All Chapters of Sealed Heir Awakens; From Corpse to Conqueror: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
11 chapters
Chapter 1: Arrived Early
The clock on Ethan Cross's computer screen mocked him: 11:52 PM.He leaned back in his creaking office chair, the only sound in the vast, empty floor of zenith Solutions Corporation. Forty-three floors above the city, surrounded by darkness and the ghosts of ambition that never belonged to him.His reflection stared back from the black monitor with hollow eyes, stubble he'd forgotten to shave for three days, the kind of exhaustion that lived in your bones. Twenty-nine years old and he looked forty."Submit final report?" the dialog box asked cheerfully.Ethan clicked yes. Three weeks of work, compressed into seventy-two sleepless hours. The screen flashed green.PROJECT ACCEPTED - DEADLINE BEAT BY 96 HOURS"Fantastic," he muttered to the empty room. "Maybe they'll give me a coffee mug this time."His phone vibrated against the desk. A message from Claire, his wife *“Baby, you still there? Come home soon. I miss you.”*The tightness in Ethan's chest eased slightly. Claire. The one good
Chapter 2: Murdered
Darkness.Then pain very sharp, blinding, dragging Ethan back to consciousness.His head throbbed where it had struck the dresser. Warm blood matted his hair, sticky against his scalp. He tried to move, but Claire's weight pressed down on his shoulders while Vincent's hands crushed his windpipe."Stop struggling," Vincent hissed, his face inches from Ethan's. "You're just making this harder on yourself."Ethan's fingers scrabbled uselessly against Vincent's wrists. His boss's grip was iron, professional almost, like he'd done this before. The thought sent ice through Ethan's veins even as his oxygen-starved brain began to fade."Vincent, please!" Claire's voice cracked. "He's turning blue!""Good. Means it's working.""You said we were just going to scare him!""Plans change." Vincent's voice remained terrifyingly calm. "He saw us, Claire. He was going to ruin everything. My career. Your comfortable life. Did you think he'd just walk away quietly?"Ethan's vision blurred. The edges of
Chapter 3: Xore Awaken
Silence. Not the peaceful kind. The absolute silence of death, cold, empty, final.Ethan's body drifted through the black water like a discarded puppet, arms spread wide, face turned toward a surface he could no longer see. Sixty feet of ocean pressed down on him from above. His lungs were full of seawater. His heart had stopped three minutes ago.He should have been gone.But something refused to let him go.The shattered pendant on his chest pulsed with light, faint at first, then stronger, rhythmic, like a second heartbeat struggling to exist. The metal fragments embedded in his skin glowed with ancient runes that hadn't been visible in twenty-nine years.Heat bloomed in the center of his chest. Impossible heat, burning underwater, defying every law of nature.“Wake up.” The voice came from nowhere and everywhere, resonating through his bones rather than his ears.“Wake up, inheritor. Your death was not meant to be.”The heat intensified, spreading from his chest outward through de
Chapter 4: Hunted
Ethan's feet pounded against wet asphalt as he sprinted through the industrial district. Every stride carried him farther than it should, his body moving with a fluid grace he'd never possessed before. Buildings blurred past. The night air whipped against his face.Behind him, the five figures pursued in absolute silence. No footsteps. No breathing. Just the whisper of fabric and the occasional scrape of shoes on pavement.“They're gaining,” the Echo warned. “Your body has awakened, but you don't know how to use it yet.”"Then tell me how!" Ethan hissed, vaulting over a chain-link fence without breaking stride. He landed in an alley, his shoes splashing through puddles.“Feel the Xore . The energy in your chest. Let it flow through your limbs.”Ethan tried to focus, but panic scattered his thoughts. He'd been murdered two hours ago. Drowned. Came back to life. And now people were hunting him like an animal.The alley opened onto a deserted street. Sodium lights cast everything in sick
Chapter 5: Mother
The SUV drove for two hours, leaving the city far behind. Ethan watched the landscape change through tinted windows of urban sprawl giving way to industrial zones, then finally to forested hills he didn't recognize.Sera sat across from him, silent, her eyes never leaving her phone. Occasionally it would buzz and her expression would tighten, but she said nothing."Is Marcus alive?" Ethan finally asked."Yes. He neutralized the hounds and is en route to a secondary location." She looked up. "He saved your life back there. The Abyssal-touched would have torn you apart.""I could have helped.""No, you couldn't have." Her tone wasn't cruel, just matter-of-fact. "You have power, but no control. No training. No understanding of what you are. You'd have been a liability."The words stung because they were true. Ethan clenched his fists, feeling the strength coiled in his muscles. All this power and he was still useless.“Patience,” the Echo murmured. “Power without discipline is just destr
Chapter 6: Bullet
The world exploded into chaos.Lydia's warriors met the Abyssal Guard at the breach, and the impact of their collision sent shockwaves rippling across the compound. Silver light clashed against corrupt yellow, the energies tearing at reality itself.Ethan stood frozen in the courtyard, watching as people fought and died to protect him. A woman he didn't know took a blade through the stomach, her scream cut short as she collapsed. A man unleashed a wave of Xore fire that immolated three attackers before a spear punched through his spine."Get him inside!" Lydia shouted, her hands weaving patterns in the air that created barriers of solid light. "Sera, protect my son!"Sera grabbed Ethan's arm, but he pulled away. "I can't just hide while people die for me!""You can and you will!" She yanked him toward the main building with surprising strength. "Your death would make their sacrifice meaningless!"An Abyssal Guard broke through the defensive line, sprinting toward them with inhuman spe
Chapter 7: Voices
Ethan woke to the smell of incense and the sound of water.His eyes opened slowly, vision adjusting to soft lamplight. He lay on a bed more comfortable than anything he'd ever known, in a room that mixed traditional elegance with modern technology. Silk sheets. Wooden beams overhead carved with intricate patterns. And everywhere, the faint hum of astral energy.He tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. Every muscle in his body protested, burning with the aftermath of pushing beyond his limits."Don't move." The voice was cold, clinical. "Your muscles tore themselves attempting to channel power your meridians aren't developed enough to handle. You're lucky you didn't cripple yourself permanently."Ethan turned his head. The woman from the battle, Selene Arkwright sat in a chair beside his bed, reading something on a translucent screen that floated in the air before her. She didn't look at him."Where am I?" His voice came out as a croak."Hardy Estate, medical wing. You've been
Chapter Eight: Instinct Awakened
The pain stopped as suddenly as it began.Ethan gasped, his body convulsing on the bed as the Xore seal finished integrating with his Xore . Sweat drenched his skin. His vision swam with afterimages of light."Breathe," Selene commanded. "Deep breaths. Let the energies settle."Ethan sucked in air, and suddenly he could feel everything. The circulation of Xore energy through his meridians. The pulse of power in his Xore . The new pathways the seal had carved through his body like rivers of light.And voices, two of them now, speaking simultaneously in his mind.“You've made a grave mistake,” the Echo snarled. “The Academy's leash will strangle you.”“Integration complete,” the Academy seal announced in a toneless voice. “Host designated, Ethan Hardy. Bloodline confirmed, First Hardy lineage. Threat assessment, Critical. Defensive protocols active.”"What did you do to me?" Ethan pushed himself upright, staring at his hands. They glowed faintly with silver light traced through with geo
Chapter 9: Buried & Unbroken
Ethan dreamed of drowning.Cold water filled his lungs. Darkness pressed against his eyes. Vincent's hands around his throat, squeezing, squeezing.He woke up with a gasp.This time, the room was different. Smaller. Darker. And he could hear fighting in the distance, explosions, screams, the crash of buildings collapsing.“You've been asleep for four hours,” the Academy seal informed him. “The estate is under sustained assault. Third wave initiated forty-seven minutes ago.”Ethan sat up, expecting pain from his injuries. Instead, he felt... whole. His shoulder was healed. The cuts and bruises from the Juggernaut fight were gone. Even his exhaustion had faded to a manageable ache."How"“Academy medical protocols,” the seal explained. “Your body has been flooded with restorative energy while you slept. Current status: 73% combat effectiveness.”The building shuddered. Dust rained from the ceiling. Another explosion, closer this time.Ethan stood, looking around the room for his clothes
Chapter 10: Dragged
Dawn came too quickly.Ethan stood in the ruins of the Hardy Estate, watching the sun paint the devastated courtyard in shades of gold and red. Smoke still rose from collapsed buildings. The meditation gardens were churned mud and broken stone. Twenty-three bodies had been recovered, defenders who'd given their lives protecting a man they barely knew.Because of bloodline. Because of duty. Because his mother had asked."We'll rebuild," Lydia said softly, appearing beside him. She'd changed into traveling clothes, her silver hair bound back in a severe braid. "The Hardy legacy has survived worse than this.""Has it?" Ethan gestured at the destruction. "How many estates have you lost to Whitmore? How many people have died for a war I didn't even know existed until yesterday?"Lydia's expression tightened. "Forty-three estates over thirty years. Seven hundred and twelve confirmed deaths." She met his eyes. "I've kept count of every single one. Every sacrifice made to keep you hidden, to