THE RELUCTANT WARBORN

Chapter 6 – The Bloodline Awakens

Kael woke up drenched in sweat.

The dreams were getting worse. Every night, the same images. A battlefield covered in bodies. A sky bleeding red. And a voice calling his name, distant and desperate.

He sat up, breathing hard. His alarm clock read 3:47 AM.

Sleep wasn't coming back.

He got dressed and headed to the campus gym. It was the only place open this early, and the repetitive motion of hitting bags helped clear his head.

The gym was empty except for one other person. Lyra.

She looked up from the treadmill when he entered. "Couldn't sleep either?"

"Something like that," Kael said.

"The dreams?"

He stopped. "How did you know?"

"Everyone who enters the Crucible gets them eventually." Lyra slowed the treadmill to a walk. "Something about that place, it wakes things up inside you. Things that were meant to stay buried."

Kael moved to the heavy bag and started wrapping his hands. "Dorian said I have a legacy. A bloodline. You know anything about that?"

"Only rumors. The old families, the ones who ruled before everything collapsed." Lyra stepped off the treadmill. "They say those bloodlines carry power in their veins. Real power. Not the borrowed kind most people use now."

"And you believe that?"

She shrugged. "I've seen stranger things."

Kael threw a few punches at the bag, testing his shoulders. They still ached from the gauntlet fight.

"The Covenant," he said between punches. "What do you know about them?"

"Enough to stay away." Lyra grabbed a towel. "They're collectors. They hunt down artifacts, relics, anything with power. And they're not picky about how they get them."

"Why would they want me dead?"

"Because you're not just a person to them. You're a potential weapon. And the Covenant doesn't like weapons they can't control."

Kael stopped punching. "That's a comforting thought."

"Just telling you what I know." Lyra headed toward the exit. "Watch your back, Kael. Finn wasn't the only one working for them. I guarantee it."

She left.

Kael went back to hitting the bag, harder now. His mind churned through everything. Marcus's betrayal. The attack on campus. Finn in the arena. Everyone wanted something from him, and he didn't even understand what he had.

His phone buzzed. A text from Dorian.

"Meet me at the old chapel. One hour. Come alone."

Kael stared at the message. Nothing about it felt right. But ignoring Dorian felt worse.

He grabbed his stuff and left.

The old chapel was on the far edge of campus, abandoned for decades. Vines covered the walls, and most of the windows were broken. Students told ghost stories about it, but nobody actually went inside.

Kael pushed open the heavy wooden door. It creaked loud enough to wake the dead.

Inside, the chapel was dark except for moonlight streaming through broken stained glass. Dorian stood near the altar, examining something on the ground.

"You came," Dorian said without turning around.

"Your message didn't leave much room for argument." Kael walked down the center aisle. "What's this about?"

"I found something. Something that belongs to your family." Dorian stepped aside, revealing what he'd been looking at.

A metal object lay on the stone floor. It looked like a gauntlet, ancient and covered in strange symbols. The metal itself seemed to pulse with a faint inner light.

"What is that?" Kael asked.

"A relic from the old wars. Your ancestors wore these into battle." Dorian knelt beside it. "This one's been hidden here for over a century. I've been searching for it since I found you."

Kael moved closer, drawn to it despite himself. "Why?"

"Because it will only respond to Draven blood. If you really are who I think you are, it'll wake up when you touch it."

"And if I'm not?"

"Then nothing happens, and we figure out plan B." Dorian stood. "But I don't think that's the case."

Kael stared at the gauntlet. Part of him wanted to walk away. Pretend none of this was real. But that option had disappeared the moment those Veil Walkers attacked him.

He reached out slowly.

The moment his fingers touched the metal, pain exploded through his arm.

Kael gasped, tried to pull away, but his hand was stuck. The symbols on the gauntlet began to glow, bright blue, burning hot. Energy coursed up his arm, into his chest, spreading through his entire body.

"Dorian, what's happening?" Kael shouted.

"It's waking up! Don't fight it!"

But fighting was all Kael knew how to do. He pulled harder, trying to break free. The energy intensified, and suddenly images flooded his mind.

Battles. Hundreds of them. Warriors wearing armor like this, commanding elements with their bare hands. Fire. Lightning. Earth splitting open.

And then he saw himself. Older, scarred, standing over a field of fallen enemies. Power radiating from him like a sun.

The vision shattered.

Kael stumbled backward, gasping. The gauntlet fell to the floor, no longer glowing.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded.

Before Dorian could answer, the chapel doors exploded inward.

Four figures in black rushed inside. Veil Walkers.

"They tracked the relic," Dorian said, drawing a blade from inside his coat. "Get behind me!"

But Kael wasn't listening. Something inside him had changed. The energy from the gauntlet was still there, burning under his skin, demanding release.

The first Veil Walker lunged at him.

Kael moved without thinking. He threw a punch, and blue light erupted from his fist. The energy hit the attacker square in the chest, sending him flying backward through a wooden pew.

Kael stared at his hand. The light was still there, flickering around his knuckles.

"Impossible," one of the Veil Walkers hissed. "He's awakening already."

The remaining three attacked together.

Dorian intercepted one, his blade flashing in the moonlight. But the other two came straight for Kael.

Instinct took over. Kael ducked the first strike and countered with an uppercut. More blue energy exploded from the impact, and the second Veil Walker went down hard.

The third one hesitated, clearly not expecting this.

Kael didn't give him time to think. He closed the distance and grabbed the attacker by the throat. Energy surged from his hand, and the Veil Walker screamed before going limp.

Kael dropped him, breathing hard.

Dorian finished off his opponent and turned to stare at Kael. "Well. That's new."

"What just happened?" Kael's hands were still glowing, but the light was fading now.

"Your bloodline woke up. Faster than I expected." Dorian looked at the fallen Veil Walkers. "They'll send more. Stronger ones. The Covenant, the Order, everyone's going to want you now."

Kael looked at his hands. They looked normal again, but he could still feel the energy inside him. Waiting. Coiled like a spring.

"I don't know how to control this," he said quietly.

"That's why you're going to train. Every day. Every night if you have to." Dorian picked up the gauntlet and handed it to Kael. "This is yours now. Keep it close. It'll help you focus."

Kael took it carefully. The metal was warm but no longer painful.

"What am I supposed to do now?"

"Survive," Dorian said simply. "Because everyone's going to be coming for you. And next time, they won't be sending scouts."

Kael looked down at the gauntlet in his hands.

His life had just gotten a lot more complicated.