Chapter 10: The Voice Beneath the Stone
The air felt wrong.
Heavy. Warped. Like the world itself was holding its breath.
The glowing seal in the center of the altar chamber had split down the middle. Cracks radiated out like a spider's web. Pale red light leaked from within the stone, flickering with each heartbeat—Kiel's heartbeat.
He stood still, frozen, his hands faintly glowing. The light pulsed beneath his skin, traveling up his arms like threads of fire woven into his veins.
"The heir has returned..."
The voice echoed again, deep and hollow—not through the air, but through their bones. Like it was inside them.
Anna was the first to move. She grabbed Kiel's arm. "Hey. Look at me."
His eyes were distant, unfocused, glowing slightly—like he was hearing something none of them could.
"Kiel, listen to me."
He blinked.
The glow dimmed. His breath came back ragged, but real.
"I'm here," he said quietly.
Elesio was already scanning the room, rifle raised, gaze sharp. "That voice wasn't metaphor. Something's alive down there."
Noban stood near the seal, her scythe drawn and pointed downward. Her voice was calm, but low. "I don't think it's a ghost."
Anna nodded toward the seal. "Can we close it?"
Elesio shook his head. "Not without knowing what's behind it."
"Then we get answers," Kiel said.
They moved carefully.
Beneath the cracked altar was a spiral staircase of ancient stone—half-collapsed and swallowed by moss and silence. They descended together, torchlight flickering off the wet walls. The deeper they went, the colder it became, until even Anna's fire magic couldn't warm the air.
At the bottom was a vast chamber. Wide. Empty. Echoing.
And in the center—chained to a broken pillar—was a figure.
It looked human.
Mostly.
Tall, gaunt, wrapped in blackened armor etched with the same runes that had glowed on Kiel's hands. Its face was hidden behind a mask split down the middle. Chains bound its wrists, neck, and chest, glowing with red sigils that pulsed like a dying heartbeat.
And it spoke.
"I know you."
Kiel stepped forward. "Who are you?"
"You are my shadow. My echo. My proof that the bloodline endured."
Anna moved beside him. "What bloodline?"
The figure tilted its head.
"The Bladebearers. The sealed order. The first and final guardians of the Old Gates."
Noban's eyes narrowed. "That name doesn't exist in any record."
"Because your kingdoms buried it. As they buried me."
Elesio raised his rifle slightly. "And who are you?"
The figure exhaled, the sound dry like old leaves.
"Once, I was called Vaeren. I carried the sword of judgment. And now... I wait. For the heir to decide."
Kiel's heart pounded. "Decide what?"
"Whether to unchain me. Or bury me forever."
Silence filled the room.
Anna looked at Kiel. "You don't have to do anything."
"I know," he said.
But he stepped closer.
"Why me?" he asked Vaeren. "Why do I feel your voice in my head? Why does this burn inside me when I get close to places like this?"
Vaeren's masked head tilted again, slowly.
"Because you were born with my mark. And your soul has remembered what the world forced you to forget."
"You are not just a swordsman. Not just an assassin."
"You are a Sealbreaker."
The word hung in the air like frost.
Noban muttered, "That's not a title… that's a sentence."
Elesio didn't lower his rifle. "If this thing was sealed for a reason, I vote we leave it that way."
Anna looked at Kiel. "What do you want to do?"
Kiel stared at the bound figure.
At the red glow pulsing beneath his own skin.
At the chains.
And at the mask.
For a moment, he saw himself in its place.
Not now. Later.
Years from now.
Alone.
Chained.
Forgotten.
"I don't know if you're lying," he said. "I don't know if you're evil. But I know what it feels like to be locked in a story you didn't choose."
He reached out.
Anna caught his hand. "Are you sure?"
Kiel looked at her, then Elesio, then Noban.
His voice was steady.
"No."
He placed his hand on one of the chains.
There was a pulse—one bright flash of red light—and the chain cracked, turning to ash.
Vaeren inhaled sharply, the first breath of someone who hadn't breathed in centuries.
"Then it begins again."
They didn't release the rest.
Not yet.
One chain broken. Three remained.
Enough to keep Vaeren bound. For now.
The team returned to the surface, silent with questions they couldn't answer.
That Night
They sat around a campfire outside the ruins. The stars overhead were sharp. The sea whispered against the cliffs.
Kiel stirred the fire with a stick.
Anna sat beside him, arms folded, thinking.
Elesio was sharpening a knife.
Noban stared at the flame.
No one spoke for a long time.
Then, Anna said quietly, "I think we're in over our heads."
Elesio replied without looking up. "Definitely."
"But I trust you all," she said.
Noban nodded. "So do I."
Kiel looked at each of them.
"This isn't going to be a normal life," he said.
"We're not normal people," Anna smiled.
Kiel looked into the fire.
"Then let's not pretend anymore."
He reached out.
Not for his sword.
Not for the seal.
But for the people beside him.
His friends.
They placed their hands together, one after another.
Four people.
One promise.
Not just to fight.
Not just to survive.
But to face the story ahead together.