By sunrise, Payra was buzzing. Not the pleasant hum of a market day — this was sharper, hungrier.The "Did you hear about the Kael boy?" kind of buzz.
At tea stalls, taverns, and smoky alley corners, voices leaned low but urgent."They say he fought that beast bare-handed.""No, no — my cousin swears he saw it! The thing couldn't even touch him. Like he knew every move before it happened.""Wtf… that's not normal, right?""Normal? That's not even human."
Some swore Karn Kael was blessed by the Sun. Others whispered he was cursed by it.
On the balcony of the Kael estate, Karn sat on the railing, legs dangling, watching the city breathe. He didn't need to hear the words to know what they were saying. His strange, heightened sense was like a net catching every flicker of attention, every darting glance from below.
Leina plopped down beside him, crunching into an apple."You've officially become Payra's favorite bedtime story."Karn snorted. "Great. Can't wait for the bedtime mob with pitchforks."She grinned. "Nah, half of them think you're a hero.""And the other half?""They think you're cursed… or a freak."
Karn smirked. "At least they're not bored." But his gaze drifted to the distant council tower, its black spire cutting into the dawn.
Inside that tower, Councilor Darius paced like a predator in a cage. His informants' reports all sang the same unsettling tune:
The beast's wounds didn't match any standard hunter's weapon.
The boy's reaction speed was beyond training.
The way his eyes tracked… calculating, inhuman.
Darius stopped pacing, staring out over the city. "You're hiding something, Kael boy," he murmured. "And I will drag it into the light."
But inside the Kael estate, the atmosphere was anything but grim.
In the dining hall, Elara Kael — in full Kushina-like mode — was pacing with a ladle in one hand and a pot bubbling furiously behind her."You go out, risk your life, scare half the city, and then you just sit there like nothing happened?!""Mom, it's not—""Don't 'not' me!" she cut him off, pointing the ladle like a blade. "Do you know how many sleepless hours I had last night? I almost dragged you home mid-fight!"
Varin Kael leaned casually in the doorway, Minato-calm, arms crossed. "To be fair, Elara… if you had gone, the monster would've run away faster."
Elara spun on him with a glare that could make a dragon apologize. "Not. Helping."Varin raised his hands in surrender, smirking. "I'm just saying… our boy handled it.""Handled it?" Elara threw her free hand up. "Do you even know what the council is thinking right now?"
Karn muttered, "Pretty sure they're thinking 'damn, wtf was that.'"
Leina choked on her drink, nearly falling off her chair. Elara sighed, rubbing her temples. "Why is everyone in this family cursed with sarcasm?"
The playful noise filled the hall — clattering dishes, Leina teasing Karn, Varin throwing in dry one-liners, Elara fussing and threatening to "ground him until the sun explodes."
But outside the gates, the mood was entirely different.
Two cloaked figures stood in the shadow of an old willow.They weren't council guards.They weren't even from Payra.
"That's him," one whispered, eyes narrowing. "The boy with the sun-mark."The other's voice was low, gravelly. "Orders?""Not yet. We wait… and watch."
From his seat at the table, Karn's laughter paused for a fraction of a second. His head tilted slightly, eyes narrowing at the distant garden wall. Something was… off.
But Elara smacked the back of his head with the ladle before he could focus on it."Eat your breakfast before it gets cold!""Yes, ma'am…"
The warmth of the Kael household swelled again, but outside, the noose was already tightening. Karn was no longer just the city's gossip. He was a target.