Roy remained unconscious, slumped across one of the carts pulled by a scaled hornbeast. His body trembled faintly, as if fighting something unseen. The three transformed warriors surrounded him, tense. Nyra walked ahead, her tail swaying behind her, eyes sharp and distant.
It wasn't the boy that worried her.
It was what he had touched.
The scroll.
The tomb.
The glyphs that now swirled through his blood.
As they reached the outer edges of the city — a place carved into the cliffs and buried in shadow — something caught their attention.
The air.
It was heavier. Denser. Tainted.
Nyra raised her hand. Everyone stopped.
Then they saw it.
At the center of the city stood the Statue of the First Ancestor — a monolithic figure, cloaked in flowing robes, arms lifted toward the heavens. For generations, it had stood unmoving. Cold. Lifeless.
But now…
Cracks snaked across its surface like veins.
And from within those fractures… bled a faint purple glow.
A pulsing light, identical to what Roy had unleashed underground.
Gasps broke out from the townsfolk gathered nearby. Fear spread in whispers.
A cloaked man ran toward them, breathless. "Lady Nyra!" he called out. "The Elder requests your presence. Immediately. It's about the statue."
Without a word, Nyra turned.
"We go to the temple," she ordered. The others followed.
The Temple of Bone & Breath — the inner sanctum of the transformed — towered over the city like a silent judge. Its ceilings were high, its pillars carved from the remains of ancient beasts, and the air inside hummed with residual qi.
Seated on the elevated throne at the far end was Elder Vael — the leader of the transformed city.
His appearance was striking.
An older man, yes — but not weak. His skin bore faint silver scales. His long white robes trailed across the floor like mist. And his eyes — pale, sharp, and wolf-like — seemed to pierce straight through any soul before him.
He watched them enter, his gaze settling on Roy's unconscious body.
"I felt it the moment it happened," Elder Vael said. His voice was calm, low, and rich with power. "The statue trembled. For the first time in a thousand years."
Nyra stepped forward, bowing slightly. "Elder… it's as we feared."
"Explain."
She nodded and pulled the blank scroll from her robe.
"This was retrieved from beneath the Old Forest. Buried in a sealed tomb," she said. "The human touched it. It reacted — violently. The glyphs are gone now, but…"
She gestured toward Roy. "They're inside him."
A long silence followed.
Then Elder Vael stood, walking down the steps slowly until he stood above Roy's body.
He knelt and placed a hand on the boy's chest.
The room dimmed. Qi shifted.
After a long breath, Vael opened his eyes.
"…He's awakened something," the elder murmured. "Something not meant to return."
He looked toward the others, solemn. "Do you know what lies beneath that statue?"
Nyra swallowed. "They say it's just a monument to our cursed ancestor…"
"No," Vael said. "It is a seal."
Everyone froze.
"That statue binds the soul of the First Generation. The one who defied the heavens, who sought immortality and power beyond reason. The one who cursed our blood."
The room chilled.
Vael continued. "His soul was shattered. Imprisoned in layers — spirit, qi, and mind, each locked away. But if this boy carries the first glyph…"
He stared at the glowing cracks in the distant statue through the open temple windows.
"…then the seal is weakening."
"What do we do?" one of the warriors asked, tense.
Vael did not answer at first.
Instead, he turned again to Roy. "He is human. And yet… the glyph chose him. That is no accident."
Nyra's jaw tightened. "It doesn't matter. He's dangerous. He's cursed. If we let him live—"
"We don't have a choice," Vael said firmly. "Fate has chosen its vessel."
He stood, robes whispering around him like waves.
"Keep him alive. Watch him. Learn from him. But do not let him near the other seals."
"And if he does?" Nyra asked.
Vael's expression darkened.
"Then it won't just be our people who burn. The entire continent will."