For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Kael stared at the cracked stone door.
The voice had been clear.
Too clear.
And it had sounded like him.
Serena tightened her grip on her sword.
"Kael..."
"I heard it."
The hooded man took another step back.
"Whatever happens, don't open that door."
Kael looked at him.
"You just said you didn't know what was behind it."
"I don't."
"Then how do you know we shouldn't open it?"
The hooded man didn't answer.
Another deep impact struck the door.
**BOOM!**
A crack spread across the stone.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Serena looked upward.
"We need to move."
Kael nodded.
"We're leaving."
He turned toward the corridor.
Then the voice came again.
"Kael..."
He stopped.
It wasn't coming from the door anymore.
It was coming from everywhere.
The walls.
The floor.
Even inside his head.
"Don't listen to it," the hooded man said.
Kael looked back.
"What is it?"
"I told you. I don't know."
The hooded man raised his hand.
Blue light appeared around his body.
Kael immediately recognized it.
"The same power."
"Yes."
The man looked toward the door.
"And we need to leave before it breaks through."
A third impact shook the chamber.
The stone door cracked down the middle.
Serena grabbed Kael's arm.
"Move!"
They ran.
The hooded man followed behind them.
Kael glanced back.
The door was beginning to collapse.
Something was pushing through.
He couldn't see what it was.
Only two glowing eyes appeared through the cracks.
Kael's steps slowed.
Those eyes...
He had seen them before.
Not in person.
In the images from his memory.
A massive black shape in the sky.
Two glowing eyes.
Kael stopped.
"Kael!"
Serena pulled him forward.
He forced himself to keep running.
---
They reached the staircase.
The entire underground structure shook.
Stone began falling from the ceiling.
"Faster!" Serena shouted.
Kael ran up the stairs.
The hooded man was right behind them.
Suddenly, the staircase cracked.
Kael jumped forward.
A section of stone collapsed behind him.
Serena barely made it across.
The hooded man wasn't so lucky.
Part of the floor gave way beneath him.
He dropped.
Kael grabbed his arm.
The man looked surprised.
"Why?"
Kael gritted his teeth.
"Because I'm not letting you die before you give me answers."
Serena grabbed Kael's other arm.
Together, they pulled him up.
The hooded man stood.
"You shouldn't have done that."
"You're welcome."
Kael turned and continued upward.
They reached the tower.
The moment they stepped outside, the ground shook again.
The old watchtower trembled.
Then—
A deep roar came from underground.
The sound was so loud that birds flew from the nearby trees.
Kael looked back.
"What was that?"
The hooded man didn't answer.
Serena stared at him.
"You said you didn't know what was down there."
"I don't."
"But you knew something would happen."
"I knew something was sealed there."
Kael turned sharply.
"Sealed?"
The hooded man looked at him.
"Yes."
"By who?"
He hesitated.
"Your parents."
Kael froze.
"My parents?"
The man nodded.
"They were the ones who sealed it."
Kael stepped closer.
"Then why did you bring me there?"
"I didn't."
"You sent me the message."
"I sent the message because I wanted to speak with you."
The man looked toward the tower.
"I didn't know the seal would react to your presence."
Kael's expression hardened.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Then explain everything."
The hooded man remained silent.
Kael grabbed his cloak.
"Tell me!"
The hooded man didn't resist.
Instead, he looked at Kael's hand.
The blue mark was glowing again.
"Your parents weren't running from something."
Kael's grip loosened.
"What?"
"They were protecting the world from something."
Kael stared at him.
"Then why did they disappear?"
"Because protecting it required a price."
"What price?"
The hooded man looked away.
"Their lives."
Kael went completely still.
Serena looked at him.
"Kael..."
"No."
Kael shook his head.
"You said they disappeared."
"I did."
"You just said they died."
"I said they paid a price."
Kael stared at him.
"Are they dead?"
The hooded man didn't answer.
That was answer enough to make Kael's chest tighten.
He stepped back.
For years, he had imagined his parents.
He had imagined meeting them.
He had imagined asking why they left him.
Now, for the first time, he had something that sounded like an answer.
And he didn't know whether he wanted it.
Serena quietly stood beside him.
"You don't have to listen to him anymore."
Kael looked at her.
"I need to know."
"I know."
The hooded man spoke again.
"There is something else."
Kael looked toward him.
"What?"
"Your parents didn't leave you at the orphanage because they didn't want you."
Kael's eyes widened.
"They left you there because they believed it was the safest place."
Kael's breathing slowed.
"Safest from what?"
The hooded man looked directly at him.
"From the people searching for you."
Kael remembered the years at the orphanage.
Sister Maren.
Anna.
Sophia.
The simple life.
The aptitude test.
The day everyone learned he had no aptitude.
Maybe his parents had known.
Maybe they had hidden him.
Maybe...
Kael shook his head.
"Then why did they let me believe I was useless?"
The hooded man didn't answer.
Kael looked down at his hand.
"No aptitude for magic."
"No aptitude for aura."
The blue mark pulsed.
"Maybe that wasn't true."
The hooded man nodded.
"It wasn't."
Kael looked up.
"What am I?"
The man stared at him.
"That is something you need to discover yourself."
Kael's expression darkened.
"You keep saying things like that."
"Because some answers cannot be given to you."
"Why?"
"Because if I tell you too much now, the thing beneath the tower won't be the only thing that wakes up."
Kael was about to ask another question.
Then the ground shook.
Again.
This time, the old watchtower cracked.
A piece of stone fell from the top.
Serena looked at the structure.
"We should leave."
Kael nodded.
The hooded man stepped away.
"I have to go."
Kael immediately turned.
"Wait."
The man stopped.
"Where are you going?"
"Somewhere you can't follow."
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"Will I see you again?"
The hooded man looked at him.
"Yes."
"When?"
"When you're ready."
Blue light surrounded him.
Kael stepped forward.
"At least tell me your name!"
The man hesitated.
Then he said,
"Arden."
The blue light became brighter.
"And Kael..."
"Yes?"
Arden looked at him.
"When you meet the people who know your parents..."
His voice became quiet.
"Don't trust everything they tell you."
Then he disappeared.
Kael stood silently.
Serena looked at him.
"Arden."
Kael nodded.
"At least we finally have a name."
"Do you trust him?"
"No."
"Good."
Kael looked toward the watchtower.
"But I believe some of what he said."
Serena sighed.
"That's what worries me."
---
They returned to Ironbrook shortly before midnight.
The city was quiet.
Most people were asleep.
Kael and Serena went directly to the guild.
The guild master was still awake.
When he saw them, he immediately stood.
"You went."
Kael nodded.
"What happened?"
Kael looked at Serena.
She answered first.
"We found the underground chamber."
The guild master's expression changed.
"You opened it?"
"No."
"Good."
Kael looked at him.
"Something was sealed beneath the tower."
The guild master went silent.
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
"Who sealed it?"
The guild master hesitated.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Tell me."
The guild master sighed.
"We don't know."
Kael shook his head.
"Someone does."
The guild master looked at him.
Kael continued.
"Arden."
The guild master's face went pale.
"You met him?"
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
"Gone."
The guild master sat down.
Kael noticed the reaction.
"You know him."
"I've heard the name."
"From where?"
"Old records."
Kael stepped closer.
"What kind of records?"
The guild master rubbed his forehead.
"Records about the people who investigated the Voidborn."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Who were they?"
The guild master looked at him.
"There were several groups."
"Which one was my parents part of?"
The guild master didn't answer.
Kael's voice became firmer.
"You know."
"I have a suspicion."
"What?"
The guild master looked toward the old book on his desk.
"Your parents may have been part of a group called the **Wardens of the First Seal**."
Kael repeated the name quietly.
"The Wardens..."
"They were people who searched for ancient threats. Their purpose was to find dangerous sealed places before anyone else could reach them."
"And the thing under the tower?"
"We don't know."
Kael stared at the floor.
His parents had protected something.
Arden knew them.
The symbol was connected to him.
And something beneath the tower had reacted to his presence.
There were still more questions than answers.
But for the first time, Kael felt like he was getting somewhere.
He turned toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
Serena asked.
"To sleep."
She blinked.
"That's it?"
Kael smiled tiredly.
"I have a lot to think about."
Serena smiled.
"Fair."
Kael walked away.
But before he reached the stairs, his hand suddenly became warm.
He stopped.
The blue mark appeared again.
This time, something was different.
A second symbol slowly appeared beneath the first.
Kael stared at it.
It wasn't the eye.
It was a small black circle.
And inside that circle was a single word.
**AWAKEN.**
Kael's eyes widened.
He didn't know what it meant.
He didn't know who had written it.
But somewhere far beneath Ironbrook...
the thing sealed under the old watchtower opened its eyes.
---
100 ps = 1 extra chapter
200 ps = 2 Extra chapter
1 Golden ticket = 3 Extra Chapter