"I've been inside you since the day you were born."The words landed somewhere inside the chamber.Adrian studied the man that stood across the Gate – the same face, the same black hair, the same swirling gold fire inside that skin. Something was wrong, something in the bones of this man was not quite as it should be, and he wasn't sure why.He drew Dragon Sight into his vision.One bloodline signature should have responded. Instead there were three – gold, black, and a third that Dragon sight refused to process.Adrian exhaled slowly, looking back into the man's eyes. "You're not me."The man smiled. "Depends which version of you you are talking to."Seraphine joined them. "Don't answer him."The stranger looked from her to the man's face, and something was crushed out of his features. "You still protect him."Do I know you?""You knew me before you knew him."She stiffened."Seraphine," Adrian noted the shift in her expression. "I don't recall.""Of course you don't," he touched his

The throne was full already with its legs tied together. White streaks of light flooded the chamber, but even with that the throne's outline didn't disappear but instead stood clear. Black stone, with the crown carved in the middle of the back. A broken-off half. And a figure on this throne.Adrian.More weathered, with silver threading his long black hair, the gleam of an eye that had burned gold and the other, black. A hand lay loose on the armrest, and the fingers of the other were curled around a sword not belonging to Adrian.Seraphine's fingers dug hard into his forearm. "That was you."I know," Adrian said."No, that wasn't the Adrian I saw. He was afraid before his death.The older man raised his head and met Seraphine's eyes with a smile curling the edges of his lips - not a king's smile, but one of man who had been covered with dirt and heard shoveling."Run. "That was what the image flashed forward, and it caught in Adrian's chest.A younger image of himself stood in the t

The darkness did not fall upon them. It devoured them.For one impossible second Adrian heard nothing, no Gate, no groaning from the stone, nothing at allThen a heartbeat, his ownThen another, not hisHe opened his eyes. The throne was gone. The white crack in the floor was gone. A few steps from him stood the young man who had called himself the original Adrian, blood flowing from his nose, eyes wet, locking eyes with Seraphine beyond Adrian."You remembered", he whispered.Seraphine paled. "Remembered what?""Me."Adrian stepped between them. "What did I do?"For the first time, the fear replaced the anger on the young man's face. "You don't want to know.""I already know someone else erased my memories.""That wasn't the worst part.""Then tell me."The chamber shook, a hairline crack of white light splitting the floor between them, and the System rose from it, not blue, not gold, but white, broken[ORIGINAL IDENTITY RESTORED.]The line flickered then a second appeared beneath it

The lights died.A tense silence stretched for three seconds before Adrian heard the breathing. Seraphine's but wrong. Too slow. Too even like she was feigning fear"Seraphine?"No response as she lunged at him. Her hand shot out and clamped over his wrist crushing the bones.Not her grip."Let go."Her silver eyes flared to life in the darkness before gold then black. A voice spoke from within her."You still don't recognize me."It was not her voice. A young mans voice calm almost amused.Vaelric stepped forward. "Get away from her."The young mans voice laughed. "You always say that."Vaelric froze mid step his expression not one of surprise but of realization.Adrian caught it. "You know him."Vaelric said nothing"Tell him," the young man said through Seraphine."Not here.""Then where?"The lights flickered back to life revealing Seraphine alone her eyes normal her hand sliding away from Adrian's wrist as she turned to regard their expressions. "Why is everyone staring at me?"A

The laughter below Veyrith stopped.Adrian stood motionless.Kai.The name echoed inside his skull like the ringing of a bell. Not Adrian, not Vale...Kai. A beat of his heart too long, something inside him answered the call.His Dragon Flame stuttered, his pulse quickened.He curled his hand into a fist. "No."A soft word, but enough to halt whatever movement had been coming his way. His fingers flexed. Seraphine shivered in his arms, her silver eyes clear of fog but a dark stripe curled tight around her neck like a wire. her mother was rising, her dark hair tumbling over her shoulders."Put her down.""Why?""Whatever was in her could be using your presence as an anchor," said Adrian's mother.Adrian looked from Seraphine to her mother. "You anticipated this.""I feared it would come.""And you told no one.""I did not know what Vaelric's transfer would bring.""He did what exactly," Adrian asked, his gaze snapping to Vaelric.Vaelric gave a short scoff, but it was more surprised tha