Chapter 8: The One Who Couldn't Hold It
The man's smile faded as Sereth raised her staff.
"Easy," he said, lifting his hands. "If I wanted the boy taken, this alley would already be quiet."
Kairo's stomach tightened. He believed him.
"Who are you?" Sereth demanded.
The man glanced at Kairo instead. "Names don't matter much once you've lost yours." He stepped back into the lantern light. "But once, I was called Irix."
The seal pulsed—recognition without memory.
Sereth went still. "You're dead."
Irix chuckled softly. "That's what they tell the successful ones."
He turned, showing them his back.
Burn scars laced his spine in the shape of a shattered sigil—similar to Kairo's mark, but broken, twisted, wrong. It looked less like a seal and more like something that had burst outward.
Kairo's breath caught.
"You're like me," he said.
Irix nodded. "I was."
The alley felt colder.
"They chose me after Raizen vanished," Irix continued calmly. "The Council needed a replacement. A vessel. Someone small enough to control."
Sereth's grip tightened on her staff. "You shouldn't be alive."
"Neither should he," Irix replied lightly, eyes flicking to Kairo. "Yet here we are."
Kairo forced himself to speak. "What happened to you?"
Irix's smile didn't reach his eyes. "I failed."
The word landed heavy.
"The seal cracked too fast," Irix said. "I thought power meant freedom. I thought if I embraced it, the pain would stop."
He leaned closer, voice dropping. "It didn't."
Images flooded Kairo's mind—cities half-remembered, screams cut short, shadows moving where they shouldn't. He staggered back, clutching his head.
Sereth caught him. "Enough."
Irix straightened. "I'm not your enemy," he said. "Not tonight."
"Then what are you?" Sereth asked coldly.
"A warning."
He met Kairo's eyes fully now. "You chose to stay human. That's… rare."
The seal stirred uneasily.
"They won't allow that choice forever," Irix continued. "The Council doesn't want kings. They want keys."
Kairo swallowed. "What happens to keys when the door opens?"
Irix's gaze hardened. "They break."
Silence filled the alley, broken only by distant laughter and clattering dishes.
"Why tell us this?" Sereth asked.
Irix hesitated—for the first time. "Because when I broke, no one warned me." He stepped back into the shadows. "And because if you ever decide to give in…"
His eyes glinted faintly red.
"…don't do it alone."
Then he was gone—no sound, no trace.
The alley felt too small after that.
Kairo leaned against the wall, shaking. "That's my future, isn't it?"
Sereth didn't answer immediately.
Finally, she said, "That's one possible ending."
He looked at her. "And the others?"
She met his gaze steadily. "You don't survive them by accident."
The seal lay quiet now—not angry, not eager.
Afraid.
And somewhere far above the Low Cities, something ancient adjusted its plans.