2026-09-14 03:24:35
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CHAPTER 23
The word settled in the chamber. Brother.Adrian's gaze locked onto the child on the table. The boy studied him just as carefully, dark hair, golden eyes, the nearly imperceptible scar along his left brow - identical features save one unique marking on his cheekbone, and the space between his eyebrows. A sense of foreboding coiled in Adrian's gut.Seraphine took a place at his side. "Adrian...""I understand.""You're looking at yourself.""No," he murmured, feeling the words in a deeper place. "I'm looking at someone who wants me to believe that"Golden eyes crinkled with amusement. "And you believe him?"Vaelric wheeled around. "Everyone back.""Why?""Because that isn't a child."The smile vanished from the boy's lips. A deafening silence stretched between them before he turned his head, regarding the old man with an almost inquisitive expression."Vaelric."The man's lower lip twitched. "You remember me.""I remember everyone." the boy said, turning his gaze on Adrian. "Especially
CHAPTER 22
The man in the coffin smiled."You're late."Adrian didn't move. Neither did Seraphine.Vaelric's breath caught in his throat beside him, "No," the old man whispered, "You recognize me."The silver-eyed man turned his head slowly, "Yes."Vaelric took a step back, "That's impossible."Adrian's eyes narrowed at the old man. There was no surprise in the move, only fear. Vaelric knew the manAdrian extended a hand, "Stay where you are."The stranger's eyes were devoid of any human features. A solid, silver color stared back at him from beneath the man's skull, past his veins, into something else entirely.The Dragon Sovereign System remained silent."Who are you?"The stranger's smile faltered, "You already know.""No.""You will.""That's not an answer."His palm touched the glass from the inside. A black stain bloomed over the surface in the form of a crown, split down the middle. Adrian's own mark flared to life across his skin.Seraphine gasped and clutched at her arm, "Adrian.""What
Chapter 21
The scream still rang in Adrian's ears as his heart pounded with the pulse of Core residue in his chest. One, then another.Seraphine lunged to her knees, grabbing the edge of the table. "That voice."Adrian turned to her. She wasn't looking at him, but at the floor."It's not calling me," she said.He listened. The scream echoed off of the walls before abruptly stopping."It's calling itself,"Vaelric's expression darkened."What does that mean?" Adrian finally asked."It means we leave,""Why?""Whatever is underneath that hospital knows your voice.""And you're sure that running away will stop it?""No." Vaelric gave a measured look toward the sealed passage. "But I'm certain it wants you to come."They both turned back to the map with a grim realization. The road to Vale Medical Center still glowed. He turned to face the photograph laying on the table - two children and one whose name was left blank."That's exactly why we're going,""Explain it to me,""I cannot.Adrian's usually
Chapter 20
The Veyrith voice under his skin was cryingAdrian's hand clamped down on Seraphine's shoulder. Neither of them breathedThe System message hovered before them on the air, motionless[THE PERSON WHO RETURNED WAS NOT THE PERSON WHO DIED.]He read it three times before realizing it might not change. "What does that mean?"Seraphine's whisper barely reached his ear.Adrian's mind was already racing away from the words. Twenty years ago, Seraphine had watched a twenty-six-year-old Adrian sprawled on a laboratory table, dead. Eleven seconds later, his eyes had opened. Something had returned to his bodyNot necessarily himHe turned away from the black box. The bloodied cloth still rested inside, but it was the golden crystal beside it that had split open. His own body stared back at him from the photograph, the eyes marked out of the imageHe turned it so that the table was visible. "LookSeraphine's gaze tracked his, landing on the smudge just below the metal frame of the table. A circle,
Chapter 19
The laughing did not fade beneath Veyrith but instead settled in the stone like it belonged there.Adrian stood rooted to the spot, Seraphine's fingers still locked around his arm, her silver eyes fixed upon his face."You were already dead."The words refused to leave his skull."What does that mean?" His voice was rougher than he intended.She did not answer. Her breathing grew ragged as the silver light under her skin crept toward her throat. He caught her wrist before he had decided to move."Seraphine."She flinched and for one heartbeat her eyes were brown, her own. Then the silver swallowed them whole."I remember the room," she said, shaking. "White walls.""The same laboratory from before?""No." She pressed a hand to her temple as though she could keep the memory still. "I don't know where. But you were there."Adrian turned his gaze to Vaelric who had grown rigid, his jaw tight like a man bracing for a hit."You know what she's talking about."There was silence."Vaelric. L
Chapter 18
The glass stopped mid-fall.Hundreds of fragments ringed the chamber around them, picking up the light like a broken constellation. Adrian did not move. Neither did Seraphine. No breath was drawn for a single, impossible second.Then Adrian's Dragon Sight tore open and gold consumed his vision.The shards were not scattered. They ringed the older man in the chair - the one wearing Adrian's face, beneath thirty extra years of scarring and a burn at his shoulder that left his coat black at the sleeves, one hand clutching a telephone which had no cord. Beneath his skin, something pulsed. Not the gold. Not the silver.The black."Nobody touch him," said Adrian.Seraphine's eyes locked on the stranger. "You think that's you?""No." Adrian didn't blink. "I think it wants me to believe it is."The older man smiled - the same twist at his left corner of his mouth, the same habit of studying a person before he spoke. Too accurate. Which was what scared Adrian more than the scars did.Beside hi
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