The First Awakening
Chapter 2
The First Awakening
Kael ran through the forest without looking back.
Rain struck his face like tiny stones, and the muddy ground slipped beneath his boots. Behind him came the sound of branches breaking, followed by deep, unnatural growls.
“Faster!” Aeris shouted.
“I am going as fast as I can!”
“You will have to go faster!”
Kael glanced over his shoulder.
Several creatures were moving between the trees.
They were tall, thin, and completely covered in black smoke. Their eyes burned red, and their hands ended in long, curved claws. They moved far too quickly for anything human.
Kael's heart pounded.
“What are those things?”
“Shadowborn,” Aeris replied.
“And why are they chasing me?”
“Because of what happened at the stone.”
Kael remembered the vision.
The burning city.
The silver-haired woman.
The gigantic eye in the sky.
And the words she had whispered.
You are the last Keeper.
Kael didn't understand any of it.
He had spent his entire life believing he was ordinary. Now monsters were chasing him through a forbidden forest, a magical fox was talking to him, and a mysterious woman from a five-hundred-year-old vision seemed to know his name.
Nothing made sense.
Suddenly, a Shadowborn jumped from the trees.
Kael screamed and fell backward.
The creature raised its claw.
Aeris leaped toward it, but the monster struck him away.
“Aeris!”
The fox crashed against a tree.
Kael tried to stand, but his legs refused to move.
The Shadowborn slowly approached.
Its red eyes stared directly into his soul.
Kael lifted his hands instinctively.
“Stay away!”
The creature attacked.
At that exact moment, the mark on Kael's palm began to glow.
A tiny golden circle appeared beneath his skin.
Then another circle formed around it.
The symbol looked like an eclipse.
Kael felt something enormous awaken inside his chest.
His fear suddenly disappeared.
The world became silent.
Even the rain seemed to stop.
A voice whispered inside his mind.
Open the gate.
Kael didn't know whose voice it was.
But he obeyed.
He opened his hand.
Darkness exploded from his palm.
A wave of golden-black energy swept across the forest.
The Shadowborn was thrown backward with tremendous force. It slammed into an ancient tree, and its body dissolved into smoke.
Kael stared at his hand.
The glowing symbol slowly disappeared.
“What... was that?”
Aeris slowly stood.
His fur was covered in mud.
“That,” he said quietly, “was magic.”
Kael looked at him.
“I know it was magic. What kind?”
Aeris hesitated.
“Void.”
Kael frowned.
“Void magic?”
“Yes.”
“But Void magic is supposed to be dark.”
Aeris walked closer.
“Ordinary Void magic is dark. Yours is different.”
“How?”
“Because it carries light.”
Kael didn't understand.
Aeris looked deeply into his eyes.
“The Eclipse.”
Before Kael could ask another question, a sharp sound cut through the forest.
Whoosh!
A silver arrow flew between Kael and Aeris.
It struck a Shadowborn hiding behind a tree.
The creature screamed and disappeared into black smoke.
Kael turned.
A figure stood on a rocky hill.
A young woman.
She wore a dark traveling cloak covered with silver symbols. Long silver hair moved in the wind, and her violet eyes seemed to glow beneath the storm clouds.
Kael recognized her instantly.
His breath caught.
It was the woman from his vision.
The woman walked toward him slowly.
“You shouldn't have awakened.”
Kael stepped backward.
“You.”
She stopped.
“You remember me?”
“I saw you.”
“In the vision?”
Kael nodded.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at him for several seconds.
“My name is Elara Veyne.”
Aeris suddenly became tense.
“Elara.”
She looked at the magical fox.
“You're still alive.”
Aeris gave a bitter smile.
“Apparently.”
Kael looked between them.
“You two know each other?”
“Unfortunately,” Aeris replied.
Elara ignored him.
“Kael, we don't have much time.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The moment you touched the Stone of Memories, every powerful mage in the world felt your awakening.”
Kael's expression changed.
“Why?”
“Because the Eclipse Mark hasn't appeared for five hundred years.”
Kael looked at his palm.
“What happened five hundred years ago?”
Elara's face became serious.
“The Great War.”
Thunder exploded above them.
Elara continued.
“Five hundred years ago, the five magical kingdoms were united under a single alliance. Flame, Frost, Storm, Life, and Void magic existed in balance.”
“What changed?”
“One man wanted more.”
“Who?”
Elara's eyes darkened.
“Lord Malric.”
The name seemed to make the forest colder.
Kael swallowed.
“What did he do?”
“He discovered an ancient spell that could steal magical energy from other people.”
Aeris interrupted.
“And he used it to become something more than human.”
Elara nodded.
“Millions died.”
Kael stared at her.
“And how was he stopped?”
“He wasn't.”
Silence filled the forest.
Kael's eyes widened.
“Then where is he?”
Elara looked toward the mountains.
“Waiting.”
A distant roar echoed across the valley.
The ground trembled.
Birds suddenly flew from the trees.
Elara immediately grabbed Kael's arm.
“We have to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows you're awake.”
Kael pulled his arm away.
“I don't even know what I am!”
“You're the last Keeper.”
“I don't want to be a Keeper!”
Elara stared at him.
“Neither did the people who came before you.”
Kael's anger faded.
“Who were they?”
Elara looked away.
“They were my family.”
Kael noticed something in her expression.
Pain.
Deep, ancient pain.
Before he could ask another question, a black cloud appeared above the forest.
Lightning flashed inside it.
A voice rolled across the sky.
“Kael Rowan.”
Kael froze.
The voice continued.
“I have been searching for you for five hundred years.”
Aeris's three tails stood straight.
Elara drew her sword.
“Don't listen to him.”
The voice laughed.
“You cannot hide the Keeper from me, Elara.”
Kael looked at her.
“How does he know your name?”
Elara tightened her grip on the sword.
“Because I was there the last time he tried to destroy the world.”
The black clouds began descending.
Elara grabbed Kael's hand.
“Run.”
This time, Kael didn't argue.
He ran beside her.
Behind them, the forest disappeared beneath a wave of darkness.
And somewhere beyond the mountains, inside a fortress built from black stone, a man opened his eyes.
Lord Malric smiled.
“The Keeper has returned.”
He slowly rose from his throne.
“Now the real war can begin.”
