Chapter 2 — Holy Eyes Never Blink
1537 Words
The gods didn’t need to knock.
They never did.
I felt them the moment I stepped outside.
The Varyn estate had always been quiet in the mornings. Manicured gardens, stone paths still wet with dew, guards posted out of habit rather than fear. In my past life, places like this had burned first—symbols of order reduced to ash to send a message.
Now it felt like a cage.
Eron walked beside me, wooden sword tucked under his arm, humming under his breath. He was relaxed in a way only the ignorant could afford. The sunlight caught in his hair, too bright, too clean. Even now, his presence pulled subtly at the world around him, like reality leaned closer just to listen.
I hated how obvious it was.
“You’re really going to train me?” he asked again, glancing up at me. “Like—properly?”
“Yes,” I said. “But not like the knights.”
He frowned. “Why not?”
“Because knights are trained to obey,” I replied. “I’ll teach you how to survive.”
That earned me a thoughtful silence, he was a good listener.
We hadn’t taken more than ten steps into the training yard before the air changed.
Pressure rolled in like an unseen tide, heavy and wrong. The hairs on my arms rose instantly, my instincts screamed before my mind caught up.
It was a divine presence Eron felt it too. He stopped walking, confusion flickering across his face.
“Do you feel that?” he asked.
“I do,” I said calmly. “Don’t react." But it was too late.
The gates at the far end of the yard opened without a sound no announcement and no herald.
Three men entered.
They wore white and gold, robes layered with sigils that glowed faintly as they moved. Their boots never touched the ground; they hovered just above it, carried by quiet miracles. At their center walked a fourth—older, taller, and far more dangerous.
High Priest Valther.
I knew him immediately, though I had never seen his face in this life. Some souls left scars on the world. His was sharp, invasive, and deeply familiar.
In my past life, he had stood at the hero’s side and called my execution “necessary.”
Eron straightened instinctively, posture snapping into respect. “High Priest,” he said, bowing deeply. “We weren’t told...”
“You were not required to be told,” Valther said gently.
His voice was warm and kind. The kind that made people confess their sins without realizing it.
His gaze slid past Eron and landed on me.
And stayed there.
Something cold brushed the edge of my mind, like fingers testing glass for cracks.
I resisted automatically.
Not with power—I didn’t have enough of it yet but with will. I tightened inward, wrapping my soul in layers of practiced restraint. I had learned long ago that gods and their servants didn’t need permission to look.
Valther smiled.
It was subtle but satisfying.
“So this is the elder son,” he said. “Kael Varyn.”
I bowed shallowly. Enough to be polite but not enough to be submissive.
“My lord,” I said.
His eyes narrowed just a fraction.
“Your fever was severe,” he continued. “We were… concerned.”
Of course you were, I thought. I died and came back. How could you not be?
“I’m recovered,” I said. “Thank you for your prayers.”
He nodded, then gestured to Eron. “And this must be the younger brother. The blessed one.”
Eron flushed. “...I...I don’t know about that.”
Valther laughed softly. “Modesty. A good sign.”
He raised a hand, and the air hummed.
Eron gasped.
Light spilled across the yard, forming a thin, translucent symbol that hovered in front of Eron’s chest. It pulsed once—twice—then sank into his skin.
A divine mark.
My nails dug into my palm.
Eron stared at himself in shock. “What did you do?”
Valther’s smile widened. “Confirmed what we already suspected.”
“What suspicion?” I asked.
His gaze flicked back to me. Sharp now and assessing.
“That your brother has been chosen.”
The words landed like a death sentence.
“Chosen for what?” Eron asked, awe and fear tangling in his voice.
“For greatness,” Valther said. “For service and for trial.”
Trial? My chest tightened.
“No,” I said before I could stop myself.
The word echoed too loudly in the sudden quiet.
Valther turned fully toward me.
“You object?” he asked mildly.
I forced my expression into something neutral. “My brother is young. Trials are… dangerous.”
“They are,” Valther agreed. “That is their purpose.”
The pressure increased. Not physical—spiritual. A weight pressing down on my soul, testing, measuring.
I held my ground.
Eron looked between us. “Kael?”
I placed myself slightly in front of him. Subtle, Protective.
“My brother is not refusing service,” I said carefully. “But we request time.”
Valther studied me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
“A reasonable request,” he said. “Which we will deny.”
The divine attendants stepped forward.
Eron stiffened. “Wait”
Valther raised a finger, and Eron froze.
Literally, his body locked in place, eyes wide, breath caught halfway in his chest.
My vision went red I took a step forward.
The ground beneath my foot cracked just a hairline fracture—but it was enough.
Every divine symbol in the yard flared violently.
Valther’s eyes snapped to my foot.
The silence was shattered.
“You carry something unclean,” he said softly.
I felt it then.
The seal inside me—ancient, brutal, forged from my own flesh and soul—strained.
It didn’t break but it answered.
A low heat spread through my veins, not wild, not consuming but controlled, contained, and dangerous.
I forced myself to stop, slowly, deliberately, and I stepped back.
The c***k in the stone sealed itself.
Valther watched the movement with keen interest.
“How curious,” he murmured. “A human child… resisting divine suppression.”
I bowed my head, hiding my eyes. “Instinct,” I said. “Fear for my brother.”
Fear wasn’t a lie. Just not the whole truth.
Valther released his hold. Eron collapsed forward, gasping. I caught him before he hit the ground.
Eron clutched my sleeve. “Kael, I couldn’t move. I...”
“I know,” I said quietly. “Breathe.”
Valther exhaled slowly, as if savoring the moment.
“The trial will take place in three days,” he said. “Prepare the boy.”
“And if we refuse?” I asked.
His smile vanished.
“Then the church will assume corruption,” he said. “And corruption is burned.”
The attendants turned and left as silently as they had come.
The pressure lingered long after they were gone.
Eron clung to me, shaken. “What was that?”
I looked down at him, the boy who had killed me once. At the hero, the gods were sharpening again.
“That,” I said, “was a warning.”
He swallowed. “Am I in danger?”
“Yes,” I said.
He blinked. “Are you?”
I hesitated, then nodded.
“Yes.”
We returned to the manor in silence.
That night, I locked my door and sat on the floor, back against the bed, breathing through the pain spreading from my chest.
The seal glowed faintly beneath my skin.
Too soon, I thought grimly.
I reached inward again this time, and something answered.
Not the full inferno I once commanded—but an Old ember, patient and alive.
A whisper curled through my thoughts.
King, I clenched my jaw.
“No,” I whispered. “Not yet.”
The ember pulsed again, stronger outside my door, and footsteps approached.
I froze and I heard a knock.
“Kael?” Eron’s voice is very Soft and uneasy. “Are you awake?”
I stood, wiping the blood from my palm where my nails had broken skin.
“Yes,” I said, opening the door.
Eron looked pale. “I can’t sleep.”
“Come in.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, hands clenched. “When that man touched me… I saw something.”
My heart sank. “What?”
“Fire,” he said. “A throne and someone kneeling who wouldn’t bow.”
He looked up at me, eyes searching.
“Why did it feel familiar?”
The ember inside me flared violently.
I forced a smile.
“Dreams,” I said. “They don’t mean anything.”
He nodded slowly but he didn’t look convinced.
As he left, the seal inside me cracked again.
Not much, just enough.
Far above, beyond the veil of sky and stars, something ancient shifted its gaze.
And for the first time since my execution.
A god smiled.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD