I gasped. The voice sent shivers down my spine. A potent mix of desire and recognition that I didn't understand but felt in my bones. It made my blood boil.
I've waited so long for you to arrive...
So very long...
Centuries, my love...
The other candidates spread out through the vault, walking slowly between the rows of mounted blades. They looked confused.
Their hands reached out hesitantly, touching hilts, running fingers along flat blades, waiting for something that didn't come.
"I don't hear anything," Sarah said quietly, her voice small in the vast space.
"Me neither," Thomas added, frustration creeping into his tone. "Are we supposed to touch them or just... what? How does this work?"
"Just listen," Cedric instructed, his voice echoing slightly. "If a blade calls to you, you'll know. There's no mistaking it. The connection will be undeniable."
Minutes passed in tense silence. The candidates moved from one weapon to another, placing their hands on the hilts, closing their eyes, and waiting with desperate hope.
But nothing ever happened.
"I still don't hear anything," Daniel said, his frustration now turning to despair. "Not even a whisper. It's completely silent."
"Maybe we're not worthy?" Helena whispered, her voice trembling. "Maybe none of us are good enough?"
"That can't be right," Sarah protested weakly. "We passed all the tests. We wouldn't be here if we weren't worthy."
Marius grabbed blade after blade with increasingly aggressive movements, yanking them from their brackets, pressing them to his chest, closing his eyes and visibly straining to hear something.
Anything would suffice for him.
His face twisted with anger and humiliation with each failure.
"This is ridiculous!" He finally exploded, slamming his fist against the stone wall hard enough that his knuckles split and bled.
"Why can't I hear them? I passed every test! I trained my whole life for this! Why won't they speak to me?!"
That's when I spoke up, my voice cutting through the desperate silence.
"The only reason you can't hear anything," I said quietly, though my voice carried in the vault's acoustics, "is because every single blade in the vault is talking to me right now. They're all calling out to me at once."
Everyone froze. Every head turned to stare at me.
The silence was deafening.
"What?" Marius's voice dripped with rage. "That's impossible! You're lying again, vile! You're always lying!"
"He's making it up!" Another candidate added. "Trying to make himself look special!"
"There's no way—"
But Cedric and Kain weren't laughing. We weren't dismissing it. They were staring at me with a mixture of awe and something that looked uncomfortably close to fear.
"Every blade?" Cedric asked slowly, his voice carefully controlled. "You can hear all of them? Simultaneously?"
"Yes." I closed my eyes, trying to sort through the chaos, to pick out individual voices from the overwhelming chorus.
"They're all calling out. All of them. Offering their power. Begging to be chosen. Promising strength. Demanding recognition. It's like... It's like they're competing with each other. Fighting for my attention."
The voices continued their relentless assault on my mind.
You don't belong among the cattle...
Young lord, choose me, and I will serve you eternally...
Royal blood flows through your veins...
We serve only the worthy, only the powerful...
The throne awaits its rightful heir...
You are meant for greater things than this...
These humans are beneath you...
I opened my eyes and looked directly at Cedric. "They keep calling me things. Strange titles. Young master. Young lord. They say I don't belong among... among cattle."
I gestured vaguely at the other candidates, though I felt uncomfortable repeating that part.
Cedric's expression darkened significantly. His weathered face grew hard, closed off. Kain shifted his weight uncomfortably, his hand moving unconsciously toward his sword hilt.
"What does that mean?" I asked, genuinely confused. "Why would they call me those things? Why would they say I'm different from everyone else?"
"The blades recognize power," Cedric said carefully, choosing each word very carefully. "True power. Inherent power. If they're calling you by titles of respect, titles of nobility, it means they sense something in you. Something rare. Something that sets you apart from ordinary candidates."
Marius's face had gone purple with rage, veins standing out on his forehead. "This is bullshit! Complete bullshit! He's just some vile orphan! Some cursed piece of trash! There's nothing special about him! Nothing!"
But no one was listening to Marius anymore. All eyes were on me.
I turned slowly, trying to pinpoint individual voices in the chaos, separating them from the overwhelming chorus. Most came from the blades mounted on the walls.
Hundreds of distinct voices, each one unique, each one promising different powers and abilities.
But one voice stood out.
That seductive voice.
It wasn't coming from any of the mounted weapons. None of the blades on the walls, none of the weapons on display.
I walked deeper into the vault, following the sound like a man in a trance. The other candidates parted before me like water, watching with a mixture of jealousy, confusion, and growing fear.
The voice grew stronger with each step.
Yes, my darling... Come to me...
We were made for each other...
I've been waiting so long...
Since before you were born...
Since before your father fell...
I reached the far end of the vault. A blank stone wall stretched before me. No weapons were mounted here.
No brackets or iron fittings. Nothing but smooth, ancient stone that looked like it had never been touched.
But the voice was loudest here.
Strongest here at this section of the wall.
Coming from behind the wall itself.
The stone seemed to pulse with each word, vibrating , as if it wanted to break free.
I turned to Cedric, who had followed me across the vault with heavy, reluctant steps. His face had gone completely white, all color drained from his weathered features.
"Why can I hear a voice at the far end of this wall," I asked slowly, "but there's no blade there? There's nothing mounted here at all. This section is completely empty."
Cedric's face went even whiter, if that was possible. The color drained from his skin like someone had opened a tap.
His eyes widened in shock. In fear. In something I couldn't quite identify, but that made my stomach clench with sudden anxiety.
"You..." He stared at the wall, then back at me, then at the wall again. His mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. "You can hear it? You can actually hear it?"
"Yes." I placed my hand flat against the cold stone, and the voice purred with satisfaction, pleasure, and a dark promise of what my future held.
The wall felt warm under my palm, almost alive. "There's something behind this wall. A blade. And it's calling to me. It knows me. It's been waiting for me."
Kain stepped forward quickly, his hand moving to his sword hilt in an instinctive defensive gesture.
"Grandmaster, what is he talking about? What's behind that wall?"
Cedric didn't answer. He couldn't answer. He just stood there, frozen, staring at the wall like he'd seen a ghost rise from the grave.
Like I'd just revealed a secret that no one was ever supposed to know.
A secret that should have stayed buried forever.