Kael didn't sleep that night.
He lay on his bunk in the recruit barracks, staring at the wooden ceiling, while the thing in his chest pulsed like a second heart. Warm. Waiting. Hungry.
Hungry.
He'd crushed the voice down for three years. Ignored it. Pretended it didn't exist. But tonight, after Corvin, after Seraphine, after everything—the Core wouldn't be silent.
You need us. You've always needed us.
Kael closed his eyes. His father's face appeared. Smiling. Burning.
He got up.
The barracks were quiet. Forty men breathing in the dark. Kael pulled on his boots and slipped out into the night.
---
The training yard was empty at this hour. Moonlight painted the practice dummies in silver. Kael walked to the farthest corner, where the wall met the old armory, and sat with his back against cold stone.
"Alright," he whispered. "What do you want?"
The Core pulsed. Warmth spread through his chest, down his arms, into his fingers. For a moment, his hands glowed faint amber.
Then—images.
Not memories. Something else. A man fighting, movements precise, blade singing. Kael watched through someone else's eyes as the man defeated three opponents, disarmed two more, walked away untouched.
Archive, the Core whispered. We keep what we kill.
Kael's eyes snapped open. The images faded. But the knowledge remained—he could feel those movements in his muscles, like he'd practiced them for years.
"Corvin," he breathed. "I didn't kill him."
You didn't need to. Fear is enough. Close enough.
Kael pressed his hand to his chest. The Core was warm. Stronger than this morning. Growing.
Bonds feed us. Fear. Trust. Loyalty. Love.
Love.
Kael laughed—a short, bitter sound. "No one loves me. No one even knows me."
She knows you.
Seraphine's face appeared in his mind. Dark eyes. Sharp smile. The way she'd pressed bread into his hands like it was nothing.
She knows you. She fed you. She touched you. She wants you.
"Stop."
You stopped us for three years. Look where it got you. Alone. Hungry. Hiding.
Kael stood. His hands were shaking.
"I'm not hiding anymore."
---
Dawn came gray and cold.
Kael reported for duty like always. Training. Drills. The endless repetition of movements he'd learned years ago. But today was different. Today, when the drill master demonstrated a new form, Kael didn't just watch—he felt it. His muscles ached to copy it. His hands twitched toward his sword.
Archive, the Core whispered. Learn. Keep. Use.
After training, a runner found him. "Blackwood wants you. Administration building, third floor."
Kael's heart rate didn't change. He'd expected this.
---
The administration building was old imperial stone, cold even in summer. Third floor was a maze of corridors and closed doors. At the end of the longest hall, a door stood slightly open.
Kael knocked.
"Enter."
Seraphine's office was smaller than he'd expected. Desk covered in papers. Maps on the walls. A single window overlooking the training yard. No decorations. No personal touches. Nothing that said someone lives here.
Seraphine sat behind the desk, reading a report. She didn't look up. "Close the door. Sit."
Kael sat.
She finished reading, set down the paper, and met his eyes. "I found your questioner."
Kael's body went still.
"Name's Vex. Well, that's the family name. The actual person is a middleman—works for Lord Vex, your father's old friend." Her voice was flat. Professional. "Lord Vex has been asking quiet questions about the Renford boy for months. Paying well. Staying in the shadows."
Kael's hands gripped his knees. "Lord Vex. The man who testified against my father."
"The same."
Silence stretched between them.
"Why?" Kael asked finally. "Why now? Why after three years?"
Seraphine leaned back. "That's what we need to find out. But it's not just questions anymore. My sources say someone's been watching you. The last three days. Different faces, but the same pattern." She pulled a paper from her desk. "Yesterday, a man followed you to the mess hall. Today, another watched you train. Tomorrow—"
"Tomorrow they make a move."
"Probably."
Kael should have been afraid. He wasn't. The Core hummed in his chest, eager, hungry.
Let them come.
"Who else knows?" he asked.
"No one. I've kept your file buried for years. As far as the empire knows, Kael Renford died with his father." She paused. "But someone's been digging. Recent. Within the last month. They're getting close."
Kael stood. Walked to the window. Looked down at the training yard where soldiers ran through drills, oblivious.
"What do you want from me?" he asked without turning.
"I want you to survive."
"Why?"
"Because I've spent seven years alone with this. Seven years pretending I didn't watch my father burn. Seven years smiling at the men who killed him." Her voice cracked—just slightly, just once. "I didn't think anyone else survived. I didn't think anyone understood."
Kael turned.
Seraphine stood now, arms crossed, face hard. But her eyes—her eyes were the same as his. Empty. Burning. Waiting.
"I'm not asking you to trust me," she said. "I'm asking you to let me help. We help each other. We find out who's asking questions. We find out why. And then—"
"Then we burn them."
She smiled. Real this time. "Then we burn them."
---
Kael spent the afternoon in Seraphine's office, reading files. The Vex family. Lord Vex's holdings. His associates. His enemies. His daughter, Liana, engaged to a man named Corren Malk, who now held the lands that once belonged to Kael's father.
The same lands. The same house. The same bedroom where Kael had slept as a child.
His hand tightened on the paper.
Focus, the Core whispered. We'll get it back. Everything.
By evening, his head ached from reading. Seraphine made tea—real tea, expensive, stolen from the imperial kitchens. They drank in silence, two survivors sharing a table.
A knock at the door made them both reach for weapons.
"Relax," Seraphine muttered. "It's just my shadow."
She opened the door. A small figure slipped inside—skinny, sharp-eyed, covered in street grime. A girl. Twelve, maybe. Dressed in rags that had never been clean.
"You're late," Seraphine said.
"Got held up. Someone tried to grab my bag." The girl grinned. "They regret it." She spotted Kael. "Oh. You're him. The sad one."
Kael blinked. "What?"
"The sad one. Everyone knows about you. The recruit who never talks, never laughs, just sharpens swords and stares at the execution platform." She walked closer, studying him like a bug. "You're sad. Like, really sad. Want to steal bread with me?"
"This is Rin," Seraphine said. "She works for me. Sometimes. When she feels like it."
"I work for bread." Rin plopped into a chair. "So. Sad guy. What's your name?"
Kael looked at Seraphine. She nodded slightly.
"Kael."
"Kael." Rin tested the name. "Okay. Kael. You got any food?"
"No."
"Can you get food?"
"I—"
"He can," Seraphine interrupted. "But you need to tell him what you saw first."
Rin's expression shifted—still playful, but sharper now. Professional. "Three men. Been watching the barracks for three days. Different faces every time, but same build, same way of moving. Soldiers, but not imperial. Mercenaries, maybe. They asked about a recruit. Young. Quiet. Doesn't talk about his past."
Kael's blood chilled.
"They're planning something," Rin continued. "Tomorrow night. After dark. The alley behind the old granary." She looked at Kael. "That's you, isn't it? The one they want."
Kael didn't answer.
Rin shrugged. "Don't care. You look sad. Sad people need friends. I'm Rin. We're friends now." She stood, stretched. "Got any bread? I did good work. I deserve bread."
Seraphine tossed her a coin. "Get your own bread. And be careful."
Rin caught the coin, grinned, and slipped out the window like she'd done it a thousand times.
Kael stared at the empty window. "She's twelve."
"She's survived longer than most adults. Street rats learn fast." Seraphine poured more tea. "Tomorrow night. The granary. They'll come for you."
"I know."
"What are you going to do?"
Kael thought about it. Three years of hiding. Three years of being nothing. Three years of waiting for a chance that might never come.
The Core pulsed. Warm. Ready.
"Let them come," he said.
---
The alley behind the old granary smelled like rot and old grain.
Kael stood in the shadows, waiting. No weapon—he'd left his training sword behind. The Core hummed in his chest, hungry, eager.
Let them come. Let them try.
They came at midnight. Three men, as Rin said. Big. Armed. Professionals.
They didn't see him until he stepped out of the shadows.
"Looking for someone?"
The lead man spun, hand going to his sword. "You're the recruit. The quiet one."
"I'm the one you've been watching. I'm here. Now what?"
The men spread out, surrounding him. Professional. Trained. The lead man smiled. "Now you come with us. Quietly. Lord Vex wants to meet you."
"Lord Vex." Kael tasted the name. "The man who killed my father."
"Your father killed himself with treason. Lord Vex just told the truth." The man drew his sword. "Come quietly, or come bleeding. Makes no difference to us."
The Core surged.
Kael moved.
Later, he couldn't explain what happened. One moment he was surrounded. The next, the first man was on the ground, sword arm broken, screaming. The second man swung—Kael ducked, grabbed his wrist, twisted. Bone cracked. The third man ran.
Kael let him.
He stood in the alley, breathing hard, hands shaking. The Core blazed in his chest—not painful, but powerful. Alive.
Yes, it whispered. Yes. More. Give us more.
Kael looked at the two men on the ground. One unconscious. One moaning, clutching his arm.
He crouched beside the conscious one. "Tell Lord Vex I'm coming for him."
The man's eyes widened with fear.
Kael stood. Walked away. Didn't look back.
---
Seraphine was waiting on the rooftop when he climbed up.
"Three men," she said. "Two down. One ran. Not bad."
Kael sat beside her. His hands were still shaking. "The Core—it moved. I didn't control it. It just... happened."
"That's what it does. That's what blood magic does." She looked at him. "You're not just a survivor, Kael. You're a weapon. The question is: who will you point yourself at?"
Kael stared at the city below. Lights flickered in windows. Normal people living normal lives. He'd never be one of them.
"Lord Vex," he said. "He's the one asking questions. He's the one who wants me. He's the one who killed my father."
"Probably. But he's also powerful. Connected. Untouchable, for now." Seraphine leaned closer. "You need more than rage. You need information. Allies. Time."
"I have you."
She smiled—soft, surprised. "You have me. And Rin. And maybe, soon, others." She reached out, touched his hand. "You're not alone anymore, Kael. That's the most dangerous thing you can be in this city."
Kael looked at her hand on his. Warm. Real.
The Core pulsed—not hunger this time. Something else. Something that felt almost like...
He crushed the thought before it could form.
But he didn't move his hand.