Kael: Rise of The Fire Heir

Chapter 06

Chapter 6. Betrayal

The ground Kael stood on no longer felt grounded in reality. The Shadow Sovereign's words swirled in his head like an unquenchable firestorm. His father wasn't missing. His father had been murdered. And that masked monster was the culprit.

"Kael... wake up, son. We have to move," Master Selama's voice sounded hoarse, breaking Kael's dark reverie.

The young man turned. Master Selama looked much older than he had a few hours ago. The wound on his waist was still bleeding, seeping into his gray robes, and his face was as pale as paper. Mara, his mother, sat beside Selama, her eyes swollen, yet her hands remained steady as she bandaged the master's wound with torn cloth.

"He killed him, Master," Kael whispered. "He killed Father."

Selama looked at Kael with an unreadable gaze—a mixture of pity and tightly locked secrets. "This world is full of lies intentionally kept to protect you, Kael. But now is not the time to mourn. Xarath may be gone, but the scent of the Sovereign's darkness still lingers. We must find a safe place."

With what little strength they had left, they walked through the remainder of the night. Kael supported Selama, while his mother carried the mysterious stone box. Every step felt heavy, not just from physical exhaustion, but from the weight of information crushing Kael's shoulders. Who was Father, really? And why did he have to run from this power?

Toward dawn, they reached a small village hidden in a valley, far from the main path. Wuni Village. Unlike the ruined Eldara, this village seemed peaceful. Smoke rose from the chimneys of wooden houses, and the scent of toasted bread began to waft through the morning air.

"I have an acquaintance here," Selama whispered as they reached the village gate. "An old healer named Bram. He owes me a favor."

A middle-aged man with a friendly face welcomed them at a wooden house surrounded by a herb garden. Bram, the healer, immediately brought them inside. He seemed shocked to see Selama's condition, yet his movements were very deft.

"Rest easy, Selama. You are safe here," Bram said while helping Selama lie down on a wooden cot. He then turned toward Kael and Mara. "You both look exhausted. My wife is preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Eat, and then you can rest."

Kael felt a bit relieved. The warmth of this house and Bram's hospitality slowly loosened his frayed nerves. At the dining table, they were served warm meat soup and wheat bread. Mara ate hungrily, while Kael only stirred his soup. His mind was still drifting back to the forest last night.

Why didn't the Sovereign take this box? Why did he let me live?

"Eat, Kael. You need strength to protect your mother," Mara chided gently.

Kael nodded and began spooning the soup into his mouth. It tasted savory and warm. However, after just a few bites, Kael felt something strange. The heat in the pit of his stomach—the fire that usually flowed smoothly—suddenly felt heavy. It felt as if cold mud was clogging his bloodstream.

Kael glanced at Master Selama in the next room. The master had just finished a glass of water given by Bram. Suddenly, the glass slipped from Selama's grasp, falling and shattering on the floor.

"Master?" Kael stood up, but his head suddenly spun violently. His vision blurred.

He saw Bram enter the dining room. The man's friendly face had now vanished, replaced by a cold and flat expression. Bram did not approach to help; instead, he stood at the doorway, watching them with his arms crossed.

"Bram... what are you doing?" Selama tried to speak, but his voice was only a weak groan. His body slumped stiffly on the cot, unable to move a single finger.

"Forgive me, Selama," Bram's voice sounded hollow. "The world is changing. The Sovereign promises a new order, and your head—especially the boy's—is worth more than this entire village."

Mara collapsed from her chair, her hands clutching her throat as if she were choking. Kael tried to reach for his mother, but his legs felt like they were made of lead. He fell to his knees, gasping for breath.

"Poison... black root," Kael whispered, remembering the lesson on poisonous plants Selama had once taught him. The poison didn't kill instantly, but it paralyzed the flow of energy and nerves.

Fool! Kael cursed himself. How could I have been so easily trusting?

"Don't blame yourself, kid," Bram said as he stepped toward the stone box placed on the table. "Kindness is the easiest weakness to exploit. The Sovereign knew you would look for a place to rest."

Kael felt an overwhelming rage boiling in his chest. He tried to summon his fire. Burn this poison! he commanded internally. However, the fire only sparked weakly at his fingertips before dying out again. The poison was working too fast, binding his power within the cells of his increasingly stiff body.

The front door of the house slammed open. A group of men in black uniforms with a purple eye emblem—the Shadow Sovereign's troops—entered with weapons drawn. They moved with lethal efficiency, not making a single sound.

"Capture the boy. Don't let him die," ordered the troop leader, a man with a burn scar on his neck. "Take the box as well."

Kael screamed, a cry of frustration that sounded more like an animal's roar. With what remained of his strength, he shoved the table toward the soldiers. The impact provided a little space, but he was quickly surrounded. Two soldiers grabbed his arms, pinning his body to the cold floor.

"Let... me... go!" Kael struggled, but every movement only drove the poison deeper into his nervous system.

He saw his mother being dragged out of the house unconscious. Master Selama, helpless, was tossed into an iron cart like a pile of junk. The sight broke Kael's heart. He was the Fire Conqueror, the heir to a legendary power, yet here he could only watch as the people he loved were treated like trash.

"Did you learn something today, Kael?" Bram leaned down, staring into Kael's eyes, which burned with rage. "In this world, there are no allies. There are only those who have been paid and those who don't yet know their price."

Kael spat toward Bram, but the healer only chuckled and stood back up. The leader of the black troops approached Kael, pulling out a black iron collar covered in ancient rune carvings.

"Anti-magic collar," Kael muttered weakly.

As the cold iron encircled his neck, Kael felt the remnants of heat within his body being sucked dry. A hollow darkness enveloped his mind. He felt completely isolated, severed from the element he had only just learned to love.

He was dragged out of the house, past villagers watching from behind windows in fear. No one helped. No one dared to speak. The peaceful world of Wuni Village was nothing more than a stage play designed to bring him down.

The soldier threw Kael into a dark and damp prisoner carriage. The iron door creaked shut, locking out all access to light. In that darkness, Kael heard the sound of the carriage wheels beginning to move over the cobblestone road.

He curled up in the corner of the carriage, his hands trembling—not from the cold, but from the pain of the betrayal he had just experienced. He had failed. He had lost his mother, lost his master, and now he had lost his freedom.

I will never trust anyone again, he swore to himself. Tears of rage flowed down his dirty cheeks. If I get out of here, I will burn away every shadow they possess.

The carriage continued to move, taking him far from the valley toward the heart of enemy territory. Kael closed his eyes, letting hatred replace the extinguished fire in his soul, while the shadow of the Shadow Sovereign seemed to laugh behind the curtain of darkness that now imprisoned him.

The journey toward the prison of darkness had only just begun, and Kael knew this was the true test of his bloody destiny.