The Name Buried in Light
The note haunted Kael through the night.
"Before the world claims you, remember who you were."
He held it in his hand until the candlelight dimmed. Each word felt like a whisper into the void, as though someone had reached through time just to speak to him. Not a threat. Not a warning.
But a plea.
It was still there in the morning, untouched by wind or dew. Kael stared at it as if expecting it to disappear, but it remained real, persistent, impossible to ignore.
Sister Marien had noticed his troubled look during morning tea. She didn't ask immediately, just sat across from him while he stirred honey into his cup without drinking.
"That look," she finally said. "Is not one of someone who had a restful night."
Kael hesitated. Then he handed her the note.
She read it in silence. Her fingers tightened slightly around the edge.
"I thought it was just a dream," he said. "But it wasn't. Someone left this. For me."
Marien set the paper down with care. "Glayvern has an old library in the southern district. It's been locked for ten years, ever since the last mana quake disrupted the ley lines underneath."
Kael looked up. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because something is calling you. And when magic calls, it rarely waits."
---
Glayvern's old library was built into a hill, its stone exterior carved with ancient scripts no longer taught in common schools. It had once been a sacred place for record keepers and arcanists, but had long since fallen into disuse.
The gates were rusted shut. But when Kael reached out, a soft pulse of warmth spread from his palm. The chains unlocked with a quiet clink, falling away as if they had simply forgotten their purpose.
Inside, silence.
Bookshelves stretched like shadows, towering over narrow aisles. Dust clung to every surface. A few magical lanterns still hovered above the tables, dim but flickering faintly, reacting to his presence.
Kael wandered deeper, guided by instinct more than sight.
He turned a corner and saw it.
A pedestal bathed in pale light from a skylight above. Upon it, a single book. No title. Bound in leather blacker than night.
He approached slowly, heart pounding.
As his fingers brushed the surface, letters emerged across the cover not carved, not inked, but formed from light itself.
"Ardynus."
The name made his chest tighten. He didn't know why. It was like hearing a lullaby you'd forgotten, but remembered the moment you closed your eyes.
He opened the book.
Blank pages all except one.
"You are not the first Kael."
A ripple of cold traveled down his spine.
Before he could react, the torches on the walls flared to life. Symbols carved into the ceiling began to glow, casting the chamber in golden illumination.
Then, from the floor, light rose shaping itself into a figure.
A projection.
A man.
Tall. Long silver hair. Robes of deep violet and white. His face bore Kael's features, but older. Wiser. Tired.
"If you are seeing this," the figure said, "then the seal has weakened, and the time draws near."
Kael stepped back, startled.
"Who are you?"
"I am Ardynus. Once High Healer of the Fifth Sanctum. Keeper of the Lightbound Codex. And... the soul who came before you."
Kael's breath caught. "You're saying... I'm your reincarnation?"
"Not quite. You are the vessel chosen to carry what remains of me. The echoes of a soul lost to time."
The room pulsed with quiet power.
Ardynus continued. "You died once, in a world not meant to hold your light. And so the goddess took pity. She gathered what strength remained of you and of me and gave us a second chance."
Kael shook his head. "Why me? I was no one. I didn't save anyone. I just... tried to be good."
"And that was enough."
The image of Ardynus flickered slightly.
"But know this. The world you now walk is breaking. The balance that once held the darkness at bay has begun to fray. And you, Kael Ardyn, are the fulcrum upon which its fate may turn."
Kael fell to his knees, overwhelmed.
"I can barely heal a scratch. How can I be anyone's savior?"
"Because you remember pain. You understand loss. And soon, you will remember more."
The book in Kael's hands began to glow.
"Take it. Read it. Within its pages lies not just knowledge, but memory. Pieces of a life once lived. Let them awaken. Let them guide you."
And with that, Ardynus faded.
Only silence remained.
---
Kael emerged from the library near dusk, the sky a tapestry of amber and rose.
Sister Marien was waiting outside.
She saw the book in his arms, the fire in his eyes.
"So," she said softly, "you found him."
Kael nodded. "I think... he found me."
Marien looked up at the setting sun. "Then your journey has truly begun."
---
That night, Kael could not sleep.
He read.
And as he did, the words danced across the pages. Not just lessons. Visions. Feelings. Memories.
He saw battlefields soaked in golden light. Healing circles the size of cities. Voices chanting his name not in praise, but in desperate hope.
He saw a woman her eyes blue like the stars. She smiled at him across time.
"Don't forget me."
The image vanished before he could understand it.
His head throbbed. But he kept reading.
Because the past was no longer something he could run from.
It was waking up inside him.
He saw flashes of conversations he never remembered having.
A man with a crimson blade saying, "You could've stopped this."
A child crying in his arms, calling him "Master Ardynus."
And fire. A temple burning. A circle of light holding back the void.
Kael cried out in his sleep, but no one heard.
When he awoke, the book was still open. And on the next page, a new message had appeared:
"They will come for you."
---
To be continued...
---
💌 Reader's Teaser – Next Chapter
đź“ś The book awakens not only memories, but power.
⚔️ And as Kael begins to unlock Ardynus's sealed abilities… a hunter from the capital is dispatched to retrieve him by force, if needed.
> 🔥 Don't miss Chapter 6 – "Legacy of the Vessel"
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