Chapter 8: The Betrayer's Truth
1276 Words
The city of Aeralis shimmered like a jewel set in stone. Nestled between jagged cliffs and the azure sea, it was a place of contradictions—beauty and danger woven together like silk and wire. Ships with silver sails docked in its vast harbors. Spires pierced the clouds. And yet, the shadows between its white-washed walls crawled with spies, smugglers, and secrets.
Kaelin’s hood was drawn low as he and Ren entered through the eastern gate under the guise of traveling scholars. The guards barely glanced at them. Too many passed through Aeralis to care about one more masked wanderer and a sullen apprentice.
Ren kept close. “I thought you said your friend lived here. This looks more like a viper’s nest.”
Kaelin smirked under his hood. “Exactly where he feels at home.”
They made their way through winding streets until they reached an aging tower overlooking the sea. It leaned slightly to one side, its walls cracked, yet it pulsed with protective wards—wards Kaelin had once helped forge.
He raised his hand and knocked three times. A pause. Then a slot in the iron door creaked open, revealing two violet eyes rimmed with gold. The voice behind them dripped with sarcasm.
“By the flames, I must be dying. Is that you, Kaelin?”
Kaelin tilted his head. “Miss me, Corven?”
The door swung wide.
Corven stood barefoot in silk robes stained with ink and old wine. His raven-black hair spilled past his shoulders, and a chain of golden rings lined one ear. A single tattoo—three interlocking flames—burned faintly on his collarbone.
Kaelin stepped inside, Ren on his heels. The door slammed shut behind them with a magical hum.
Corven circled Kaelin like a cat inspecting a ghost.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
“So are you.”
Corven grinned. “I faked it better.”
Kaelin said nothing.
Corven’s smile faded. “You came for a reason. Not to reminisce.”
Kaelin nodded. “You’ve felt the stirrings. You know what’s coming.”
Corven poured himself a glass of dark wine and sat in a chair suspended by chains. “I’ve heard whispers. Old magic. Fallen temples. You rising from the grave. But I also hear of a general moving in the west. One with a familiar mask and a familiar cruelty.”
Kaelin’s voice was low. “You trained beside him. You know his mind.”
Corven’s eyes flicked toward Ren. “And who’s the child?”
“I’m right here,” Ren muttered. “And not a child.”
Corven snorted. “You bring an apprentice while chasing phantoms. How unlike you.”
“He learns quickly. He’ll need to.”
Corven leaned forward, fingers steepled. “So. You want to know what the General plans. But that means speaking of the day the Masters fell.”
Ren perked up. “You were there?”
Corven’s eyes lost focus for a moment. Then he stood, crossing to a chest set against the wall. From it, he retrieved a metal box sealed with four locks—each one etched with a different elemental rune.
“I kept this buried. Thought it would rot with my shame.”
He unlocked the seals one by one. Inside, a scroll of black parchment lay curled around a stone medallion shaped like a twisted sun.
Kaelin’s jaw tightened. “You kept it?”
“I couldn’t destroy it,” Corven murmured. “Even after the betrayal.”
Ren leaned forward. “What is it?”
Kaelin answered, voice like ice. “The Command Seal of Master Varyn. The first to fall.”
Ren blinked. “Wait… you mean—?”
Corven spoke over him. “Yes. Varyn—the Master of the Dark Flame. The one who betrayed us all. He wasn’t corrupted by the Dominion. He was the seed of it.”
Kaelin’s eyes burned. “He turned while we trusted him. While we trained beside him.”
Corven looked directly at Kaelin. “And we let him. Because we were fools.”
A long silence passed.
Kaelin finally asked, “What do you know of the General?”
Corven turned to the scroll and unrolled it slowly. Runes glowed faintly, flickering as if in pain.
“The Dominion thinks they control him. But they don’t. The Masked General isn’t just a commander—he’s a vessel. Something older dwells in him now. Something born of shadow and fire. The Dominion call it a God-Ember.”
Kaelin frowned. “A what?”
“A shard of an ancient entity. Not quite a god. Not quite mortal. Long ago, the Masters sealed the embers deep within the core of the world. But now… someone’s breaking the seals.”
Ren paled. “Why?”
“To raise them again,” Corven said. “To bring fire upon the world and forge a new empire of ash.”
Kaelin stood, fists clenched. “Then the General’s next move is to awaken another ember.”
Corven nodded. “There’s a temple in the north. Beneath the Glacier of Mourning. It houses one of the final locks. If he breaks it, the God-Ember will awaken fully… and no one will be able to stop him.”
Ren frowned. “Then we have to get there first.”
Kaelin agreed. “How long to reach it?”
Corven looked out his window. “Aeralis is the last safe harbor before the north. After this, you’ll be hunted.”
Kaelin moved to the door. “We already are.”
Corven reached out. “Wait.”
Kaelin turned, gaze hard.
Corven pulled a pendant from around his neck—an amulet shaped like a crescent moon, cracked in the center.
“This belonged to her.”
Kaelin stared at it. “Seryn…”
Ren looked between them. “Who’s Seryn?”
Kaelin’s voice was distant. “A Master. The last one to fall.”
Corven whispered, “She died because I failed her. I watched her stand against the Dominion alone. And I ran.”
Kaelin took the amulet, his grip trembling. “She forgave you.”
Corven met his eyes. “Did you?”
Kaelin didn’t answer.
That night, they stayed in silence. Corven offered them a safe room below the tower, sealed with a silence ward. But Kaelin barely slept. The amulet pulsed in his hand, echoing memories of fire and sacrifice.
He remembered Seryn’s final words—her blade wreathed in violet light, her face covered in blood.
“Live long enough to see the world mend, Kael.”
But the world was not mended. It bled deeper now.
And time was running short.
At dawn, Kaelin and Ren prepared to leave. Corven stood at the tower’s threshold, arms crossed.
“If I come after you,” he said, “don’t be surprised.”
Kaelin raised a brow. “You planning to change sides again?”
Corven smirked, then grew solemn. “No. But when the final ember rises… even friends may burn each other.”
Kaelin nodded. “If that day comes, I’ll remember you gave us this chance.”
Corven looked at Ren. “You keep him grounded, boy.”
“I’m not a—” Ren started, then sighed. “Fine. Sure.”
Kaelin and Ren left as the sun broke over the sea. The city came alive behind them, and with it, the eyes of those who watched from the shadows.
Because Kaelin’s return was no longer a rumor.
It was a threat.
And the Dominion would not let it go unanswered
- Writer
