BEYOND THE NORTHERN FOREST

CHAPTER FOUR:THE FIRST AWAKENING

THE FIRST AWAKENING

Lucan did not sleep that night.

He sat on the edge of his narrow bed, staring at the mark on his arm.

Seven symbols.

One mark.

The room was dark except for the pale moonlight coming through the window.

Every few minutes, he pulled his sleeve over the mark.

Then he pulled it back.

Nothing changed.

It was still there.

A strange symbol unlike anything he had ever seen.

A symbol that shouldn't exist.

Lucan slowly traced the air above it with his finger without actually touching his skin.

He could still remember what Lady Seris had said.

"No one can carry all seven."

Yet somehow, he did.

Or at least, something inside him did.

He didn't understand why.

He didn't understand how.

And he certainly didn't understand why the seven symbols had merged into one.

But one question kept returning to him.

Levi.

His brother had disappeared three months ago.

No body.

No blood.

No tracks.

Nothing.

Just gone.

And now Lucan had discovered that Levi had once visited Duke Arven's estate.

He had possessed a strange pendant bearing one of the Seven Curse symbols.

And Lady Seris knew his name.

Too many things were connected.

Lucan stood and walked to the small wooden table beside his bed.

The pendant lay there.

He picked it up.

The dark stone hanging from the silver chain felt strangely warm.

He turned it over.

The symbol on the back stared at him.

A circle.

Three sharp lines.

The same symbol he had seen on the carriage.

The same symbol that had reacted when he touched it.

Lucan closed his fist around the pendant.

"Where did you go, Levi?"

The room gave him no answer.

He looked toward the window.

The estate was quiet.

Most of the lights had gone out.

Only a few torches remained burning along the walls.

Lucan had spent three months asking the same question.

Where was Levi?

For the first time, he felt as though he might actually be close to an answer.

And that frightened him more than not knowing.

He placed the pendant back on the table.

Then he lay down.

He closed his eyes.

Five minutes later, he opened them again.

Sleep was impossible.

Eventually, exhaustion won.

But just before he fell asleep, something strange happened.

The mark on his arm flickered.

Once.

A tiny spark of light.

Then darkness.

Lucan didn't see it.

---

Morning came with the sound of bells.

Lucan woke immediately.

He sat upright.

For a moment, he couldn't remember where he was.

Then he saw the wooden walls.

The small table.

The pendant.

The mark on his arm.

Everything returned.

He reached for the pendant.

It was cold.

Completely cold.

Lucan frowned.

He had been certain it was warm before.

He slipped it beneath his shirt.

Then someone knocked.

"Lucan."

Lady Seris.

He stood.

"Come in."

The door opened.

Seris entered.

She looked exactly as she had the day before, but there was something different about her expression.

She looked tired.

Lucan noticed immediately.

"You didn't sleep either."

Seris raised an eyebrow.

"Neither did you."

"No."

She glanced at his arm.

"How does the mark feel?"

"Normal."

"Any pain?"

"No."

"Heat?"

"No."

"Movement?"

Lucan hesitated.

"It flickered."

Seris became serious.

"When?"

"Last night."

"How long?"

"Less than a second."

"Did you feel anything?"

"Not really."

Seris nodded slowly.

"That's good."

Lucan frowned.

"Why?"

"Because if the mark had remained active, it might have meant one of the Curses was trying to awaken."

Lucan looked down.

"Can that happen?"

"Yes."

"How?"

Seris walked toward the window.

"Usually, a Curse awakens when its bearer encounters something connected to its nature."

Lucan thought about it.

"Like what?"

"Fear."

She turned.

"Anger. Survival. A powerful magical presence. Sometimes emotional trauma."

Lucan's expression darkened.

"So I could activate one without meaning to?"

"Yes."

"Which one?"

Seris didn't answer immediately.

"That's what we're going to find out."

Lucan looked at her.

"You said yesterday that you didn't understand what was inside me."

"I don't."

"Then how are you going to find out?"

Seris smiled slightly.

"Carefully."

---

The training yard was already busy when they arrived.

Soldiers were practicing with swords.

Others were training with bows.

The sound of metal striking metal echoed across the courtyard.

Duke Arven stood near the edge of the yard, speaking with Captain Daren.

When Lucan approached, the duke looked at him.

"How are you?"

"Fine."

Arven's eyes moved to Seris.

"Did it happen?"

"Not yet."

"Good."

Lucan frowned.

"Did what happen?"

Neither answered.

He looked between them.

"I hate when people do that."

Duke Arven almost smiled.

"Then perhaps you should stop asking questions you aren't prepared to hear answers to."

"I'm prepared."

Seris stepped forward.

"Then prove it."

She pointed toward the center of the training yard.

Lucan walked forward.

The soldiers began watching.

He could feel their eyes on him.

He stopped.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing."

Lucan blinked.

"Nothing?"

"Exactly."

Seris stood several steps away.

"I want you to relax."

"I'm relaxed."

"You look like you're preparing to fight an army."

Lucan glanced at his sword.

"I like being prepared."

Seris shook her head.

"Close your eyes."

Lucan did.

"Take a breath."

He breathed in.

"Again."

He breathed in.

"Now listen."

Lucan heard the sounds of the estate.

Footsteps.

Metal.

Horses.

Voices.

Birds.

The wind.

Then something else.

A faint pulse.

Thump.

His heart.

Thump.

The mark.

Lucan opened his eyes.

"Did you feel that?"

Seris nodded.

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"Your Curse."

Lucan looked at his arm.

The mark wasn't glowing.

Yet he could feel something beneath it.

A presence.

Not a voice.

Not a person.

Something more like an instinct.

Seris approached.

"Don't fight it."

Lucan looked at her.

"How do I control it?"

"You don't."

"What?"

"You can't control something you don't understand."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Listen to it."

Lucan frowned.

"That makes no sense."

"It will."

She stepped backward.

"Again."

Lucan closed his eyes.

He breathed.

The pulse returned.

Thump.

Something moved beneath his skin.

A tiny spark crossed his palm.

Lucan opened his eyes.

A small flash of electricity jumped between his fingers.

He stared at it.

Seris's expression changed.

"Thunder."

Lucan looked at her.

"What?"

"The Thunder Curse."

He looked at the spark.

"That's mine?"

"No."

Seris's eyes narrowed.

"That's ours."

Lucan's confusion deepened.

"What?"

Seris pulled back her sleeve.

A symbol appeared on her wrist.

A lightning bolt surrounded by a broken circle.

The mark began glowing.

The air around her changed.

Static filled the yard.

Lucan stared.

"You're a bearer."

"I told you yesterday."

"I thought you meant—"

Lightning flashed across her arm.

Seris's eyes became bright.

"I am the bearer of the Thunder Curse."

The soldiers stepped farther away.

Lucan had seen her power before.

But seeing it now was different.

She wasn't hiding it.

Electricity flowed around her like thin ribbons of light.

Her hair lifted slightly from the static.

Lucan's mark responded.

A spark jumped from his arm.

Seris noticed.

"That's why your mark reacted when I arrived."

Lucan stared at her.

"So the Thunder Curse is responding to you?"

"Perhaps."

"Or to itself."

Seris didn't answer.

Lucan suddenly felt something inside him pushing forward.

His breathing became faster.

The mark burned.

"Seris."

She immediately recognized the change.

"Stay calm."

"I'm trying."

"Don't resist."

The electricity around Lucan's body increased.

Small sparks danced across his shoulders.

The soldiers backed away.

Duke Arven shouted:

"Everyone out of the yard!"

The soldiers moved.

Lucan looked around.

"I can't stop it."

Seris stepped toward him.

"Look at me."

He did.

"Control your breathing."

"I'm breathing."

"Slower."

Lucan inhaled.

The electricity intensified.

He exhaled.

It flickered.

Seris smiled.

"Good."

Lucan breathed again.

For a moment, the power seemed to settle.

Then someone shouted from behind the wall.

A horse screamed.

Lucan turned instinctively.

A stable worker had dropped a metal bucket.

The sound echoed across the yard.

Something inside Lucan snapped.

The mark exploded with light.

Lightning erupted from his body.

The ground cracked beneath his feet.

Lucan shouted.

Seris's eyes widened.

"Everyone back!"

A bolt shot toward the sky.

Clouds began forming overhead.

The morning sun disappeared.

Darkness spread across the estate.

Thunder rolled.

Lucan looked up.

"I didn't do that."

Seris stared at him.

"You did."

Another bolt struck the ground beside him.

Lucan stumbled backward.

"I can't control it!"

Seris raised her hand.

"Then I'll stop you."

Lightning wrapped around her arm.

Lucan looked at her.

"You said you wanted me to awaken it!"

"I didn't expect this!"

The sky flashed.

Lucan disappeared.

For half a second.

Then—

BOOM!

He reappeared twenty meters away.

Everyone stared.

Lucan looked at his hands.

"What just happened?"

Seris's expression was shocked.

"Thunder Step."

Lucan frowned.

"What?"

"You moved through lightning."

"I didn't mean to."

"I know."

Another flash.

Lucan vanished again.

Seris moved.

Thunder Step.

She appeared beside him.

"Lucan!"

He turned.

Lightning exploded between them.

Seris blocked it with her own power.

The impact pushed her backward.

Lucan stared.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize."

She planted her feet.

"Focus."

"I can't!"

"You can."

The storm grew darker.

Rain began falling.

Lucan's body was surrounded by electricity.

His heart pounded.

His emotions were rising.

Fear.

Confusion.

Anger.

And beneath all of it—

Levi.

He thought about his brother.

The day Levi left.

The way he had smiled.

The way he had promised to return.

The empty doorway.

The empty chair.

The silence.

Lucan's anger exploded.

Lightning covered his entire body.

Seris's eyes widened.

"Lucan!"

He screamed.

The sky answered.

A massive thunderclap shook the estate.

HEAVEN'S ROAR.

The shockwave tore across the courtyard.

Soldiers dropped to their knees.

Windows rattled.

Horses panicked.

Duke Arven raised his arm to protect his face.

Seris remained standing.

Barely.

She looked at Lucan.

He was surrounded by lightning.

But something was wrong.

The electricity wasn't normal.

It was dark.

Almost black.

Seris's eyes narrowed.

"That isn't possible."

Duke Arven heard her.

"What?"

She didn't answer.

Lucan's lightning struck the ground.

The stone beneath his feet cracked.

Then frost appeared.

Seris froze.

A thin layer of ice spread across the courtyard.

"What?"

The Thunder power was still active.

But now another Curse was reacting.

The Frost.

Lucan's mark changed.

The Thunder symbol separated from the merged shape.

Then Frost appeared beside it.

Seris stepped backward.

"No."

Lucan looked at his arm.

"What is happening?"

Ice crawled up his boots.

He tried to move.

It followed him.

Then something else happened.

A faint red glow appeared beneath his skin.

Blood.

Seris's face went pale.

"Lucan, stop."

"I don't know how!"

"Think of something else."

"I'm trying!"

The red glow intensified.

A drop of blood rose from a small cut on his hand.

It floated.

Lucan stared at it.

"What..."

The drop moved around his fingers.

Seris whispered:

"Blood Dominion."

Lucan looked terrified.

The drop suddenly hardened into a tiny blade.

It fell.

At the same time, the air around Lucan became unnaturally quiet.

The mark changed again.

The Void.

Seris immediately stepped forward.

"Everyone leave!"

Duke Arven looked at her.

"Seris—"

"NOW!"

The remaining soldiers ran.

Lucan could barely hear them.

His body felt like it was tearing apart.

Seven powers.

Seven instincts.

He couldn't understand any of them.

Thunder wanted movement.

Frost wanted stillness.

Blood wanted control.

Void wanted silence.

Decay whispered beneath them.

Dominion pushed outward.

Ascension changed constantly.

Lucan fell to his knees.

"I can't..."

Seris approached.

"Lucan."

"I can't control it."

"You don't need to control all seven."

Lucan looked at her.

"Then what do I do?"

"Control yourself."

He remembered Levi.

Don't rush.

Pay attention.

Lucan closed his eyes.

The storm continued.

Seris stood in front of him.

She activated her own Curse.

Lightning covered her body.

"Look at me."

Lucan opened his eyes.

"You're not the storm."

She took another step.

"You're not the Frost."

Another.

"You're not the Blood."

Another.

"You're not the Void."

Lucan's breathing slowed.

"You are Lucan."

The powers shook.

"You're the one holding them."

The lightning weakened.

"Not the other way around."

Lucan clenched his fists.

The seven symbols began moving beneath his skin.

The mark burned.

Then—

Silence.

The storm stopped.

The clouds remained overhead, but the lightning disappeared.

The ice stopped spreading.

The floating blood dropped.

The strange pressure vanished.

Lucan collapsed.

Seris caught him before he hit the ground.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then Lucan whispered:

"Did I hurt anyone?"

Seris looked around.

"No."

He exhaled.

"Good."

Duke Arven walked toward them.

His expression was grim.

"That wasn't an awakening."

Seris looked at him.

"No."

"What was it?"

She looked down at Lucan.

"A reaction."

"To what?"

Seris's eyes moved toward the northern horizon.

"I don't know."

Lucan slowly stood.

His legs were shaking.

"What does that mean?"

Seris looked at him.

"It means something triggered the Thunder Curse."

"What?"

She hesitated.

"Your emotions."

Lucan looked down.

"Levi."

Seris nodded.

"Probably."

He stared at his hands.

"So every time I think about him..."

"Not necessarily."

"Then what?"

Seris looked at the mark.

"That's what we need to discover."

Lucan was silent.

Then he noticed something.

The pendant beneath his shirt was glowing.

He pulled it out.

The dark stone was shining faintly.

Seris stepped closer.

"Where did you get that?"

"You know."

She stared at it.

"The symbol is reacting."

Lucan held it higher.

A thin beam of light came from the stone.

It pointed north.

Everyone watched.

Duke Arven's expression changed.

"That's impossible."

Seris looked at him.

"You've seen it before?"

Arven didn't answer.

Lucan's eyes narrowed.

"You know what this is."

The duke remained silent.

Lucan stepped closer.

"Tell me."

Arven sighed.

"That pendant belonged to Levi."

"I know."

"It was given to him."

"By who?"

Arven looked toward the northern forest.

"I don't know."

Lucan stared at him.

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's true."

"Then who does know?"

Arven's silence answered the question.

Seris stepped forward.

"Arven."

The duke looked at her.

"We can't keep hiding this."

His expression hardened.

"You don't know what you're asking."

"I know exactly what I'm asking."

Lucan looked between them.

"What happened to Levi?"

Arven finally looked at him.

"Your brother came to me three years ago."

Lucan froze.

"Three years?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He was searching for someone."

"Who?"

"A man."

"What man?"

Arven shook his head.

"I never learned his name."

Lucan's frustration returned.

"Then what did Levi want?"

"The northern forest."

Lucan's breathing stopped.

"Why?"

"Because he believed someone was living there."

"Who?"

Arven looked toward the pendant.

Then toward Lucan's mark.

"Someone connected to the Seven Curses."

The courtyard became silent.

Lucan stared at him.

"And you knew?"

"I suspected."

"You let him go?"

"I tried to stop him."

"Did you?"

"No."

Lucan looked away.

His hand tightened around the pendant.

"So he went there."

"Yes."

"And never came back."

Arven didn't answer.

Lucan turned to Seris.

"You knew too."

Seris nodded.

"Yes."

"How much?"

"Not enough."

"Then let's find out."

Seris looked at the dark clouds overhead.

"We will."

Duke Arven stepped forward.

"Not yet."

Lucan looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because you aren't ready."

Lucan's expression hardened.

"Neither was Levi."

Arven had no answer.

Lucan looked toward the northern horizon.

The pendant was still pointing that way.

His brother had gone north.

The Seven Curses were connected to him.

And now Lucan's own powers had begun awakening.

He didn't know what waited beyond the forest.

But he knew he couldn't remain at the estate forever.

---

That evening, the estate was unusually quiet.

The soldiers had repaired the damaged parts of the courtyard.

The horses had been calmed.

The storm had disappeared completely.

Everyone had been ordered not to speak about what happened.

But Lucan knew that was impossible.

Rumors had already begun spreading.

He returned to his room.

The pendant remained on the table.

The beam of light was gone.

Lucan sat beside it.

He rolled up his sleeve.

His mark looked normal.

But now he knew something.

Thunder had awakened.

And it had brought other Curses close to the surface.

He wondered what would happen next.

He remembered Seris's words.

"You're the one holding them."

Lucan closed his eyes.

He needed to learn how to control them.

Before they controlled him.

A knock came at the door.

Lucan opened it.

Seris stood outside.

She held something in her hand.

A book.

An old one.

Its cover was black and worn.

"What is that?"

"Records."

"About the Seven?"

"Yes."

She handed it to him.

Lucan opened it.

The pages were filled with strange symbols.

Seven symbols.

Each one matched a Curse.

Thunder.

Frost.

Blood.

Void.

Decay.

Dominion.

Ascension.

Lucan looked at the final pages.

There was something missing.

A symbol had been scratched out.

"What's this?"

Seris became still.

"I don't know."

"You do."

She sighed.

"The oldest records mention an eighth symbol."

Lucan looked up.

"An eighth Curse?"

"No."

"Then what?"

Seris looked at his mark.

"Something else."

"What?"

She didn't answer.

Instead, she pointed to a line beneath the scratched-out symbol.

Lucan read it.

His expression changed.

When the Seven become one, the forgotten shall awaken.

He looked at Seris.

"What does that mean?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know."

Lucan closed the book.

"You're lying."

Seris almost smiled.

"You're getting better at that."

"At what?"

"Knowing when someone is hiding something."

She took the book back.

"Get some rest."

"Why?"

"Because tomorrow, your training begins."

Lucan stared at her.

"My training?"

"Yes."

"What kind?"

Seris smiled.

"The kind that keeps you alive."

She turned and walked away.

Lucan closed his door.

For the first time since Levi disappeared, he felt something other than helplessness.

He had power.

Dangerous power.

Power he didn't understand.

But he would learn.

He would control it.

And eventually, he would find Levi.

Lucan looked once more at the pendant.

The stone suddenly flickered.

A tiny whisper came from it.

So faint that he almost thought he imagined it.

But he heard one word.

His brother's name.

"Lucan..."

He froze.

His eyes widened.

The pendant went dark.

Lucan stood perfectly still.

Then he whispered:

"Levi?"

Nothing.

But deep beneath his skin, the seven symbols began to glow.

One after another.

Thunder.

Frost.

Blood.

Void.

Decay.

Dominion.

Ascension.

Then they merged.

The strange symbol appeared.

Lucan stared at it.

For just a moment, another symbol appeared inside the center of his mark.

A symbol he had never seen before.

Then it vanished.

Lucan's heart pounded.

He knew one thing now.

The Seven Curses had awakened.

And somewhere in the darkness, someone—or something—had awakened with them.

His journey had begun.

Something that might change everything.

And somewhere far beyond the estate...

Far beyond the roads.

Far beyond the villages.