Part 4
The silence that followed the explosion of energy was so deep that Kael could hear raindrops tapping against the leaves.
He struggled to breathe.
His chest felt constricted, as if an invisible hand were gripping it tightly.
Eryon stood motionless before him.
He did not even seem to have exerted himself.
The Guardians tried to get back on their feet. Some were coughing up blood. Others could barely hold on to their weapons.
Lyra was the first to stand.
She drove her sword into the ground to support herself.
Her hands were trembling.
"No... he can't have this much power..."
Eryon watched her with unsettling calm.
"It has been centuries since the last time I crossed swords with a Guardian of the Forest. I see that time has not been kind to your order."
Lyra answered with a defiant look.
"Even so... you won't get past us."
A faint smile appeared beneath the stranger's hood.
"Courage is admirable... but it doesn't change the outcome."
He took a step forward.
Just one.
And the air began to vibrate again.
The earth started cracking around his feet.
Kael felt the Mark on his arm burning again.
It wasn't the same pain as before.
Now it seemed to be... reacting to Eryon's presence.
The stranger noticed immediately.
"Interesting..."
He moved a few more yards closer.
"The Relic has already recognized you."
Kael stepped back.
"What do you want from me?"
Eryon tilted his head slightly.
"To save this world."
The answer left everyone bewildered.
Even Lyra frowned.
"Save it?"
Eryon looked up at the gray sky.
"The gods made a mistake a thousand years ago."
"Their mistake was sealing away the true power of Aether."
"Now that seal is weakening."
"And when it falls..."
"Nothing you know will continue to exist."
Kael shuddered.
For an instant, the man's words sounded sincere.
But Lyra stepped forward.
"Don't listen to him!"
Kael looked at her.
She spoke firmly.
"Eryon always tells the truth..."
"But he never tells the whole story."
The stranger's eyes flashed for an instant.
"You're still as distrustful as your teacher."
"She died fighting you."
"No."
Eryon slowly shook his head.
"She died trying to protect a secret that should never have existed."
Silence fell over the clearing once more.
Kael was beginning to understand that this story was far older than he had imagined.
And that he was caught in the middle of a conflict that had begun centuries before his birth.
Then...
The Mark began to glow again.
With far greater intensity.
Kael dropped to his knees.
A torrent of images flooded his mind.
He saw a city built upon enormous golden roots.
He saw an ocean illuminated by crystal creatures.
He saw seven empty thrones.
And finally...
He saw a dark-haired man holding a newborn child in his arms.
The man was smiling.
Kael felt his heart lurch.
It was his father.
The vision changed.
His father was speaking with a woman with long white hair in front of the same silver tree.
"If the Mark ever awakens..."
"Don't let Eryon find him."
The image vanished.
Kael's eyes flew open.
He was breathing with difficulty.
"My... father..."
Lyra hurried over.
"What did you see?"
It took Kael a few seconds to answer.
"He... knew this place."
The color drained from Lyra's face.
"That's impossible..."
"I saw him."
"He was here."
"And he knew what was going to happen."
Eryon watched the scene with growing interest.
"So Alaric left memories within the Aether..."
"He was always more intelligent than the others thought."
Kael raised his head.
"You knew my father?"
For the first time, Eryon fell silent.
Then he answered in a low voice.
"I knew him very well."
"He was my friend."
The answer struck like a bolt of lightning.
Kael felt the world sway beneath him again.
For ten years, he had believed his father was merely an explorer who had disappeared in the mountains.
Now he discovered that his father had been connected to the man capable of cracking the ground with a single movement.
And to a secret that had remained hidden for centuries.
But before he could ask another question...
A horn sounded in the distance.
One deep note.
Then another.
And one more.
The Guardians looked up.
One of the archers smiled for the first time since the battle began.
"Reinforcements!"
Lyra breathed a sigh of relief.
"They made it..."
Eryon heard the sound as well.
However...
He did not seem concerned.
On the contrary.
He smiled.
"Perfect..."
"The more witnesses there are..."
"The faster they'll understand that the old era is over."
He slowly raised his right hand.
A sphere of liquid darkness began forming above his palm, absorbing the light around it.
The entire forest seemed to hold its breath.
And Kael understood that the real battle... was about to begin.
End of Part 4.