Kael woke before sunrise, as he usually did.
For a few moments, he stayed on his back and stared at the wooden ceiling of the small room he had rented at the Ironbrook Adventurers' Guild. The room was quiet except for the occasional footsteps in the hallway and the sound of someone moving furniture downstairs.
His right hand rested on top of the blanket.
He turned it over and examined his palm.
Nothing.
No blue light. No strange symbol. No words appearing across his skin.
Kael rubbed his thumb against the center of his palm, remembering what he had seen the previous night.
FIRST SEAL: RESPONSE DETECTED.
He had tried several times to make the mark appear again, but nothing happened. He had even held his hand close to the small lamp on his bedside table, wondering if the light had triggered it somehow. That had been a waste of time.
Whatever caused the mark, it wasn't something he could activate whenever he wanted.
"At least give me a clue," he muttered.
His hand remained completely normal.
Kael sighed, sat up, and reached for his clothes. He had spent enough time thinking about something he didn't understand. If he wanted answers, he needed to start with the things he could actually do.
First, he would train.
Second, he would speak to the guild master.
Third, he would write to Sister Maren.
The last task made him pause.
He hadn't written to the orphanage since leaving Greenwood. He had sent a short message through a passing merchant to let them know he was safe, but that was different from writing to the person who had raised him.
He wasn't sure how he should ask about the day he arrived.
Do you remember the person who left me at the orphanage? Did they say anything about my parents? Was there something strange about me?
Those questions seemed simple enough when he thought about them, but putting them into a letter made them feel much heavier.
Kael pulled on his shirt and fastened his belt.
"I'll figure out how to say it."
He took his sword and headed downstairs.
The guild's common room was already busy. Several adventurers were eating breakfast, while a pair of men near the counter argued about the payment for a hunting quest. The smell of bread and fried eggs filled the room.
Kael spotted Serena at a table near the window.
She had a bowl of porridge in front of her and was reading a notice she had taken from the quest board. Her red hair was tied back, though several loose strands had fallen beside her face.
She looked up when he approached.
"You're late."
Kael glanced at the window. The sun had barely risen above the rooftops.
"It's still early."
"That's what people who are late usually say."
"You were the one who told me we didn't need to leave early today."
"Exactly. I expected you to sleep longer."
He pulled out the chair opposite her. "So, you wanted me to be late?"
"I wanted to see if you could do something other than wake up before everyone else and swing your sword around."
"I don't swing it around."
Serena raised an eyebrow.
Kael sat down.
"Fine. I practice."
"Much better."
She pushed a second bowl of porridge toward him. Beside it was a piece of bread and a cup of water.
"I ordered too much," she said.
Kael looked at the food, then at her.
"You ordered two servings?"
"Maybe."
"Serena."
"What?"
"You could have just said you bought breakfast for me."
She took another spoonful of porridge. "And ruin my reputation? Absolutely not."
Kael smiled and began eating.
They finished breakfast without rushing. Serena told him about a pair of adventurers who had tried to claim a reward for killing a monster that had actually been taken down by a passing merchant caravan. The guild had checked the remains and refused to pay them, which had apparently led to a loud argument in the reception hall.
"One of them threatened to report the guild to the kingdom," Serena said.
"That sounds serious."
"He also threatened to report the guild master to his mother."
Kael stopped chewing.
"His mother?"
"That's what he said."
"How old was he?"
"Old enough to have a beard, but apparently not old enough to handle being told he was wrong."
Kael laughed, nearly choking on his water.
Serena grinned. "There. You can laugh. I was starting to think the watchtower had stolen that ability from you."
His smile faded a little at the mention of the tower, but he didn't look away.
"I'm fine."
"I know. I wasn't asking because I thought you were going to fall apart."
"Then why?"
"Because you haven't stopped thinking about it since we came back."
Kael considered denying it, but there wasn't much point. Serena had spent enough time with him to notice when something was bothering him.
"I keep remembering the voice," he admitted. "The way it sounded like me."
Serena rested her spoon against the edge of her bowl.
"That was the part I didn't like either."
"It knew I was there before the door opened. Arden said he didn't know what was inside, but I still don't understand why my parents would seal something beneath an abandoned watchtower."
"Maybe the tower wasn't the important part. Maybe they needed somewhere to hide the door."
"That would explain why the guild had reports about people disappearing there."
"Maybe. But we're guessing."
Kael nodded.
He appreciated that about Serena. She was willing to consider possibilities, but she didn't pretend a guess was the same as an answer.
"That's why I'm going to the guild master," he said. "There might be something in those old records that we missed."
"And after that?"
"I'm writing to Sister Maren."
Serena's expression softened.
"About the traveler?"
"Yes. I want to know everything she remembers. Even small things."
"That's a good idea. People often forget that details can matter. Something that seemed unimportant thirty years ago might mean something now."
Kael looked down at his hands.
"I should have asked her more when I was younger."
"You were a child."
"I know, but—"
"Kael."
He looked up.
"You were a child," she repeated. "You didn't know you needed to ask those questions. You had Sister Maren, Anna, Sophia, and the other children. You were busy growing up."
He was quiet for a moment.
"You're right."
"I usually am."
"That confidence must make your life easier."
"It does."
He shook his head, smiling again.
After breakfast, they made their way to the guild master's office.
The man was already at his desk, surrounded by reports. He had a mug of tea beside his elbow and a stack of papers that looked as though it might collapse if someone opened the door too quickly.
When Kael knocked, the guild master glanced up.
"Come in. And close the door behind you."
Kael and Serena entered.
The guild master leaned back in his chair when he saw them. "I assume this isn't about another monster attack."
"Not unless you know something we don't," Serena replied.
"I'd appreciate it if the two of you stopped giving me reasons to expect that sort of thing."
"We'll try," Kael said.
The guild master gave him a doubtful look. "Somehow, I don't believe you."
Kael took the chair in front of the desk while Serena remained standing beside it.
"I wanted to ask about the records you showed us," Kael began. "The ones about the old watchtower and the people who disappeared there."
"What about them?"
"Did you find anything else connected to the symbol? Or the Wardens of the First Seal?"
The guild master's expression changed slightly at the name.
"Why are you asking?"
"Because I don't think the watchtower incident was an isolated event. You've already told us about the strange lights, the missing people, and the monsters with black markings. If those incidents are connected, there might be records somewhere that explain what we're dealing with."
The guild master studied him before reaching for a report.
"You're thinking more carefully than you were when you first came here."
"I've had practice."
"That isn't necessarily a good thing."
He set the report aside and opened a drawer. After searching through several folders, he pulled out a thin, worn notebook.
"I went through some of the older material after you returned from the tower," he said. "Most of it was useless. Reports from frightened villagers, stories about ghosts, and descriptions of strange lights that could have been caused by anything. But I found something."
He placed the notebook on the desk.
Kael leaned forward.
The cover was made of faded brown leather. Its corners had worn away, and several pages were held together by a thin piece of string.
"Where did this come from?" Serena asked.
"An estate sale. The previous owner was a retired clerk who had collected old guild records. He didn't know what he had, and I bought it because I recognized the symbol on one of the pages."
The guild master opened the notebook.
Near the center of the page was a rough drawing of the eye-like mark.
Kael felt a slight tightening in his chest.
The drawing wasn't exact. Its lines were uneven, and the shape surrounding the eye was different from the one he had seen beneath the watchtower. Still, the resemblance was clear.
Serena leaned closer.
"That's it."
"Yes," the guild master said. "And according to the note beside it, this symbol was found on a stone tablet recovered from a ruin somewhere north of the Central Plain."
"How far north?" Kael asked.
"That is the problem. The location wasn't recorded properly. The note mentions a settlement that no longer appears on any modern map. I haven't been able to identify it."
"Does it mention the Wardens?"
The guild master turned the page.
"There is a name here, but the ink has faded. I can make out the word 'Warden.' The rest is difficult to read."
Kael examined the page without touching it.
Beneath the name was a short passage.
Those entrusted with the seals shall not seek the power they guard. Their duty is to watch, preserve, and prevent the return of that which must remain forgotten.
Serena read it twice.
"That sounds less like an adventurer's group and more like an organization guarding something."
"That's what I thought," the guild master replied. "But I don't know what they guarded, how many members they had, or whether they still exist."
Kael's thoughts returned to Arden.
The hooded man had said that Kael's parents were searching for the place where the first Voidborn was born. He had also claimed they were trying to protect the world from something.
Could the Wardens have been involved?
It seemed possible, but Kael was careful not to treat it as proof.
"Does the notebook mention Voidborn?" he asked.
The guild master turned several more pages. "Not in the section about the symbol. There is a damaged entry near the back, but I haven't been able to make sense of it."
He moved the notebook so they could see.
Most of the writing had been damaged by water. Only a few words remained.
…the first Voidborn…
…the second seal…
…should the boundary fail…
The rest was unreadable.
Kael felt the same uncomfortable sensation he had experienced beneath the watchtower.
Not fear exactly, but the feeling that he had come close to something important without being able to see it clearly.
"Have you shown this to anyone else?" he asked.
"No. I don't like spreading rumors when I don't have enough information to support them. If word got out that an ancient organization had been guarding some mysterious power, half the adventurers in the city would start searching every ruin they could find."
"And the other half would try to sell fake maps," Serena added.
"Exactly."
Kael nodded.
He could already imagine people rushing into dangerous places because they thought they might find treasure. Whatever lay behind the door beneath the watchtower, he doubted it was something anyone should approach without understanding it.
"Is there anything else?" he asked.
"One thing." The guild master closed the notebook. "I sent a message to a scholar in the capital. He specializes in old kingdoms and abandoned settlements. If anyone can identify the location mentioned in these notes, he might be able to help."
"When will he reply?"
"That depends on how long it takes the message to reach him and whether he considers my request worth answering."
"So, it could take weeks."
"Or months."
Kael exhaled.
He had hoped for something more immediate, but at least there was now a possible lead.
The guild master watched him for a moment.
"Kael, I need you to understand something. These records don't prove that your parents belonged to the Wardens. They don't prove that the symbol, the creatures, and the watchtower are all part of the same problem."
"I understand."
"Good. Because I don't want you charging into another ruin based on a few old notes."
"I won't go alone."
The guild master narrowed his eyes.
"That wasn't the promise I was looking for."
Serena folded her arms. "I'll make sure he doesn't."
Kael looked at her. "You don't have to make it sound like I'm difficult to manage."
"Then stop making it necessary."
The guild master rubbed his forehead.
"Get out of my office before the two of you give me a headache. I'll let you know if the scholar responds. Until then, continue taking normal quests, and stay away from that tower."
"We will," Kael said.
"And Kael?"
He paused at the door.
"If your hand does anything unusual again, tell me. I don't care if it seems minor. Don't keep information like that to yourself when it might be connected to something dangerous."
For a moment, Kael considered telling him about the words that had appeared on his palm the previous night.
He still wasn't sure why he had hidden them. Perhaps he was worried that saying them aloud would make the situation feel more real. Perhaps he wanted to understand them himself before involving anyone else.
But the guild master had helped them so far, and there was no reason to keep hiding the mark entirely.
"I'll tell you if it happens again," Kael replied.
The guild master held his gaze for a moment before nodding.
"See that you do."
Kael left the office with Serena beside him.
They walked in silence until they reached the main hall.
"You're still holding something back," Serena said.
Kael glanced at her. "What makes you think that?"
"Because you've been staring at the floor for the last twenty steps."
He looked ahead.
"I was thinking."
"You do that a lot."
"I know."
"Is it about the mark?"
Kael stopped beside a window. The morning light fell across the floor, and adventurers passed behind them, carrying weapons and talking about their plans for the day.
He could have lied again.
Instead, he lowered his voice.
"Last night, the mark appeared."
Serena's teasing expression disappeared.
"What happened?"
"It showed words. Just for a few seconds."
"What words?"
Kael looked at his right hand.
"First Seal: Response Detected."
Serena stared at him.
"That's new."
"Yes."
"Did it hurt?"
"No. I felt something strange, but there wasn't any pain."
"Did anything else happen? Did you hear that voice again?"
"No."
She let out a slow breath, clearly relieved by at least one part of his answer.
"Why didn't you tell the guild master?"
Kael had expected the question.
"I don't know what the words mean. I didn't want to make him worry over something I couldn't explain."
"Kael, he already knows about the mark. Telling him what it said isn't going to make the situation worse."
"I know. I should have told him."
"Then tell him next time."
He nodded.
Serena looked at his hand again, as if she expected the symbol to appear on command.
"First Seal," she repeated. "The notebook mentions seals, and now your hand does too."
"That's what bothers me."
"Because it might mean you're connected to whatever your parents were doing?"
"Or it might mean something else entirely." Kael rubbed his palm. "Arden said my parents sealed something beneath the tower. But the words on my hand don't tell us whether I'm part of that seal, whether I'm connected to the person behind the door, or whether the mark is simply reacting to something nearby."
Serena was quiet for a moment.
"You're right. We don't know enough."
"Which means I need to keep looking for answers."
"Carefully."
"Carefully," he agreed.
She gave him a firm look.
"I'm serious. If that mark appears again, you tell me immediately. And if you feel strange, dizzy, or anything like that, we stop whatever we're doing. No pretending you're fine just because you don't want to slow us down."
Kael almost protested.
Then he remembered how often he had pushed himself through exhaustion because he didn't want to appear weak.
"All right."
"Good."
She started walking again.
"And now that we've finished our discussion about mysterious marks and ancient organizations, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"Are you going to spend the entire day staring at old papers, or are we going to do something that pays?"
Kael followed her.
"I thought you liked researching."
"I like getting paid even more."
"Then we should take a quest."
"Finally, something sensible."
They stopped at the quest board. Several new notices had been pinned there, including requests to escort merchants, gather medicinal plants, and hunt ordinary monsters outside the city.
Kael studied the available work.
There was no need to rush toward another dangerous mystery. The guild master had made that clear, and Kael agreed with him. He needed money, experience, and time to think.
He selected a gathering quest for medicinal plants in the hills south of Ironbrook.
Serena read the notice over his shoulder.
"Again? Are you trying to become an herbalist?"
"We need a break from fighting."
"We had a break yesterday."
"And you're still complaining about it?"
"I'm complaining because you picked the quest with the most walking."
"You can choose the next one."
She took the notice from his hand and carried it to the counter.
"That's what I wanted to hear."
The hills south of Ironbrook were quiet compared with the roads leading into the city.
The fields were green, the grass moved gently in the breeze, and the only sounds came from birds in the trees and the occasional cart traveling along the distant road. Farmers had already begun working in the lower fields, where several small houses stood beside narrow streams.
Kael and Serena followed a path between the hills, stopping whenever they found the plants listed on their quest sheet.
The work was simple, but it required patience. Some plants looked almost identical to ordinary weeds, and Serena warned Kael not to pull anything unless he was certain it was the right species.
"That one?" Kael asked, crouching beside a patch of green leaves.
Serena looked over.
"No."
"It matches the drawing."
"Look at the edges."
He leaned closer. The leaves had small teeth along their edges, unlike the plant shown on the sheet.
"You're right."
"That's why you check before pulling."
"What happens if I pick the wrong one?"
"Nothing, unless you accidentally gather something poisonous. Then we have a very unpleasant afternoon."
Kael carefully moved away from the plant.
"Good to know."
They continued searching.
After a while, they found a suitable patch beside a shallow stream. Kael knelt and began cutting the plants with a small knife, keeping the roots intact where the instructions required it. Serena gathered the leaves and placed them in a cloth bag.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The work gave Kael something ordinary to focus on. There were no ancient symbols, no strange voices, and no monsters with black veins. Just plants, sunlight, and the steady sound of water running over stones.
He found that he needed the quiet more than he had realized.
"Can I ask you something?" he said eventually.
Serena glanced at him. "You just did."
"You're impossible."
"I try."
He shook his head. "Why did you become an adventurer?"
She stopped gathering leaves and thought about it.
"That's a surprisingly personal question."
"You don't have to answer."
"No, it's fine." She sat on a flat rock beside the stream. "I grew up in Ironbrook. My father worked with a merchant caravan, and my mother ran a small shop. When I was younger, I thought I'd help her with the shop forever."
"What changed?"
"My father was injured during a trip. Nothing heroic. A wagon overturned, and he got caught beneath it. He survived, but he couldn't travel anymore, and the money he earned disappeared pretty quickly."
Kael sat across from her, listening.
"My mother kept the shop open, but things became difficult. I took whatever work I could find. Carrying supplies, cleaning stables, helping merchants unload wagons. Then a friend of mine introduced me to the guild."
"Was she an adventurer?"
"He. His name was Tomas. He was a Bronze Rank adventurer and thought he could teach anyone to survive outside the city." Serena smiled faintly. "He was a terrible teacher."
"What did he do?"
"He told me that if a monster charged, I should stand my ground."
Kael frowned. "That's not always bad advice."
"It is when the monster is a charging boar and you're holding a wooden practice sword."
Kael laughed.
"He didn't get you killed, did he?"
"No. I ran, fell into a ditch, and spent the next hour listening to him apologize while trying not to laugh."
"That sounds like a good friend."
"He was." Her smile faded a little. "He left Ironbrook about a year ago. Took a job escorting a merchant group farther east. I haven't heard from him since."
"Do you think something happened?"
"I don't know. Merchant caravans sometimes take months to return, especially when they travel through the eastern roads. I'm not going to assume the worst just because I haven't heard anything."
Kael understood that feeling better than he wanted to admit.
"Do you want to find him?"
"Maybe someday. But I have things to do here, and I can't spend every day chasing people who might be halfway across the kingdom."
She looked at him.
"Now it's your turn. Why did you become an adventurer?"
Kael thought about it.
At first, the answer had been simple. He wanted to prove that having no aptitude didn't mean he was useless. He wanted to stand beside Anna and Sophia without feeling that he was being left behind. He wanted to show the people who had laughed at him that he could still become something.
But those reasons no longer explained everything.
"I wanted to prove I could make something of myself," he said. "When I was younger, I thought that if I worked hard enough, I could eventually make everyone stop looking down on me."
"And now?"
"Now I think I was trying too hard to prove something to people who didn't matter."
Serena nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"I still want to get stronger. I want to understand why I had no aptitude when everyone else seemed to have some talent for magic or aura. But I don't want my whole life to be about proving Mike wrong or making other people regret what they said."
"What do you want it to be about?"
Kael looked toward the distant road.
"I want to know where I came from. I want to understand what happened to my parents. And I want to find out why people keep coming after me."
"Those are three rather large goals."
"I know."
"And none of them will be solved by tomorrow."
"I know that too."
Serena picked up the cloth bag and checked the plants inside.
"Then I suppose you'll have to learn some patience."
Kael smiled.
"Is that your way of saying I'm impatient?"
"It's my way of saying you need to stop treating every unanswered question like an emergency."
He considered that.
She was right, at least partly. Ever since meeting Arden, every new clue had felt like something he needed to pursue immediately. Every time he found a connection, he wanted to follow it until he reached the end.
But the more he learned, the more questions appeared.
Perhaps he needed to accept that some answers would take time.
"I'll try," he said.
"Good. Now help me find the rest of these plants. If we don't finish the quest, all this deep conversation will have been a waste of a morning."
They returned to work.
By midday, they had gathered enough plants to fill most of their bags. They stopped beside the stream to eat the food they had brought, sharing bread, dried meat, and a few pieces of fruit.
Kael leaned against a tree and closed his eyes for a moment.
The breeze was cool, and the sun felt warm against his face.
For the first time in several days, he wasn't thinking about the tower.
At least, not until Serena spoke.
"Have you decided what you're going to write to Sister Maren?"
Kael opened his eyes.
"Not yet."
"You should start with the simple questions. Ask what she remembers about the traveler, whether he left anything with you, and whether anyone ever came looking for you."
"That sounds reasonable."
"And don't make it sound like you're accusing her of hiding something."
"I wouldn't."
"I know. But letters can sound harsher than people intend."
Kael reached for his bag and pulled out a small notebook. He had bought it in Ironbrook to record monster behavior, training notes, and anything he learned about the strange symbol.
He opened to a blank page.
"What about this?" he asked. "Sister Maren, I need you to tell me everything you remember about the day I arrived at the orphanage."
Serena tilted her head.
"That sounds like an order."
"Right."
He crossed out the sentence.
"Dear Sister Maren, I hope everyone at the orphanage is doing well. I've been safe so far, and I'm working with another adventurer named Serena. I have some questions about the day I was brought to the orphanage."
He paused.
"That's better," Serena said.
Kael continued writing, asking whether the traveler had given Sister Maren a name, whether he had said anything about Kael's parents, and whether she remembered any unusual details about his appearance or belongings.
He also asked if anyone had visited the orphanage in the years after he was left there, especially someone who seemed interested in him.
When he finished, he read the letter from beginning to end.
It was simple. There was no mention of the mark, the watchtower, or the thing behind the door. He wasn't ready to put those things into a letter, and he didn't want to frighten Sister Maren before he understood more.
He folded the paper and placed it carefully inside his bag.
"I'll send it when we get back," he said.
Serena nodded.
"Good. Now, are you ready to finish the quest?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. Because I'm beginning to regret letting you choose it."
Kael laughed and stood.
They spent another hour searching the hills before gathering the final plants. By the time they returned to Ironbrook, the afternoon sun had begun to sink behind the taller buildings.
They delivered the plants to the guild, collected their payment, and went to a nearby shop that sold writing supplies. Kael bought a proper envelope and a small bottle of ink, then copied his draft into a clean letter.
He took his time with it.
When he was satisfied, he sealed the envelope and wrote the orphanage's address on the front.
Tomorrow, he would find a reliable merchant heading toward Greenwood and ask him to deliver it.
It wasn't much.
A letter couldn't explain the mark on his hand or tell him what waited beneath the watchtower. It couldn't bring his parents back or tell him whether they were still alive.
But it was something he could do.
And for now, that was enough.
That evening, Kael sat on the edge of his bed with his sword across his knees.
He had spent an hour practicing basic movements in the guild's training yard before returning to his room. His arms were tired, and his shoulders ached slightly, but he felt better than he had in the morning.
He cleaned the blade with a cloth, checking the edge for damage.
His new sword was still in good condition. The balance felt more natural every day, and he was beginning to understand how much easier it was to control a weapon that suited him.
His old sword lay beside his bag.
Kael picked it up and turned it in his hands.
The blade was worn, and the grip had been replaced more than once. There were scratches along the metal, some from training and others from the fights he had survived on the road. It wasn't a good weapon anymore, but he remembered every year he had spent carrying it.
He had learned to hold a sword with that weapon.
He had learned to stand up after falling with it.
And he had carried it through the first days of his life as an adventurer.
He set it down carefully.
"I haven't forgotten where I started," he murmured.
A faint tingling spread through his right palm.
Kael froze.
He slowly turned his hand over.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then a thin blue line appeared beneath his skin, beginning at the center of his palm and spreading outward into the shape of the familiar eye-like symbol.
He stood up so quickly that his chair scraped against the floor.
The blue light brightened.
Kael held his hand away from his body, watching as the symbol became clearer. He felt no pain, but the air around him seemed strangely still.
Then the words appeared.
FIRST SEAL: RESPONSE DETECTED.
The same message as the night before.
Kael's heartbeat quickened.
"All right," he whispered. "What are you responding to?"
The symbol remained visible.
He looked around the room, checking the window, the door, and the objects on the table. Nothing seemed out of place. His sword was still where he had left it. The letter to Sister Maren lay inside his bag.
He picked up the old sword and held it in his left hand.
Nothing changed.
He put it down and picked up his new sword.
Still nothing.
The blue light flickered.
For one brief instant, a second line of text appeared beneath the first.
SECOND SEAL: NO RESPONSE.
Kael stopped breathing for a moment.
Then the words vanished.
The symbol faded, leaving his palm completely normal.
He stood in the middle of the room, staring at his hand.
"Second seal?"
He remembered the damaged notebook in the guild master's office. He remembered the voice beneath the tower, the cracked stone door, and Arden's expression when the thing behind it had spoken.
He also remembered the two voices he had imagined, or perhaps heard in a dream, after the mark appeared the previous night.
Then the boy's awakening is only a matter of time.
What happens when the second seal responds?
At the time, he hadn't known whether those words had been real or simply part of a dream. Now he wasn't so sure.
Kael took a slow breath and forced himself to sit down.
He would tell the guild master in the morning. He would tell Serena, too.
He wasn't going to investigate the watchtower alone, and he wasn't going to make a decision based on a message he didn't understand.
But one thing was becoming difficult to ignore.
The mark wasn't simply reacting to the ruins.
It was keeping track of something.
And whatever the first seal was, it had noticed him.
Far from Ironbrook, beneath the abandoned watchtower, the darkness remained undisturbed.
The cracked stone door stood in silence. The blue lines carved into its surface had dimmed, but they had not disappeared. They ran through the stone like thin veins, gathering around the eye-like symbol at its center.
Beyond the door, something moved.
A hand pressed against the other side.
It was impossible to tell whether the hand belonged to a human, a monster, or something that had once been human.
A faint blue light shone between its fingers.
Then a voice spoke.
"The first seal has responded again."
Another voice answered from somewhere deeper in the darkness.
"And the second?"
"Still silent."
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then the second voice asked, "Does the boy know?"
"He knows something is happening. He does not understand what it means."
"Good."
The first voice shifted uneasily.
"You sound pleased."
"I'm not pleased. I'm relieved."
"Why?"
"Because if he understood everything now, he would begin searching for answers. And if he searches in the wrong place, he may find the truth before he is ready."
The hand withdrew from the door.
The blue light faded.
"Arden is watching him," the first voice said.
"Arden is watching what he believes he can protect."
"Can he?"
A quiet laugh came from the darkness, but there was no humor in it.
"That depends on whether the boy makes the same mistake his parents made."
The symbols on the door flickered.
For an instant, another mark appeared beneath the eye. It was smaller than the first and almost completely hidden by the cracks in the stone.
The second voice fell silent.
Then it spoke again, much more softly.
"When the second seal responds, everything will change."
"And the people who buried the truth?"
"They will have to choose."
"Choose what?"
The answer came after a long pause.
"Whether they want the world to remember what they did."
The blue light vanished completely.
Far above them, the abandoned watchtower stood beneath the night sky, looking no different from any other forgotten ruin.
And in Ironbrook, a seventeen-year-old boy slept without knowing that his smallest discovery had reached a place far beyond his understanding.
For now, the second seal remained silent.
But somewhere in the darkness, something was waiting for the day that would change.