The Whispering Woods – Midnight
Silas staggered through moonlit trees, Kael's unconscious form slung over his shoulder. Blood dripped from the Sorcerer's severed wrists (regrown but aching) and shattered ribs. Every step sent agony through him.
Why save him?
The answer hissed in his mind: The entity. That black power wasn't human… or even Kael.
Flashback – Arena Aftermath:
Silas's last glimpse of the palace grounds:
King Aldric screaming as knights dragged him inside.
William's bloodied hand grasping at Erec's torn leg.
Varric's ice-crusted glare following Silas into the dark.
They'll hunt us both now.
Miller's Rest – Weaver's Quarter
Emma bolted upright in bed, heart pounding.
"Didi?" Maria mumbled, clutching her stuffed rabbit.
"Shh…" Emma whispered, peering through the shutters. The street was empty… but the air thrummed with wrongness. Like the calm before a storm.
Silas's Hidden Cave
Silas laid Kael on a stone slab deep within an earth-walled chamber. Blue moss glowed softly, revealing:
Kael's skin: cracked like desert clay, veins pulsing black beneath.
His breath: ice-cold.
Around his neck: a dark mark shaped like a coiled serpent – new.
Silas placed his regrown hand over Kael's chest. Magic flared – diagnostic spells, probing layers of energy.
What are you?
The answer wasn't Kael's heartbeat. It was a voice from the mark:
""Sorcerer… you taste of regret. He will remember your sister's screams when we wear his skin.""
Silas recoiled. The entity speaks.
Palace Infirmary
William coughed, bandages soaked through. Erec lay silent, one leg gone. Varric paced, frost crackling at his fingertips.
"The Sorcerer betrayed us!" Varric snarled. "He took that monster!"
King Aldric entered, eyes fever-bright. "Enough. Mobilize every SSS-Rank hunter. Offer a kingdom's ransom for Kael Jones' head – and Silas Vayne's alive. I want answers carved from his bones."
The Cave – Dawn
Kael's eyes snapped open – pure black, no whites.
Silas raised a warding hand, but Kael spoke in a broken, dual-layered voice (his own + the entity's guttural growl):
"Emma… Maria… they're crying. He hurts them."
A vision flooded Silas's mind: Miller's Rest in flames. King Aldric's knights kicking down the door. Maria's doll trampled in the mud.
Kael/Entity smiled, tears of black ooze streaking his cheeks.
"Run, Sorcerer. Run fast…"
He vanished – not teleportation. He melted into the shadows.
Silas stared at the empty slab. The coil-mark on his own wrist (mirroring Kael's) burned.
Two paths:
1. Chase Kael to save the Millers… and risk unleashing the entity fully.
2. Warn the King… and condemn Kael to death.
He grabbed his cloak. Somewhere,
Time to choose.
(Chapter 24