THE ARCHIVE OF THE SUPREME

CHAPTER 5 - THE FIRST DEATH

CHAPTER FIVE

THE FIRST DEATH

Kael woke in a forest.

He didn't know how he had arrived.

For several seconds, he didn't even know who he was.

He opened his eyes.

Darkness.

Not complete darkness.

Moonlight slipped through the branches above him, painting the forest floor in broken silver.

Rain fell through the trees.

Cold drops struck his face.

His clothes were torn.

Mud covered his arms.

And blood—

Blood covered his hands.

Kael stared at them.

His breathing became faster.

He turned his palms over.

The blood was fresh.

Too fresh.

“Where…”

His voice came out weak.

He swallowed.

“Where am I?”

No answer.

Only the rain.

Kael pushed himself upright.

Pain immediately shot through his body.

He gritted his teeth and waited for it to pass.

His head throbbed.

His memories came back in fragments.

The library.

The creature.

Seraphina.

The old man.

The black flames.

The voices.

Azael.

Then nothing.

Kael looked around.

“Seraphina?”

The forest remained silent.

He stood slowly.

His legs trembled beneath him.

“Seraphina!”

His voice echoed between the trees.

Nothing.

Panic began creeping into his chest.

He remembered the way she had looked at him in the alley.

The fear in her eyes.

The strange symbol beneath her collarbone.

The way she had said his existence didn't make sense.

Kael turned in a slow circle.

“Seraphina!”

Something moved behind him.

Kael froze.

A branch snapped.

He turned.

Nothing.

Only trees.

His breathing slowed.

Maybe it was an animal.

Maybe—

Another branch snapped.

Closer.

Kael backed away.

“Who's there?”

A low growl answered him.

His instincts screamed.

Run.

Kael turned.

Too late.

Something exploded from the darkness.

It had the body of a wolf.

But its head belonged to something ancient.

Its skull was elongated.

Its mouth opened far too wide.

Rows of jagged teeth filled its jaws.

Its eyes burned with a pale, unnatural light.

Kael raised his arms.

The creature struck him.

Pain exploded through his chest.

He flew backward.

His body slammed against a tree hard enough to shake the branches above him.

He fell to the ground.

For several seconds, he couldn't breathe.

His vision blurred.

The creature slowly approached.

Kael tried to move.

Nothing.

His fingers dug into the wet earth.

“Come on…”

His legs refused to respond.

The creature lowered its head.

Kael saw its teeth.

He tried to crawl backward.

The creature opened its mouth.

Then—

A streak of silver light cut through the darkness.

The creature froze.

A thin line appeared across its skull.

For one second, nothing happened.

Then its head split open.

The creature collapsed beside Kael.

The silver light disappeared.

Kael stared.

A figure stood between the trees.

Seraphina.

Her hair was soaked from the rain.

Her breathing was heavy.

A blade of silver light still flickered in her hand.

She looked at the dead creature.

Then at Kael.

Her expression changed instantly.

She ran toward him.

“Kael!”

She dropped beside him.

“Are you hurt?”

Kael tried to laugh.

“I think I'm dying.”

Seraphina's face went pale.

“You are.”

Kael looked down.

He finally saw it.

A massive wound covered his abdomen.

Blood soaked his clothes and poured onto the ground beneath him.

He stared at the wound.

“That looks bad.”

“It is.”

Seraphina pressed both hands against it.

Silver light flowed from her palms.

Kael gasped.

“Stay with me.”

“I'm trying.”

“Don't close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

Kael managed a weak smile.

“You always give orders.”

“And you never listen.”

For a moment, neither spoke.

Rain continued falling.

Seraphina's hands trembled against his wound.

Kael noticed.

“You're shaking.”

“I'm not.”

“You are.”

“Be quiet.”

He smiled again.

But then his expression became serious.

“Why did you come back?”

Seraphina looked at him.

“Because I found you.”

Kael frowned.

“You've said that before.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I've said it in every life.”

Kael stared at her.

The words didn't make sense.

Then something inside his mind cracked open.

The forest disappeared.

He was somewhere else.

A golden palace stood beneath a sky filled with stars.

Kael sat upon an enormous throne.

He wore black and gold armor.

A crown rested upon his head.

And beside him—

Seraphina.

She was dressed in white.

Her hand rested against his.

They looked at each other.

Not strangers.

Not friends.

Something deeper.

Something older.

The vision vanished.

Another appeared.

A celestial battlefield.

The sky was burning.

Thousands of beings fought beneath enormous wings.

Kael stood in the center of the battlefield.

His hands were covered in blood.

Seraphina lay dying in his arms.

He was screaming her name.

Another vision.

A demonic kingdom.

Black towers rose from an endless wasteland.

Kael stood upon a throne of bone.

Seraphina stood before him.

They were enemies.

Her sword was pointed at his heart.

His weapon was pressed against her throat.

Neither wanted to strike.

But both knew they had to.

Another vision.

A dragon realm.

Two enormous dragons flew together through clouds.

One was black.

The other was silver.

They circled one another before disappearing into the storm.

Another.

A human city.

Crowds moved along a busy street.

Kael walked in one direction.

Seraphina walked in the opposite direction.

They passed each other.

Neither looked back.

Neither remembered.

Another.

A battlefield.

A palace.

A village.

A prison.

A forest.

A grave.

A thousand places.

A thousand lives.

A thousand endings.

Every life.

Every encounter.

Every separation.

Every death.

Kael saw them all.

And in every one, there was Seraphina.

Sometimes she loved him.

Sometimes she hated him.

Sometimes she fought beside him.

Sometimes she fought against him.

Sometimes they found each other immediately.

Sometimes it took years.

Sometimes decades.

Sometimes an entire lifetime passed without them knowing the other existed.

But somehow—

They always found each other.

Kael returned to the forest.

His eyes were filled with tears.

He stared at Seraphina.

“Why do I keep losing you?”

She shook her head.

“You don't.”

“What?”

“You always find me.”

Kael looked at her as though those words were impossible.

“Then why does it hurt?”

Seraphina's tears finally fell.

“Because you always choose the hard way.”

Kael wanted to ask what she meant.

He wanted to ask how many lives they had lived.

How many times he had died.

How many times she had watched him die.

But his body was becoming cold.

His heartbeat slowed.

One beat.

Then another.

Seraphina pressed harder against his wound.

“Stay with me.”

“I’m tired.”

“Don't.”

“Seraphina…”

“Don't you dare.”

Kael smiled faintly.

“You're crying.”

“I am not.”

“You are.”

She leaned closer.

Her forehead touched his.

“Come back.”

Kael closed his eyes.

The last thing he felt was her hand against his face.

Then darkness swallowed him.

But it wasn't the darkness of death.

Kael opened his eyes.

He was standing somewhere else.

There was no forest.

No rain.

No blood.

No Seraphina.

Only darkness.

Ahead of him stood a massive door.

It was impossibly tall.

Seven seals covered its surface.

Each seal carried the seven-point symbol.

Kael stared at it.

A figure stood on the other side.

He looked like Kael.

But older.

Calmer.

More powerful.

There was no fear in his eyes.

The figure smiled.

“You have reached the first threshold.”

Kael stepped closer.

“Who are you?”

The figure's expression softened.

“I am the part of you that remembers.”

Kael looked toward the seals.

“What is behind the door?”

The figure didn't answer.

Instead, he raised one hand.

The first seal began to glow.

Kael stepped backward.

“What is happening?”

The figure smiled.

“You chose this.”

“I don't remember choosing anything.”

“You will.”

A crack appeared across the first seal.

Kael heard a sound like thunder.

The darkness shook.

The seal cracked again.

Then—

It shattered.

Power exploded through the chamber.

Kael screamed.

Memories flooded into him.

Names.

Faces.

Wars.

Kingdoms.

Deaths.

Births.

Promises.

Betrayals.

And one name above all others.

Azael.

The figure disappeared.

Kael reached for him.

“Wait!”

Nothing.

The darkness swallowed everything.

His body disappeared.

His soul disappeared.

His memories disappeared.

For the first time, Kael understood the meaning of the visions.

He wasn't remembering his past.

He was remembering himself.

And then

Kael died.