The archive wasn't available on any of our college maps.
I actually found it by accident, or I think it might have found me.
The entrance was a narrow door behind the oldest wing of the college library. The pendant around my throat glowed very brightly, telling me to move forward.
"One of the worst ideas ever," I muttered. "Why am I actually full of them?"
The air inside was really cold and felt really old, not dusty but preserved.
All the shelves were lined on the walls, holding objects which were sealed in glass cases.
Blades which had been dulled due to age.
Fragments of armor etched with runes.
And bowls dark which were not rusted.
And then I saw it.
A ceremonial dagger.
Its hilt had the same symbol which was found in Aurora's diary, the same Veil mark intertwined with a sigil I didn't recognize.
And I saw a label which was half faded.
Relic Of The Fallen Warrior
Bloodline: Unbroken
I was shocked. Who is this fallen warrior?
I began walking faster now, scanning all the parchments and scrolls.
These weren't prayers but instructions. Fragments of ritual pieced together across centuries. All of these were outlawed and rewritten in code.
Soul of the oath-bound descendant.
The vessel should accept the soul, or it must be broken.
I swallowed really hard.
The fallen warrior.
The soul which was sealed and trapped by the Blood King.
Every ritual needed two components.
1) A Veil-Bond relic
2) And a living soul
No explanation.
Or description.
There was a note scribbled in the margin.
Without the living soul, the ritual fails…
My hand trembled.
I stepped back, my heart pounding.
If the fallen warrior's bloodline still existed,
The danger wasn't random. It was targeted.
"No," I whispered. "You have got the wrong person."
A soft sound echoed behind me.
Not footsteps.
But a presence.
I turned around, but the room was empty.
Except…
The dagger's glass case was fogged.
And carved slowly into the condensation, letter by letter, was a single word.
Descendant