2026-07-05 19:56:53The question lingered in the air.
"Who are your parents?"
Kael stared across the campfire at Darius, unsure how to answer.
"I... don't really know."
Darius frowned.
"You don't know?"
Kael shook his head slowly.
"I was only a baby when they died."
The crackling fire was the only sound for a few moments.
Finally, Kael drew a slow breath.
"The village elder told me their names were Rowan and Elara Ashryn."
Darius's expression remained unreadable.
"They died during the Great Ashcroft Fire seventeen years ago."
Kael lowered his eyes to the dancing flames.
"At least... that's what everyone says."
"And you remember nothing?"
"Only fragments."
He closed his eyes.
"A woman's voice singing."
"A man lifting me onto his shoulders."
"The smell of smoke."
"Then... nothing."
His fingers unconsciously tightened around the blanket.
"When I was old enough to understand, the villagers told me my parents brought disaster to Ashcroft."
"They called them cursed."
"They said the storm that destroyed half the village happened because of my family."
A bitter smile crossed his face.
"Eventually, they stopped blaming my parents."
"They blamed me instead."
Darius listened without interrupting.
Years of experience had taught him how to recognize lies.
Everything Kael said carried the awkward honesty of someone recounting painful memories.
No hesitation.
No deception.
Only loneliness.
"What about relatives?" Darius asked.
"None."
"Friends?"
Kael laughed quietly.
"You've seen how people treat me."
Darius couldn't argue with that.
He had passed through Ashcroft years ago.
Even then, whispers about the cursed child had followed him through the village streets.
At the time, he had dismissed them as frightened superstition.
Now...
He wasn't so sure.
"Did your parents leave you anything?" Darius asked.
Kael thought for a moment.
"Only one thing."
He reached beneath his shirt and pulled out a worn leather cord.
Hanging from it was a small silver necklace.
The pendant was unlike anything Darius had ever seen.
It resembled a black crystal encased within silver vines that twisted into unfamiliar symbols.
Despite its age, the metal hadn't tarnished.
It looked untouched by time.
"I've worn it since I was a child," Kael explained.
"The village elder said it belonged to my mother."
"I've never been able to open it."
Darius's breathing slowed.
His eyes narrowed.
"May I see it?"
Kael hesitated.
For seventeen years, it had been the only thing connecting him to his parents.
Yet something about Darius made him feel...
Safe.
He carefully removed the necklace and handed it over.
The moment Darius's fingers touched the pendant—
His eyes widened.
"No..."
His voice was barely a whisper.
"This can't be..."
Kael leaned forward.
"What is it?"
Darius turned the necklace over several times, examining every engraved line.
His usually steady hands trembled ever so slightly.
"I've seen this design before."
"You have?"
"Years ago."
"Where?"
Darius remained silent.
Instead, he reached into his pack and withdrew a small cloth.
He carefully wiped away the dirt covering the pendant.
As the grime disappeared, ancient runes became visible along the silver frame.
Darius froze.
"I don't believe it..."
"What?"
"These aren't decorations."
"They're seals."
Kael frowned.
"Seals?"
"Ancient ones."
Darius looked at him sharply.
"Do you know how old this necklace is?"
Kael shook his head.
"No."
"It should be impossible for anyone to make something like this today."
A chill ran down Kael's spine.
"What do you mean?"
Darius stared into the fire.
"There were once seven legendary bloodlines."
"They vanished centuries ago."
"Their relics disappeared with them."
He looked back at the pendant.
"I saw sketches of one during a military expedition."
His jaw tightened.
"It belonged to a royal guardian."
Kael blinked.
"My mother was just a villager."
Darius didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he asked another question.
"Did anyone ever try to take this from you?"
Kael thought carefully.
"No."
"Strange..."
Darius muttered.
"If anyone knew what this truly was..."
He didn't finish the sentence.
Kael noticed the change in his expression.
"You know something."
"A little."
"Tell me."
Darius sighed.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not certain."
Kael's frustration grew.
"Ever since I escaped the capital, everyone keeps talking as though they know who I am."
"The assassin."
"The voice."
"Now you."
"Just tell me the truth!"
Darius met his gaze.
"If I tell you the wrong truth..."
"...it could get you killed."
Silence returned.
The fire crackled softly between them.
Kael slowly reached for the necklace.
The moment his fingers touched it—
The pendant grew warm.
He frowned.
"Darius..."
The mercenary looked up.
"I didn't do that."
The black crystal inside the pendant began to glow with a faint violet light.
Both men stood instantly.
The runes engraved along the silver frame lit up one after another.
Neither of them touched it.
The necklace floated gently above Kael's palm.
Wind swirled through the campsite.
The campfire bent sideways.
"What is happening?" Kael whispered.
Darius's face turned pale.
"It shouldn't react..."
The glowing intensified.
A sharp click echoed through the forest.
The silver vines surrounding the crystal slowly unfolded like flower petals.
For the first time in seventeen years...
The ancient necklace opened by itself.
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