The Hidden Valley.
Dawn had yet to arrive.
A blanket of mist covered the valley, leaving only the tops of the ancient trees visible beneath the pale moonlight.
For the first time in years...
Crystal woke Kieran before sunrise.
"Mama?"
The young boy rubbed his sleepy eyes.
"Is something wrong?"
Crystal smiled gently.
"No."
"But today..."
"We're going somewhere."
Kieran's eyes immediately brightened.
"Outside the valley?"
She chuckled.
"Not yet."
"But somewhere you've never been."
---
A few minutes later...
Kael stood waiting outside the cottage.
Unlike his usual relaxed self...
His expression was unusually serious.
"Are you absolutely certain?"
Crystal nodded.
"It has remained sealed long enough."
Kael frowned.
"...I still don't like this."
Crystal simply smiled.
"Neither do I."
---
The three walked toward the northern mountains.
The further they traveled...
The quieter the valley became.
Birdsong disappeared.
Even the wind seemed reluctant to blow.
Kieran noticed it immediately.
"Mama..."
"Why is it so quiet?"
"Because this place is respected."
"By who?"
Crystal looked toward the towering mountain before them.
"Everything."
---
Soon...
They reached an enormous cliff.
There was nothing remarkable about it.
Just solid gray stone stretching hundreds of meters into the sky.
Kieran tilted his head.
"There's nothing here."
Crystal walked forward.
She gently placed her palm against the rock.
Nothing happened.
Then...
She whispered,
"Those who remember the First Dawn..."
"...Open."
The mountain trembled.
A deep rumble echoed throughout the valley.
Cracks of golden light spread across the cliff face like veins.
Slowly...
The stone split apart.
Revealing an ancient passageway hidden within the mountain.
Kieran's mouth fell open.
"Whoa..."
---
Kael sighed.
"I still hate this place."
Crystal smiled knowingly.
"I remember."
"You nearly ran away the first time."
"I did run away."
"You came back."
"Only because you dragged me."
Kieran blinked.
"Uncle Kael got scared?"
The enormous Beast Lord coughed awkwardly.
"...Everyone gets scared."
---
The passage stretched deep beneath the mountain.
Ancient stone walls lined both sides.
Strangely...
There wasn't a speck of dust.
As though someone still cared for this place.
Golden crystals embedded within the ceiling illuminated the corridor.
Their light was warm.
Gentle.
Comforting.
Yet beneath that comfort...
Kieran felt something else.
A strange familiarity.
As though...
He had walked this path before.
---
"Mama..."
"This place..."
"...Feels like home."
Crystal's footsteps paused.
Kael slowly turned toward Kieran.
"You feel that?"
Kieran nodded.
"It feels..."
He searched for the words.
"...Lonely."
Crystal quietly lowered her eyes.
"So..."
"You feel it too."
---
They continued walking.
Eventually...
The passage opened into an enormous underground chamber.
Kieran froze.
Countless gigantic pillars stretched toward a ceiling he couldn't even see.
Ancient murals covered every wall.
Some depicted humans standing beside dragons.
Others showed beast kings kneeling before enormous trees.
There were giants.
Winged races.
Ocean dwellers.
Creatures unlike anything Kieran had ever imagined.
At the very center...
Stood a single pedestal.
Upon it rested...
Nothing.
Only an empty stone platform.
---
Kieran slowly approached it.
"Mama..."
"What was here?"
Crystal answered honestly.
"I don't know."
"I found this place many years ago."
"It was already empty."
She looked around the chamber.
"But..."
"I've always believed something once rested here."
"Something important."
---
Kieran's attention shifted to the murals.
He walked slowly between them.
Without realizing it...
His fingertips brushed against one of the carvings.
The instant they touched...
A soft golden light spread across the ancient stone.
Kael's eyes widened.
"It reacted!"
Crystal's expression changed.
"Kieran."
"Step back."
But it was already too late.
One mural after another...
Began glowing.
Golden light spread throughout the chamber.
Ancient symbols illuminated the pillars.
The very air trembled.
Deep...
Far beneath the chamber...
Something stirred.
Not violently.
Not with hostility.
But like an old man awakening from a long sleep.
---
The chamber fell silent.
Then...
A voice echoed.
Ancient.
Gentle.
Filled with endless weariness.
"...Welcome home..."
Kieran instinctively looked around.
"Who said that?"
Neither Crystal nor Kael answered.
Because...
They had heard nothing.
Only Kieran had.
---
The golden light faded almost immediately.
The chamber returned to normal.
As though nothing had happened.
Kael slowly looked toward Crystal.
"...Did you feel that?"
She nodded.
"I did."
"But I heard nothing."
Kieran looked confused.
"I heard someone."
"What did they say?"
"...They welcomed me home."
Silence.
Crystal's heart skipped a beat.
---
She slowly walked to the central pedestal.
For years...
She had searched every corner of this chamber.
Studied every rune.
Examined every mural.
Yet never...
Not once...
Had they reacted.
Until today.
She closed her eyes.
"The chamber wasn't waiting for me."
She looked at Kieran.
"It was waiting..."
"...for you."
Far below...
Hidden deeper than even this ancient hall...
Three more golden seals quietly cracked.
Not enough to break.
Not enough to awaken what lay beneath.
But enough...
To signal that the heir had finally arrived.
And somewhere beyond the reach of time...
An ancient smile appeared in the darkness.
"The bloodline remembers..."
End of Chapter 32