AWAKENING BEYOND THE VEILS

The Dark Storm

The storm arrived by nightfall.

It began as a low growl of thunder, rolling over the academy rooftops, and by the time darkness settled, rain poured in steady sheets across the stone courtyards. Lanterns flickered in the hallways. Most students had retreated indoors — training was canceled, classes postponed.

But Kael couldn’t sit still.

He stood by his dorm window, watching the rain streak down the glass. The conversation with Riven replayed in his mind over and over. The first gate. The way Riven had said it — quiet, deliberate, like he already knew Kael would go searching for it.

He tried to ignore it, but the thought gnawed at him. Each crash of thunder only made it louder.

It wasn’t just curiosity — it was something else. Something pulling at him.

When the rain finally began to ease, Kael grabbed his cloak and left.

The academy grounds were almost empty. Only the sound of dripping water filled the air, punctuated by the occasional crack of lightning in the distance. The torchlights along the paths glowed dim and unsteady.

Kael’s boots splashed through shallow puddles as he moved toward the eastern wing — the oldest part of the academy. Few students came here anymore. The air always felt heavier, colder.

He passed cracked statues and weathered pillars carved with faded runes. A few were still faintly glowing, reacting to the energy that stirred inside him.

You’ll know it when it calls to you, Riven had said.

Kael didn’t know what that meant — until he heard it.

A faint hum, deep and low, vibrating through the floor. It was almost too soft to notice, but the closer he got to the ancient stairwell that led beneath the east hall, the stronger it grew.

His heart picked up pace. The pendant beneath his shirt — the one his mother had sent through the void — pulsed once, faintly warm against his skin.

He swallowed hard.

“Alright,” he muttered under his breath. “Guess this is it.”

He descended.

The stairway was narrow, carved from black stone slick with age. Each step echoed, hollow and cold. The deeper he went, the less sound there was — even the rain above had gone silent, replaced by the slow, rhythmic beat of his own heart.

When he reached the bottom, the corridor opened into a wide chamber. The walls were carved with old runes, and at its center stood a massive stone disk, half-buried in the ground. Its surface shimmered faintly with a pattern of cracks — like veins of light just beneath the stone.

Kael approached slowly. The air here felt alive — heavy with something ancient. He could feel it, pulsing faintly in his chest, like the beat of another heart beneath his own.

The pendant around his neck pulsed again.

He took it out, holding it in his palm.

As soon as the pendant’s glow touched the air, the stone disk reacted — light rippled across its surface in swirling patterns. The hum grew louder.

Kael stepped back in shock. “What the—”

The light spread outward, racing along the floor, crawling up the walls like living fire. Symbols flared one after another, surrounding him in a circle of burning gold and black flame. The sound rose into a deep, resonant chord that rattled the chamber.

Kael’s eyes widened. His pulse thundered.

“I didn’t— I didn’t mean to—”

Too late.

The pendant slipped from his hand and floated in midair, spinning slowly. The air twisted — and suddenly the world tilted.

Kael stumbled backward as the stone disk cracked open down the center, revealing a deep, spiraling chasm beneath. The air that rushed out wasn’t wind — it was a whisper.

Dozens of whispers. Ancient. Familiar.

They spoke his name.

> Kael… Ardyn… heir of the flame that devours light.

His blood ran cold.

The glow from the pendant flared bright, and before he could react, the ground beneath him gave way.

He fell.

The fall wasn’t like falling through air. It was like being pulled through layers of memory — flashes of fire, shadow, a battlefield he didn’t recognize. He heard screams, metal, prayers whispered in fear.

Then—silence.

Kael hit the ground hard, gasping as the world steadied around him.

He wasn’t in the academy anymore.

He was standing in a wide, dark hall that stretched endlessly in both directions. The air shimmered faintly with blue firelight from unseen sources. The walls were smooth and black, carved with symbols he didn’t understand — but some of them moved, shifting like living script.

At the center of the hall stood a single door.

It was enormous — tall enough to touch the unseen ceiling — and carved from a metal darker than night. Strange runes pulsed faintly across its surface, glowing in rhythm with his heartbeat.

The First Gate.

He didn’t need anyone to tell him. He knew.

Kael took a shaky step forward, then another. His hands trembled as he reached out — not to open it, but to feel the hum of power radiating from it.

The instant his fingers brushed the surface, a jolt of energy shot through his arm. Images flooded his mind — the same temple, the same fire. His father’s voice shouting something he couldn’t hear.

And then—his mother’s voice again.

> Kael. Listen to me. If you ever find the gate… don’t open it alone.

Kael stumbled back, gasping. “Mother—wait! Please—tell me what’s inside!”

But the voice was gone. The silence that followed was crushing.

He stood there, breathing hard, staring at the sealed gate. Every part of him screamed to step back — but curiosity burned just as fiercely. He could feel the Shadowfire stirring, drawn to whatever lay behind that door.

He hesitated… then took another step forward.

The air grew heavy. Dark mist began to pool around his feet, twisting into faint shapes — eyes, faces, whispers. The pendant at his neck flared again, and suddenly he wasn’t alone.

A shadow detached itself from the air ahead of him — tall, faintly human, but wrong. Its edges bled into the darkness, its eyes burning like dying stars. When it spoke, its voice was a thousand whispers at once.

> “You should not have come here, child of broken flame.”

Kael froze. “Who are you?”

> “A memory,” it said. “A guardian of what must never awaken.”

“Then what is this place?” Kael demanded. “What’s behind that gate?”

The shadow tilted its head, the air warping around it.

> “A truth your kind is not meant to bear. Leave, before it remembers you.”

Kael’s fists clenched. He was done running from mysteries. “I can’t. Not after everything they took from me.”

The figure regarded him for a long, heavy silence. Then it said quietly:

> “Then you will burn as your father did.”

It moved.

Darkness surged forward, swallowing the light. Kael’s pendant blazed white-hot. Instinctively, he threw up his hands—and the world exploded in black flame.

Shadowfire roared out of him like a storm unleashed. It devoured the dark mist, tore through the shadow’s form, and for an instant, the entire hall lit up in twisting gold and black light.

The figure screamed — a sound that wasn’t pain, but warning — before shattering into ash.

When the fire faded, Kael dropped to his knees, trembling. His hands were shaking violently, the air around him scorched, the walls still glowing faintly where the flames had touched.

The door still stood, sealed and silent.

And yet… a faint crack now marred its surface.

A sliver of light shone through it — faint, silver, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Kael stared at it, chest heaving. “What did I just do…”

The pendant drifted back into his hand, cool again. Its glow dimmed until it was only a faint ember.

Somewhere deep behind the door, something stirred.

A sound like a long, slow breath filled the air.

Kael stumbled backward. The gate’s runes flickered once — then went dark. The chamber began to fade, the ground pulling away beneath his feet.

He woke on the floor of the eastern hall, soaked in rain and sweat, the pendant clutched in his fist. The storm had returned — thunder echoing through the academy walls.

For a long time, he just lay there, staring at the ceiling, his body aching, his heart pounding.

He’d found the first gate.

He’d survived the guardian.

But he’d also cracked the seal — and whatever was inside was awake now.

Lightning flashed outside, throwing his reflection across the wet floor. His eyes glowed faintly — not gold, not red, but a deep, pulsing violet.

Shadowfire’s color.

Kael sat up slowly, the rain hammering the windows.

He didn’t need Riven to tell him what that meant.

Something ancient now knew his name.

And it was coming.