Chapter 3: The First Attack
1528 Words
The first enemy stepped through the shattered doorway.
He wore a dark cloak marked with a silver symbol Adrian had never seen before. Behind him stood several armed figures, their faces hidden beneath black masks.
The ancestral hall went silent.
Adrian stared at them.
The stranger looked around the room before his eyes settled on him.
“There he is.”
Adrian's hands tightened into fists.
The stranger smiled.
“The rejected heir.”
Something inside Adrian stirred.
He hated those words.
Rejected.
Heir.
As though both could exist together.
As though the family could throw him away and still expect his blood to belong to them.
Lucian stepped forward.
“You're not taking him.”
The stranger looked at Lucian and laughed.
“So the second heir really did return.”
Lucian's expression hardened.
“You know who I am?”
“We know everything about you.”
The stranger raised his hand.
“Take them both.”
The masked soldiers charged.
Adrian barely had time to react.
One of them swung a sword toward him.
Adrian raised his arm instinctively.
A burst of silver energy exploded from his body.
The attacker was thrown across the hall.
Adrian stared at his own hand.
He hadn't planned that.
He hadn't even known he could do it.
Another attacker rushed toward him.
This time Adrian moved.
He stepped aside, grabbed the man's wrist, and pushed him away.
The silver energy surged again.
The attacker crashed into a stone pillar.
Adrian's breathing became heavier.
“What is happening to me?”
Lucian blocked another attack.
“You're awakening.”
“I noticed!”
Lucian almost smiled.
“Then stop fighting the power.”
Adrian looked at him.
“How?”
“Trust it.”
“That sounds like a terrible plan.”
“It's the only plan you have.”
Another soldier attacked.
Adrian turned.
The world suddenly slowed.
He could see the sword coming toward him.
He could see the movement of the attack before it happened.
He stepped aside.
The blade passed inches from his shoulder.
Adrian grabbed the attacker's arm and struck him across the chest with a burst of silver energy.
The man flew backward.
Adrian froze.
He had never fought like this before.
Something inside him knew what to do.
His body was moving before his mind could understand it.
Across the hall, Lucian was fighting three attackers at once.
Unlike Adrian, he moved with practiced precision.
Every strike was controlled.
Every movement had purpose.
He disarmed one opponent, avoided another, and knocked the third to the ground.
Adrian watched him for a moment.
“You've done this before.”
Lucian glanced at him.
“I've had to.”
Before Adrian could ask another question, the leader stepped forward.
The room suddenly became colder.
He removed his cloak.
A dark mark covered his right hand.
Adrian's silver energy reacted immediately.
The leader noticed.
“So it's true.”
Adrian stared at the mark.
“What is that?”
The man's smile disappeared.
“The mark of the people who know what your family has been hiding.”
He raised his hand.
Dark energy spread across the floor.
Adrian felt the pressure immediately.
His knees nearly buckled.
Lucian grabbed his shoulder.
“Don't let him inside your head.”
Adrian gritted his teeth.
“I wasn't planning to.”
The leader laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
The darkness rushed toward them.
Adrian raised both hands.
Silver light erupted from his body.
The two powers collided.
The entire hall shook.
Windows shattered.
Stone cracked beneath their feet.
Adrian screamed as the pressure increased.
He could feel something pushing against his mind.
Images flashed through his thoughts.
His childhood.
His father's cold expression.
The ceremony.
The rejection.
Then another image appeared.
A woman holding a baby.
Adrian didn't recognize her.
She was crying.
Someone stood behind her.
A man wearing the same dark mark as the attacker.
Adrian's eyes widened.
“Who are you?”
The attacker looked directly at him.
“You finally remember.”
Adrian's breathing stopped.
“I don't remember you.”
“You will.”
The dark energy suddenly disappeared.
Adrian fell to the ground.
Lucian caught him before he hit the floor.
“Adrian!”
Adrian struggled to breathe.
“The woman…”
Lucian looked at him.
“What woman?”
“My mother.”
Lucian went completely still.
Adrian looked up.
“Who was she?”
Before Lucian could answer, their father shouted from across the room.
“Enough!”
Everyone turned.
The head of House Vale stood beside the bloodstone.
His face had lost all color.
He looked at the leader.
“You were supposed to remain hidden.”
The stranger smiled.
“And you were supposed to keep the truth buried.”
Adrian slowly stood.
“What truth?”
His father didn't answer.
Adrian walked toward him.
“What truth?”
The leader interrupted.
“Ask your father why your mother disappeared.”
Adrian stopped.
The room became silent.
“My mother didn't disappear.”
His father looked away.
The leader laughed.
“You still believe everything they told you.”
Adrian felt his anger rising.
“Where is she?”
His father remained silent.
“Where is my mother?”
Nothing.
Adrian's silver energy began to spread across the floor.
The leader stepped backward.
“That anger…”
He smiled.
“That's exactly what we were waiting for.”
Lucian moved between Adrian and the enemy.
“Enough.”
The leader's eyes narrowed.
“You really think you can protect him?”
Lucian drew a short blade.
“I don't think.”
He tightened his grip.
“I know.”
The leader lifted his hand.
Dark energy gathered around his fingers.
Lucian charged.
The two collided.
Their weapons struck.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Lucian was fast, but the leader was stronger.
The leader struck him across the chest.
Lucian fell backward.
“Lucian!”
Adrian rushed forward.
The leader raised his hand toward Lucian.
Adrian's body moved before he could think.
A wall of silver light appeared between them.
The dark attack hit the barrier and exploded.
The force sent Adrian flying backward.
He crashed against the stone floor.
Pain shot through his body.
For several seconds, he couldn't move.
Then he heard a voice.
Not Lucian.
Not his father.
Something inside him.
Rise.
Adrian opened his eyes.
Silver light surrounded him.
The cracks in the bloodstone behind him began spreading.
Rise.
He slowly stood.
The enemy leader stared at him.
For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.
“No…”
Adrian looked at him.
“What?”
The man's voice trembled.
“The prophecy was wrong.”
Adrian took one step forward.
“What prophecy?”
The man backed away.
“You weren't supposed to awaken yet.”
Adrian took another step.
“Answer me.”
The silver light around him intensified.
The leader turned toward the remaining soldiers.
“Retreat!”
The soldiers immediately began pulling back.
Adrian stared at them.
“You came here for me.”
The leader stopped at the doorway.
“We came to make sure you never became what you're becoming.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“And what am I becoming?”
The leader looked at him.
Then he said something that made everyone in the room freeze.
“The king who will destroy this world.”
He disappeared into the darkness.
The remaining attackers fled behind him.
Silence returned to the hall.
Adrian stood motionless.
The words repeated inside his mind.
The king who will destroy this world.
He turned toward his father.
“You knew.”
His father looked at him.
Adrian's voice was quiet.
“You knew about my mother.”
No answer.
“You knew about the prophecy.”
Still nothing.
“You knew what my power was.”
His father finally spoke.
“We were trying to protect you.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Protect me?”
He looked around the destroyed hall.
“You rejected me.”
His voice cracked.
“You lied to me.”
He pointed toward Lucian.
“You hid my brother from me.”
Then he looked directly at his father.
“And you kept my mother a secret.”
His father lowered his head.
Adrian's anger began turning into something colder.
“I don't want your protection anymore.”
He walked toward the doors.
Lucian followed.
Adrian stopped.
“You don't have to come with me.”
Lucian looked at him.
“I know.”
“Then why are you following?”
Lucian looked back at the ruined ancestral hall.
“Because whatever is coming for you will eventually come for me too.”
Adrian said nothing.
Together, the two brothers stepped into the rain.
Behind them, the Vale estate remained silent.
But deep beneath the ancestral hall, something ancient had awakened.
And somewhere far beyond the kingdom, the man who had sent the attackers received a message.
The rejected heir has awakened.
The man stared at the words.
Then he smiled.
“Good.”
He turned toward the dark window.
“Now we can begin.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD