Zyra and the redhead woman wanted Kael to leave the temple. However before he could even take a step toward leaving, Isolde's voice cut through the silence.
"Or perhaps not… He didn't stumble here by accident. He was summoned."
Kael blinked, a little in disbelief by her words. He was summoned?
He knew that wasn't true. He'd simply taken a detour on his way to the well.
She was mistaken, but he didn't correct her. Not yet. Curiosity pinned him in place.
Isolde stepped closer, resting a hand on his arm. Her touch was gentle, but her gaze was anything but. It burned with conviction.
"I don't believe it's a coincidence you found us," she said, eyes searching his eyes. "No mere whim brought you here. Vaelyrion weaves fates beyond our sight."
She looked at him like he was a sign, or some sort of messenger or 'chosen one' as she had said it earlier.
Kael nearly laughed in her face.
He wasn't sent by anyone. Definitely not by some nonexistent god, with a strange name. Not by fate. He just walked in, simple as that.
Isolde's voice dropped into something softer, almost reverent.
"Tell me, stranger. What brings you to this forgotten temple?"
Kael's thoughts churned, sharp and fast. This was an opportunity. What if he claimed divine guidance, just to see how far they would go. Would they let him participate in their…. Rituals?
Kael wasn't interested in their rituals, only the part with no clothes on, he wouldn't mind that.
A sly grin flickered, but he quickly masked it.
"I… I believe I was led here. I felt a… a pull. A whisper. It spoke of… Vaelyrion."
The red haired woman scoffed, "Lies! He's just a peeping pervert."
Zyra hissed, "Agreed sister Ophelia, good to know you're not as blind as everyone else." She glared at Kael, "He is a trespasser! He should be punished!"
But Isolde silenced them with a gesture. Her gaze fixed on Kael, unreadable. "Silence. I sense the spirit of Vaelyrion in this one, strange." She said,
Kael chuckled internally. 'Vaelyrion, huh?' These people are definitely weird. Outwardly however, he maintained a look of earnest reverence.
Isolde turned to the others. "He has been sent by Vaelyrion. I feel it in my spirit."
"Sister, you keep saying that. How about you prove it?" Ophelia, the red haired woman demanded.
Skeptical murmurs rippled through the nude women. Some were skeptical, some were quick to believe the leader Isolde. Zyra had the biggest frown across her face and she was the loudest of them all, calling for Kael's punishment.
The leader's eyes flashed with anger and she stared at Ophelia and Zyra, the two loudest women, "You claim to serve Vaelyrion, yet you dare question his chosen One? Bring the Crystal of Revelation. Now!"
A robed woman hurried to a niche, returning with a palm-sized crystal pulsing with faint light. The leader took it reverently.
"This crystal," she announced, holding it aloft, "Is the Heart of Vaelyrion," she proclaimed, her voice resonant with high regard, "It kindles only for those anointed by his will. If he is truly chosen, its fire will speak.
She offered it to Kael. "Place your hand upon it, stranger. Let Vaelyrion's light reveal the truth."
Kael's heart hammered. He didn't believe any of this, but curiosity and opportunism outweighed doubt. He reached out hesitantly. The moment his fingers touched the crystal, it flared with a brilliant, vibrant light, bathing the chamber in an ethereal glow.
A collective gasp swept through the women. Their eyes widened in shock and awe. Even Ophelia and Zyra, once doubtful of Kael, seemed stunned.
Isolde recovered quickly, her eyes shining with fervent belief. "See? Vaelyrion has spoken! He has sent us his choice, this man is the one."
She turned to the others, her voice filled with conviction. "Doubt no more! The Blessed One has guided him to us."
Kael stared at the glowing crystal, a bemused expression on his face. He had no idea how this happened, but he wasn't about to question it.
He knew he wasn't the chosen like the woman claimed, but he let them believe it, because the possibilities were certainly intriguing. He offered a slow, deliberate nod, playing the part. "It seems… your god has indeed led me here."
A wave of murmurs and excited whispers rippled through the group. Suspicion vanished, replaced by worshipful awe, even Zyra and Ophelia believed in him now. The leader approached Kael, her voice almost worshipping. "Welcome, Chosen of Vaelyrion. We have awaited a sign. Perhaps… you are it. Through you, Vaelyrion will be reborn."
Kael had no idea what she meant by that, neither did he care because all he could think about was… other things . He met her gaze, a subtle smirk playing on his lips. "It would seem so," he agreed, his voice laced with newfound confidence.
Throughout the next few minutes, surrounded by the temple members, Kael played his role with careful grace, his every word measured, his silence even more so. They believed in him now, and almost believed he should be worshipped. And worship, he was starting to realize, came with perks
A few minutes after, Isolde handed the crystal to a woman closest to her, and then she instructed everyone to abandon the chamber with the excuse of having a word with Vaelyrion's chosen one.
Kael was surprised, and even more so disappointed, because he didn't want everyone to leave.
Everyone emptied the room so fast, and soon enough it was only him and the leader, 'Isolde the mistress' they'd called her.
She stood too close, close enough that her scent teased his senses. There was reverence in her eyes, yes, but something else flickered there. Curiosity. Hunger.
Kael let his thoughts wander. Did she kick everyone out because she wanted to be alone with him? It made sense. Since he was the chosen one in her eyes, she might want to be the the first one to devote herself to him.
"You truly have no memory of Vaelyrion's will?" she asked, almost breathless, drawing him out of his thoughts, and even the way she spoke changed. She was speaking poetically earlier, but now she was sounding a bit normal. Maybe it was an act she put up Infront of the others?
He let a faint shadow of a smirk play at his lips. "Only fragments… images. Fire. Desire. A woman, kneeling." His eyes dropped deliberately to her lips, then lower to her cleavage on the robe.
Isolde swallowed, cheeks flushed, but she didn't move away. Instead, she stepped even closer, her hand grazing the edge of his clothes deliberate in her boldness.
"The body is the first vessel of truth," she murmured, almost like a prayer. "And pleasure… is sacred in his name."
Again, Kael had no idea what she was saying, but neither did he care. He said nothing, he didn't need to. The hardness pressing against the fabric of his trousers had already made his interest known.
She noticed it. But in Kael's defence this was not entirely his fault. Her gaze dipped, and her breath hitched again.
She stepped even closer. Kael thought she was about to do something about it, after all she had kicked everyone out so that only the two of them could remain. But then she turned around abruptly.
Kael raised an eyebrow at her sudden withdrawal, "Is something wrong?"
When she turned to look at him again she said, "I know you're not really Vaelyrion's chosen."
Kael's breath caught, not from the anticipation, but from her words. She didn't believe him?
"Stop pretending, young man."
He had been discovered. The air grew thick. He didn't move or blink.
"What?"
Her eyes sparkled, not with anger, but with certainty. She paced around him slowly, her voice soft but sharp, each syllable like a thread pulling at the illusion he'd woven.
"But that crystal, " he started, trying to use the fact that the crystal had responded to him as proof.
"Yes. The crystal responded to you. That much is true." She stepped behind him, her fingertips brushing lightly across his shoulder. "But it's not because you were sent. It's because something is within you."
Kael turned slightly, eyes narrowing. "What do you mean? What is within me?"
Isolde stepped in front of him again, gaze locked to his. "I don't know if it's divine favor, a forgotten bloodline, or some dormant power, but the crystal doesn't lie. It doesn't choose randomly." Her expression turned almost tender. "You may be pretending, but you were still meant to be here, even if you don't know it yet."
Isolde's voice lowered, more intimate now, as though she were revealing a secret not meant for the walls.
"It's alright to be doubtful of this. But I wonder…" Her eyes studied him with unnerving clarity. "Do you even know what you are?"
What do you mean?" Kael's heart thudded. What kind of question was that? How was he even supposed to answer it?
Kael thought about the rest of the things she's said,, and he didn't like how close her words felt to the truth… a truth even he hadn't fully uncovered.
He thought about it again, but carefully this time. And he began to realize that maybe she was right. When he looked towards the temple earlier, he indeed felt something he couldn't explain, the need to walk into the temple and see what was inside.
And when he stepped inside? The strangest part wasn't the chanting or the women or even the crystal. It was the symbol etched into the stone floor, ancient, deliberate… and identical to the one carved into the hilt of his sword.
That couldn't be a coincidence. It made him think that maybe, just maybe, the sword is connected to this, or maybe to the god she was speaking of.
He looked at the woman again, but before he could speak, she laid a hand gently against his cheek. Her voice softened, almost mournful.
"Keep the sword close, Kael," she said. "There's a shift coming. Something in your life is about to change, and you will need it,"
His breath hitched and eyes widened. 'The fuck! She knows my name. And about the sword. How is that possible?
The sword was a secret only him, Syvia and Mira knew about, no one else. Not even a single outside person had seen it or heard of it. it was kept a secret from everyone else because of its nature, so how did this woman know about it?
Kael's expression didn't flinch, but tension hummed beneath his skin. "You know my name. You know about the sword. Should I be worried?" He asked casually. Something told him he shouldn't worry about her and she can't harm him, hence he was so composed.
Even if she was a threat, Kael wouldn't have been worried. He wasn't some helpless young man who didn't know how to defend himself. He kept his abilities quiet—didn't feel the need to show off—but sometimes he couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't like everyone else. He was stronger, faster than most people he'd met. And since the first time he'd touched a sword, he realized he had a natural skill with it, even though he'd never been trained. That was just one of the many things about himself that felt... unusual.
Isolde watched him thoughtfully, smiled, enigmatically and calmly as she said. "No. Quite the opposite, actually. But I won't tell you more. Some truths must find you… not the other way around."
She stepped back, her gaze lingering for a moment longer. "You should return home now. Mira and Sylvia are getting concerned."
Kael frowned. How the hell did she know about Mira and Sylvia? And more importantly… How much did she actually know about him?
"Okay… Who the hell are you?"
She turned toward the chamber's door, her voice drifting back like the last note of a haunting lullaby.
"Just a servant… of Vaelyrion. We'll meet again. Come find me at the Temple of the Sanctum of the Veil."
Then, without another word, she walked out of the room.
Kael stood frozen. The confusion in his chest was starting to outmatch the fear. Whatever boner energy he had earlier had long since vanished.
She freaked him out—and that was saying something. Isolde didn't just know his name. She knew things... things he hadn't told anyone.
It was like she had been watching him and learning about him, it was like she knew more about him than he, himself did.
Kael didn't linger at the temple. He left quickly, the weight of Isolde's words pressing on him.
By the time he got home, the sky was darkening. He sat on his bed, heart racing. He couldn't stop thinking about her, how much she knew, and what she had told him.
How could she know so much about him?