Chapter 15 — Bound Flow
The Hollow Mirror slept.
At least, that's what Veyra called it when the obsidian plates dimmed and the halo's light dulled to gray.
Kael sat cross-legged at the basin's edge, hands resting on his knees, the faint hum of Flow thrumming through his veins. Around him, sigils pulsed in quiet rhythm — containment seals drawn by Professor Veyra herself, precise as a surgeon's cuts.
"Focus on breathing," she said, her tone flat but steady. "Do not command the Flow. Listen. It is not your servant."
Easy for her to say.
Kael drew a slow breath. The moment he reached inward, the Hollow stirred. It didn't feel like energy — not heat, not light. It was like a second consciousness exhaling beneath his own. Something older. Something waiting.
The sigils around him flared faintly, reacting to the movement within. He clenched his jaw. "It doesn't… stay still."
"It isn't meant to," Riven said from across the room, arms crossed, leaning on his spear. "Flow is never obedient. You've been given the kind that remembers itself."
"Remembers itself?" Kael repeated, trying to steady the pulse in his fingers. The power in him rippled — and the air near his palm darkened for a heartbeat. Not shadow, but memory taking shape. A blurred face, gone before he could blink.
He gasped. "That again…"
Veyra's eyes narrowed. "Good. Keep your awareness there. Don't chase it — let it speak."
Kael obeyed. The world around him dimmed as the Hollow's voice slid closer to his thoughts, threading through the silence like silk pulled through cloth.
"Bound Flow," it whispered. "A promise unfulfilled. You were meant to inherit me whole, but the curse severed the path. You wear my echo, Kael Veyra — not my truth."
He shuddered. The sound wasn't heard; it was him. Every syllable resonated in his ribs like his bones were hollow instruments.
"What is it saying?" Selene asked quietly, standing at the monitoring array. Her gaze stayed fixed on the sigil readings. "The Flow spikes whenever his pulse stutters."
"He's hearing the echo," Riven said. "The curse was a lock, but that thing is the key trying to break through."
Kael opened his eyes. His irises flickered faintly — not glowing, but refracting light like glass filled with water. "It's telling me I'm incomplete," he said through clenched teeth. "That I was supposed to be… more."
"Then prove it wrong," Veyra said. Her tone wasn't unkind, but sharp — grounding. "You've been cursed, not defined."
Kael's breath grew heavy. The sigils began to flicker as if the chamber were struggling to contain the pressure building inside him. The halo above the basin pulsed in answer — once, twice — and then surged outward.
Selene shouted, "Seal integrity dropping!"
Riven slammed his spear's butt into the ground, anchoring a containment rune. Energy rippled, holding the surge for only a moment before the room flooded with black light.
Kael's mind blurred — but inside the storm, he saw it clearly:
A mirror of himself standing in a vast gray field. The reflection smiled that same knowing smile.
"You keep fighting the curse," the reflection murmured. "But what if it was protecting you?"
Kael froze. "Protecting me? From what?"
The reflection tilted its head — and the world around it fractured like glass under strain. Behind it, a thousand other reflections shifted — each one a version of Kael, older, broken, laughing, monstrous.
He couldn't tell which were real.
The Hollow's voice deepened, layered like a chorus.
"Bound Flow feeds on contradiction. It will destroy you if you define it too soon."
Then, as quickly as it had begun, the storm stopped.
Kael gasped, slamming back into the physical world. The containment seals re-stabilized, dim blue lines crawling across the floor. Sweat clung to his skin. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Veyra crouched beside him, scanning his pulse with a diagnostic crystal. "You stayed conscious," she muttered. "Most would've fainted."
"Lucky me," Kael managed, voice hoarse. "So… what did I just do?"
"You connected," Riven said grimly. "Not fully, but enough. The Bound Flow recognized you."
Selene stepped closer, her voice gentler. "And it scared you."
He didn't deny it. His hands still trembled. "It's not just power," he said quietly. "It's… someone else. Someone that remembers me."
The room fell silent.
Veyra stood, her expression unreadable. "Then we'll teach you how to remember it back."
---
That night, Kael sat on his dorm balcony overlooking the academy's training fields. The stars above shimmered faintly — each one a tiny fragment of Flow in the sky.
He pulled up his status window.
> [Name]: Kael Veyra
[Level]: 5 → 6
[Flow Affinity]: Null-Type (Bound Flow – Partial Link Established)
[Skill Unlocked]: Echo Step (Manifestation – Incomplete)
[Condition]: Stable | Containment Advised
A weak laugh escaped him. "Containment advised… yeah, that sounds about right."
The Hollow stirred faintly inside him — no words this time, just a pulse.
Warm. Almost human.
For the first time since the awakening, Kael didn't feel like a mistake.
He felt like a beginning.
---
End of Chapter 15 — "Bound Flow."