Aurel didn't remember falling asleep.
All he remembered was the ache — a deep pounding inside his skull like someone hammering from the inside. He tried to open his eyes, but his lashes felt glued shut. It wasn't darkness around him; it was something thicker, like memory and shadow overlapping.
He heard whispers.
Not around him — inside him.
"You weren't supposed to remember."
The words slipped through his mind like a blade through paper. He jerked up, gasping. Reality rushed back in pieces: the forest, the broken temple, the glowing mark on his wrist. His breathing was uneven. Sweat clung to his skin. The world tilted.
"Are you awake?"
He turned sharply. Rylan sat beside him, arms crossed and face tense. Elaine stood nearby, watching him too closely — not with concern, but with fear. Not fear of him being hurt… fear of him.
"What happened?" Aurel asked, forcing his voice steady.
"You collapsed," Elaine said. "One moment you were fine, the next — you screamed and the entire ground shook like an earthquake."
Rylan added, "Your mark glowed. We couldn't even touch you."
Aurel swallowed. He wished he could pretend he knew what they were talking about. He wished he could act normal.
But the memory he had seen — or felt — was still digging inside him.
A hand on his shoulder. A deep voice. Someone calling him son.
He didn't want to think about it.
He stood slowly. "We should move."
Elaine stepped forward and blocked him. "Aurel. Look at me."
Her voice cracked, just a little. "What did you see?"
He wanted to say Nothing. He wanted to push everything away until it stopped suffocating him. But he met her eyes — desperate, terrified, hoping.
He couldn't lie to that.
"I saw someone," he whispered. "Someone I shouldn't have."
Elaine looked like she had been expecting that answer and dreading it at the same time.
Rylan frowned. "Who?"
Aurel shook his head. "I don't know. But I've seen him before."
He lifted his hand unconsciously — to the mark burned into his wrist.
Rylan's eyes followed the movement. "That symbol… it's the same as—"
"Don't say it," Elaine snapped.
Silence fell like a dropped blade.
The Name No One Wanted to Speak
Aurel's fists tightened. "You two know something. Say it."
Elaine looked away.
Rylan hesitated — then sighed. "The mark belongs to him."
Aurel already knew. He had known from the moment the memory clawed at him.
Still, hearing it hurt.
"The symbol of the Shadow Sovereign."
Aurel's breath left his lungs.
The same Shadow Sovereign who destroyed cities. The same Shadow Sovereign who killed without touching. The same Shadow Sovereign who ruled fear itself.
He whispered, "Why is his mark on me?"
Elaine stepped back. "We hoped you'd never ask."
The Vision Returns
Before Aurel could push for more answers, pain tore through his mind again — sudden, wild. He dropped to his knees. Elaine called his name, but the world melted.
He was not in the forest anymore.
He was small — a child. Bare feet touching cold stone. A hall of black pillars rose around him. He was shivering… not with cold, but with fear.
A tall figure stood in front of him.
Cloaked. Power radiating from him like heat. The shadows seemed to bow to him.
He knelt — not to hurt Aurel — but to meet him at eye level.
A gloved hand rested on Aurel's cheek.
"You will forget this day, little one. For your sake."
The man sounded — gentle.
But it felt wrong. Aurel's heart raced, even in memory. Instinct screamed.
"I don't want to stay here," child Aurel whispered, voice cracking.
The man's tone softened. Too soft.
"You were made for more than the world you came from. When the seal breaks, you will come back to me."
Aurel tried to run.
But the cloaked man pulled him into a hug — not tight enough to restrain him, but tight enough that Aurel couldn't escape.
He whispered into the child's hair:
"My blood is your blood. My throne will be your throne. And when all falls, you will stand beside me."
Aurel felt small arms try to push him away.
"I'm not like you!"
The man only smiled.
"No, my son. You are exactly like me."
The memory shattered. Aurel screamed.
Back to Reality
He hit the ground — and the world snapped back together.
Elaine grabbed his shoulders. Rylan kept his sword drawn, not pointed at Aurel — pointed at whatever might appear.
Rylan asked, voice shaking, "What did you see now?"
Aurel couldn't breathe.
The words barely came out.
"He called me… his son."
Elaine dropped her hold as if she had been burned.
Rylan stepped back. Shock, fear, and something worse filled his face — recognition.
Elaine's voice broke. "No. No, no, no. That can't be true. That can't be—"
Aurel forced himself upright. "Tell me everything. Now. No more secrets."
Elaine looked at the ground. "We didn't know for sure. We only knew the Shadow Sovereign wanted you alive. That he told his followers never to harm you."
Rylan added quietly, "Some believed you were destined to replace him."
Aurel couldn't think. Couldn't feel. He wanted to rip the mark off his skin.
"I'm not his son," he whispered, like a prayer, like a denial. "He's a monster."
Elaine didn't disagree. But she didn't comfort him either.
She finally said, "Aurel… destiny doesn't care what we want."
Her voice trembled. "We don't hate you. We're scared for you."
Aurel stared at the ground. "That makes two of us."
They Continue the Journey — But Nothing Is the Same
They walked silently.
Aurel felt every step drag. Every movement reminded him that something lived inside him — something placed there before he could defend himself.
Elaine walked ahead, pretending she wasn't watching him.
Rylan walked behind, pretending he wasn't guarding the group from him.
Aurel couldn't blame them.
He didn't trust himself either.
When night fell, the three sat around a small fire. None of them ate. None of them talked.
Aurel finally broke the silence. "He's not my father."
Elaine looked away. Rylan didn't respond.
Aurel spoke again, voice low, but sharp. "I had a family. I remember them."
Elaine's whisper barely reached him. "Are you sure those memories weren't placed over the real ones?"
Aurel stared at her — offended, hurt, terrified — and she immediately regretted saying it.
"Aurel— I didn't mean—"
"You did," he said. "And maybe you're right."
He stood abruptly. "I need to be alone."
He walked into the woods before they could stop him.
The Man in the Shadows
Branches snapped.
Aurel spun around — ready to fight — but the forest had gone silent.
Too silent.
A voice spoke behind him.
"You woke up sooner than expected."
Aurel froze.
Cold air rushed over him. Every instinct screamed danger. He didn't want to turn around. He didn't want the voice to be real.
But he did.
And there he was.
The Shadow Sovereign.
Not a memory. Not a vision.
Standing in the flesh — six feet away.
Cloak sweeping the ground, power bending the air around him. No weapons. No guards.
He didn't need any.
Aurel stepped back instinctively — fear overriding everything else.
The Sovereign didn't move closer. His tone was calm, almost kind.
"I have waited years for your seal to break."
Aurel's voice shook with rage. "Stay away from me."
A faint smile curved beneath the hood.
"I never forced my blood into you. You were born with it."
Aurel's stomach dropped.
The Sovereign continued, "I am not here to take you. I am here to warn you."
Aurel didn't breathe.
"If you continue on the path you walk, they will kill you. Not because of who you are… but because of who you could become."
Aurel spat, "I'd rather die than become anything like you."
The Sovereign nodded slowly.
"You say that now. But the world will not give you kindness. When they fear you… you will fear them more."
He extended a hand — not to grab him — but like a father offering his child a chance.
"When you are ready, come find me."
The ground beneath Aurel cracked — not from an attack, but from the pressure of the Sovereign's presence.
And then — he vanished.
Just like that.
The forest returned to silence.
Aurel's legs gave out. He fell to his knees, shaking, gasping for air, hating the world, hating fate, hating his blood.
"I'm nothing like you," he whispered.
But the mark on his wrist burned — as if disagreeing.
End of Chapter Cliffhanger
Someone grabbed his shoulder from behind.
Aurel spun — ready to fight — but froze.
Elaine stood there, sword drawn… and her eyes were cold. Not soft like before — cold and deep and unreadable.
She whispered, not like the friend he knew — but like someone who had made a terrible decision.
"Aurel… I'm so sorry."
He didn't understand.
Until he saw the chains in her other hand.
And Rylan behind her.
And the way neither of them looked at him like family anymore — but like a threat.
Elaine's voice broke.
"The Council knows what you are. They ordered us to bring you in… dead or alive."
Aurel couldn't breathe.
He had never felt so alone.