The Last Keeper of Magic

Chapter 18: The Forgotten Creator

The voice remained inside Arin's mind.

"Why did you abandon me?"

Arin couldn't move.

The battlefield had disappeared.

The armies.

The mountains.

The First King.

Even his friends.

Everything became silent.

Only that voice remained.

My Creator.

Arin closed his eyes.

"I don't know you."

The voice answered immediately.

"You knew me before you knew yourself."

A golden crack appeared across the darkness inside his mind.

Memories began falling through it.

A palace.

A garden.

Three children.

Arin.

Auren.

Luna.

And Queen Elara standing before something enormous.

A creature made entirely of light.

It had no face.

No body.

Only two enormous silver eyes.

Elara was crying.

"Arin, don't."

Young Arin looked at the creature.

"Mother, why is it afraid?"

"Because you created it."

The memory changed.

Arin saw himself as a child holding out his tiny hand.

A small spark of golden light appeared.

The spark grew.

It became a living creature.

The same creature that now spoke inside his mind.

Arin opened his eyes.

"What..."

Auren rushed toward him.

"Arin!"

Arin looked around.

The battlefield had returned.

Everyone was standing still.

The First King was watching him.

And beneath the cracked ground, an enormous silver eye had opened.

Luna whispered,

"It remembers you."

Arin stared at her.

"I created that thing?"

Luna nodded.

"Not the way you think."

The First King laughed.

"Finally."

Arin turned toward him.

"What does that mean?"

The First King spread his arms.

"It means the truth your mother buried has finally returned."

Auren stepped forward.

"You said Arin was only the vessel."

"I was wrong."

The First King looked toward the enormous eye.

"He was never the vessel."

He pointed at Arin.

"He was the Creator."

Silence.

Kael looked at Arin.

"Then what was the Golden Core?"

The First King smiled.

"A prison."

Arin's eyes widened.

"The Golden Core wasn't created to contain you."

"No."

The First King looked at Luna.

"It was created to contain what he created."

A deep roar came from beneath the earth.

The First Realm began collapsing.

Mountains broke apart.

Ancient towers fell.

The sky turned silver.

Arin's Creation power surged out of control.

Golden light spread from his body.

Everywhere it touched, broken stones repaired themselves.

Trees grew from dead soil.

Ruined buildings rebuilt themselves.

But something else happened.

The ancient statues transformed.

Some became living warriors.

Others became creatures of light.

Arin stared in horror.

"I can't stop it."

Luna grabbed his hand.

"You don't have to stop Creation."

"Then what do I do?"

"Guide it."

Arin closed his eyes.

He felt millions of possibilities moving through his mind.

He could create mountains.

Oceans.

Weapons.

Cities.

Even life.

But he also felt something darker.

Every creation demanded a choice.

Every choice changed the world.

If he lost control, the Seven Realms could be rewritten completely.

Auren shouted,

"Arin!"

Arin opened his eyes.

The First King was approaching Luna.

Arin instantly raised his hand.

A wall of golden light appeared between them.

The First King stopped.

"You still protect her."

"She's my sister."

The First King smiled.

"That's exactly why she is dangerous."

Luna stepped forward.

"I know what you want."

The First King looked at her.

"Then say it."

"You want me to open the Final Gate."

"Yes."

"And you believe the First Creation will obey you."

The First King laughed.

"No."

His expression became serious.

"I want it to obey Arin."

Arin's face hardened.

"Why?"

"Because only its Creator can control it."

The First King pointed beneath them.

"If you command it, the Seven Realms survive."

He paused.

"If you refuse..."

The ground cracked again.

"...they will be rewritten."

Arin looked toward his friends.

Kael was surrounded by shadow energy.

Darius held his sword tightly.

Lyra was watching the sky.

Seraphine stood beside Auren.

None of them spoke.

Then Arin heard the ancient voice again.

"Create."

He shook his head.

"No."

"Destroy."

"No."

"Choose."

Arin opened his eyes.

"That's what I'll do."

The First King frowned.

"What?"

Arin raised his hand.

"I choose."

The seven Guardian symbols appeared around him.

Kael's shadow symbol moved first.

Then Lyra's.

Darius's.

Seraphine's.

The remaining symbols followed.

The eighth silver symbol appeared above Luna.

Eight lights connected.

A massive circle formed around the First Realm.

The First King stepped backward.

"What are you doing?"

Arin answered calmly.

"Creating a new seal."

The First King shouted,

"You cannot!"

"I can."

Golden light exploded from Arin.

The entire battlefield became white.

The First Creation rose from beneath the earth.

It was enormous.

Its body filled the sky.

Its silver eyes looked directly at Arin.

"Creator."

Arin stared at it.

"I didn't abandon you."

The creature remained silent.

"I didn't know you existed."

The First Creation slowly lowered its head.

"Your mother erased your memory."

Arin looked at Luna.

She nodded.

"Mother was afraid that if you remembered creating the First Creation, you would try to find it."

"Why?"

Luna's voice became quiet.

"Because she knew you would love it."

Arin looked back at the creature.

For a moment, he felt something unexpected.

Not fear.

Recognition.

The creature wasn't evil.

It had simply been abandoned.

The First King suddenly attacked.

A massive black spear flew toward Arin.

Kael appeared in front of him.

Shadow energy swallowed the spear.

Kael fell to one knee.

"Go!"

Arin caught him.

"Kael!"

"I'm fine."

The First King attacked again.

This time Auren blocked him.

The two brothers fought side by side.

Fire.

Shadow.

Golden light.

Creation.

The First King was forced backward.

But he smiled.

"You still don't understand."

Arin looked at him.

"What?"

"I never needed to defeat you."

The First King raised his hand.

The silver crown behind him shattered.

A hidden symbol appeared beneath it.

The same symbol that had been carved on the Final Gate.

Luna's face turned pale.

"He's carrying a piece of the seal."

Arin understood.

"The seal was never only beneath the First Realm."

"No."

Luna looked at the First King.

"One piece has always been inside him."

The First King smiled.

"And now I can open it."

He drove his hand into his own chest.

Black and silver energy erupted.

The Final Gate beneath the First Realm began opening.

Auren shouted,

"Stop him!"

Everyone attacked.

But the gate was already moving.

A massive circular doorway appeared beneath the ground.

Beyond it was endless darkness.

Then a light appeared in the center.

A single golden light.

Arin stared.

He recognized it.

It was the same light he had created as a child.

The First Creation looked toward the gate.

"The Beginning is calling."

Arin stepped forward.

"What is behind it?"

The First Creation answered:

"Your first creation."

Arin's heart stopped.

"Another one?"

The creature nodded.

"The one your mother could not destroy."

Luna whispered,

"Arin..."

The Final Gate opened wider.

Something moved beyond it.

The First King laughed.

"Now you finally understand."

Arin looked into the darkness.

A pair of enormous golden eyes opened.

Then a voice came from beyond the gate.

A voice that sounded exactly like Arin.

"Welcome home, brother."

Arin froze.

Auren stared at the gate.

"That voice..."

Luna stepped backward.

"No."

The darkness moved.

A figure slowly walked through the Final Gate.

Silver hair.

Golden eyes.

A face almost identical to Arin's.

But older.

Much older.

The figure smiled.

"I have been waiting for you."

Arin could barely speak.

"Who are you?"

The figure answered:

"I am the first version of you."

The First King lowered his head.

The First Creation became completely silent.

And Luna whispered the truth that had been hidden for years:

"Mother didn't erase one memory."

She looked at Arin.

"She erased an entire life."

The stranger smiled.

"And now..."

He opened his hand.

"...I have come to take it back."

The Final Gate exploded open.

And the war for the true origin of Creation began.

To be continued...