aerin blinked, uncomprehending. "Bound… us?"
Kael released his wrist with a shove and straightened, his expression carefully blank but his eyes burning with restrained fury. "A soul-bond. Ancient magic. Dangerous magic. Our lives are tied now one falls, the other follows."
The weight of his words crashed into Aerin like icy water. "But I… I didn't mean to"
Kael's golden eyes darkened. "Intent does not matter."
Before Aerin could reply, a sharp sound echoed from the entrance of the observatory steel boots striking stone.
A familiar voice cut through the heavy silence.
"Aerin!"
Aerin's head snapped toward the sound, breath catching when he saw Lucien Caerwyn standing in the doorway, his silver armor catching the dim light, an enchanted sword drawn and glowing faintly blue.
"Lucien wait, I can explain"
His childhood friend's expression was unreadable, but his eyes burned with something between anger and panic. "Step away from him, Aerin." His voice was tight, clipped, his knuckles white around his sword hilt. "Do you even know what you've done?"
Before Aerin could answer, Lucien's gaze shifted to Kael, his expression hardening like ice. "And you… I should cut you down where you stand."
Kael raised an eyebrow, utterly unbothered, shadows gathering lazily at his feet like coiled serpents. "You're welcome to try, little knight."
Lucien moved forward a step, sword raised, but Aerin quickly threw himself between them, arms outstretched. "Stop! Lucien, please!"
Kael's expression remained cool, but his voice turned sharp, lethal. "Touch me, and the boy dies."
Lucien froze, narrowing his eyes. "…What are you talking about?"
Kael inclined his head slightly, his golden gaze never wavering. "The bond," he said simply. "Harm me, and you harm him."
Lucien's grip on his sword faltered, his jaw tightening as realization set in. He turned to Aerin, his voice low and strained. "Tell me he's lying."
Aerin swallowed hard, shaking his head faintly. "I… I don't think he is."
For a long moment, the storm outside howled around them, lightning flashing against the cracked walls.
Lucien's breathing was ragged, his eyes locked on Aerin's, but when he finally spoke, his voice was soft and steady. "…Then we fix this."
Kael's quiet laugh echoed through the observatory, low and mocking. "Fix this? There is no undoing what's been done."
Lucien's hand tightened on his blade, but Aerin stepped closer, his trembling voice breaking the silence. "If we can't break it… then we'll figure out what it means."
Kael regarded him carefully, as though weighing something unsaid. For the briefest moment, his expression softened then vanished behind cold indifference.
Far beyond the shattered dome, thunder rumbled once more.
Aerin didn't know it yet, but the storm wasn't just in the skies above Eldryn Valley. It had been sleeping beneath the earth, in the shadows of the demon realms, in the depths of ancient magic itself.
And tonight, with a single whispered name, he had awakened it.
Somewhere deep beneath the veil of mortal sight, something old and boundless stirred and smiled.
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End of Chapter One