Opening – The Weight of a Spark
The camp is silent that night.
No songs, no shared fires. Only whispers.
Word of the message in the Isu vault spread quickly: Zarxes seeks a Spark—a vessel to restore his kind. And Kaelen… is that Spark.
He walks the perimeter alone. Every glance from the others feels like a blade. Some watch with fear. Others with awe. A few with the cold stare of calculation.
The Awakened stay silent for now—but something has shifted. Kaelen feels it. The unspoken question in every gaze:
What happens if you become him?
Middle – The Circle of Doubt
Later, the Awakened call a private council—only the most trusted warriors and Kaelen present. They sit around a small fire, the flames reflecting off tired, wary eyes. No one speaks at first.
Then one of the Awakened—a former philosopher turned warrior—breaks the silence.
"Zarxes seeks rebirth. Through a host. Through… you."
Kaelen meets their gaze. "I didn't choose this."
Another replies, harsher:
"Maybe not. But neither did the ones who followed you here, only to find out you're the ignition point for the very thing we've sworn to stop."
Tension thickens. The Awakened who's remained closest to Kaelen watches him carefully but says nothing yet.
Kaelen clenches his fists. "I am not Zarxes. I am not Vael'Ruun."
"But are you still Kaelen?" someone asks.
Flashback – A Memory Not His Own
As the voices argue around him, Kaelen zones out—another memory bleeding through, unbidden.
He stands in a storm of golden light. Not himself. Vael'Ruun. Before the fall. Surrounded by Isu minds in stasis, engineered to wait for rebirth.Among them—Zarxes.
"They will not remember you with kindness," Zarxes said once. "They will remember the pain you inflicted by trying to save them from themselves."
Vael'Ruun's answer echoes through Kaelen's mind:
"Then let them remember me as a failure. Not a tyrant."
Return to the Present – The Choice
Kaelen rises from his thoughts.
The council is still at odds—some saying they must find a way to sever Kaelen from the Spark, others suggesting exile if control is lost.
Then the closest Awakened finally speaks.
"You're all talking as if we're dealing with a weapon, not a man."
"Kaelen is not Zarxes. But neither is he just Kaelen anymore. He is becoming."
"The real question isn't what he carries… it's what he'll choose to do with it."
Silence.
Then they turn to Kaelen.
"So what will you do?" the leader asks.
Kaelen stares into the fire, jaw tight.
"I don't know how much of me will survive this. But as long as I am Kaelen… I will use the Spark to stop Zarxes."
He pauses.
"If I lose myself… you know what must be done."
The words hang heavy in the air.
Closing – Unity in Fragility
No one says anything for a moment. Then, one by one, the Awakened nod.
Not in agreement with the danger. But in recognition of the choice.
That night, Kaelen doesn't sleep. He sits beneath the stars, watching for signs in the sky. And for the first time, the voice of Vael'Ruun speaks not as a whisper, but as a companion:
"You're stronger than I was. You feel more. That… may be our salvation."
Kaelen doesn't respond aloud.
But inside, he holds the words close.