WebNovels

Chapter 23 - Chapter 23: The Fourth That Was Never Named

"Every oath breaks something. One broke a brother."

---

The wind howled across the Ash Plains of Thirel.

Buried beneath a tomb no longer marked on any map, a name stirred — one never spoken since the day the trio swore their oath.

The gods had erased him from prophecy.

The world forgot.

Even Aeyana, even Kael… even Rhaelor had forgotten.

But now… as their voices echoed the Oath again…

He remembered.

---

In the silence beneath that scorched earth, a boy's whisper echoed through the bones of dead empires:

> "You left me."

---

17 Years Ago – The Day of the First Oath

Four children had stood beneath a blood moon, palms slit with ceremonial daggers.

Aeyana.

Kael.

Rhaelor.

And… Tharion.

But just before they could swear as four, the sky cracked.

The Silencers descended.

They tore Tharion away — calling him cursed, broken, wrong.

Aeyana had screamed his name.

But Rhaelor hesitated.

Kael turned away.

Tharion was dragged into the Veil of the Unnamed.

And the oath was rewritten — for three.

---

Now, in the catacombs of the forgotten realm, Tharion awoke.

Not as the boy who was taken.

But as something far darker.

The Broken Flame.

The Fourth Without a God.

The Bearer of the Nameless Curse.

---

A single whisper came from his bloodless lips:

> "Let them remember me. Let them suffer in knowing they forgot."

---

In his left eye burned void.

In his right — a crimson ring that pulsed like a god's heartbeat.

He rose, clothed in ash and memory.

Above, a divine voice tried to reach him:

> "Tharion. We spared you. We sealed you to protect them."

He laughed — raw, quiet.

> "You feared me. Because even without a god… I chose my own flame."

---

Far away, Aeyana jolted awake.

Her hands trembled.

> "Something's wrong. Someone's pulling at the vow."

Kael stiffened.

Rhaelor paled.

> "It can't be. We would've felt it."

> "Unless…" Kael whispered, "…the gods sealed our memories."

---

And Aeyana's voice broke

like a string on a cursed harp:

> "There was a fourth."

---

End of Chapter 23: The Fourth That Was Never Named

---

More Chapters