Chapter 95 - Chapter 95: The Man Who Should Be Dead

The stranger's words echoed through the chamber."I have been waiting for the Heir of Hope."Lyra felt the Hope Mark burning against her skin.Kael immediately stepped in front of her, his sword drawn."Stay behind me."The stranger's eyes remained fixed on Lyra."I didn't come here to hurt her."Seraphine raised her weapon."Then why are you here?"The stranger looked at her.For several seconds, neither of them moved.Then he said quietly,"Because you still haven't learned the truth."Seraphine's expression hardened."I watched you die.""You watched me fall into the fire.""Everyone believed you were dead.""They were supposed to."Garrick tightened his grip around his hammer."I buried your sword."The stranger looked at him."You buried an empty grave."Garrick's face changed."Who are you?"The man slowly removed the remaining pieces of his ancient armor.A scar ran from his left temple down toward his jaw.Garrick stared at him."Caelan…"Aurelia looked between them."You know him?"Garrick nodded slowly."He was Seraphine's first commander."Seraphine said nothing.Lyra noticed her hands trembling.Kael glanced at her."Seraphine?"The Guardian finally spoke."Caelan was the strongest warrior in Ignis."Her eyes remained fixed on the man."He was also the first person I trusted with the Heart of Courage."Caelan gave a bitter smile."Until I failed."Seraphine shook her head."You didn't fail.""I did.""You disappeared.""I was taken."The chamber became silent."By whom?" Lyra asked.Caelan looked at her."The same force that corrupted the Heart."A chill passed through the group.Lyra remembered the vision.The Creator standing beneath an unfamiliar sky.The seven lights.The enormous presence hidden beyond them.She took a cautious step forward."What did you see?"Caelan's expression changed."You saw it too.""Not clearly.""Then you saw enough."He lowered his sword."The thing that existed before the Creator."Lyra's heart raced.Seraphine stepped toward him."Tell us what you know."Caelan looked at the ancient walls."Thousands of years ago, the first civilization discovered a source of power beyond the stars.""That power was called the First Flame.""It wasn't created by the Creator.""It was discovered."Lyra stared at him."Then the Creator found it?"Caelan nodded."The Creator believed the Flame could give life to countless worlds.""But something else was already using it."Garrick's voice became quiet."The presence."Caelan looked at him."We called it the Eternal Void."The torches flickered.Rylan swallowed."That name doesn't sound reassuring.""No," Caelan replied. "It isn't."He continued."The Void wasn't a creature in the way you understand creatures. It had no body, no kingdom, and no fixed form.""It existed between worlds.""It fed on energy, memories, and fear."Lyra remembered the shadow in her vision."What happened?""The Creator tried to take the First Flame."Caelan's eyes hardened."The Void fought back.""The battle destroyed the first civilization.""To save what remained, the Creator divided the First Flame into seven Hearts."Lyra looked down at her glowing hand."The Seven Hearts.""Yes."Caelan's voice lowered."But division came with a price.""What price?" Kael asked."The Creator could no longer control the power alone.""The Hearts became connected to the people who carried them."Seraphine looked at Lyra."Which means…"Caelan nodded."The Hearts don't simply give their bearers power.""They absorb their emotions."Lyra suddenly understood the corruption in Ignis.Fear had fed the Heart of Courage.Compassion had been distorted by Elysia's need to protect.The Hearts weren't merely sources of power.They reflected the people who carried them.Caelan looked toward Seraphine."That's why you failed."Seraphine's expression tightened."I know.""No."Caelan stepped closer."You still don't understand."The black fire surrounding his sword began to glow."You weren't corrupted by fear.""You were corrupted by believing you had to carry everyone alone."Seraphine lowered her weapon.For once, she didn't argue.Caelan turned toward Lyra."And that's why the Sovereign wants you to restore the Hearts."Lyra's expression changed."What?""The more Hearts you restore, the stronger their connection becomes."Kael stepped forward."You're saying we're helping the enemy?"Caelan shook his head."No."He looked directly at Lyra."I'm saying the Sovereign needs the Hearts reunited.""Why?"Caelan's gaze moved toward the ceiling."Because when all seven Hearts awaken…""The First Flame will return."Lyra's heart sank."And then?"Caelan's face became grim."The Eternal Void will have a way back into this world."Before anyone could respond, the mountain shook violently.A crack tore across the floor.From somewhere deep below came a sound that none of them had heard before.A whisper.Then thousands of voices joined it."Hope…"Lyra froze.The Hope Mark burned brighter.Caelan raised his black sword."It's already awake."The chamber walls began to collapse.Seraphine looked at Lyra."We need to leave."Lyra nodded.But before they could move, the darkness beneath the floor opened.A massive eye appeared below them.It was watching Lyra.And somehow…It knew her name."Lyra."She stopped breathing.The voice whispered again.Come home. The eye beneath the floor vanished.For several seconds, no one moved.Lyra could still hear the voice in her mind.Come home.She pressed a hand against her temple.Kael noticed immediately."Lyra?""I'm fine.""You don't look fine.""I heard it."Caelan looked at her sharply."The voice?"Lyra nodded."It called me by my name."Seraphine's expression darkened."Then it has already sensed the Hope within you."Another tremor shook the chamber.This time, pieces of stone fell from the ceiling.Garrick raised his hammer."We can discuss ancient gods after we survive this mountain."Rylan nodded quickly."Finally, someone is thinking practically."Aurelia pointed toward the passage."Move!"They ran.The tunnel behind them began collapsing.Kael stayed beside Lyra, watching the ceiling as they hurried through the narrow passage."Did you recognize that voice?" he asked."No."Lyra hesitated."But somehow, it felt familiar."Kael frowned."Familiar how?""Like I'd heard it before.""Where?""I don't know."She looked at the glowing mark on her hand."That's what scares me."Kael reached for her hand.The moment their fingers touched, the Hope Mark stopped burning.Lyra looked at him in surprise.Kael noticed it too."Maybe it reacts to you.""Or maybe it reacts to trust."A faint smile crossed his face."Either way, I'm not letting go."Lyra squeezed his hand.For the first time since hearing the voice, the fear inside her began to settle.They finally reached the Forge.The chamber looked completely different.The Heart of Courage floated above its pedestal, surrounded by crimson light.Seraphine walked toward it.The Heart responded immediately.A stream of light connected them.Seraphine closed her eyes.Then she gasped.Lyra rushed forward."What did you see?"Seraphine opened her eyes."The Heart showed me the past.""Caelan was right."Her gaze moved toward the former commander."The corruption wasn't created here."Caelan nodded."It came from outside."Seraphine looked at Lyra."And the Sovereign knows."Lyra's stomach tightened."How?""Because the Sovereign was there when the First Flame was divided."Caelan's expression became grim."He wasn't merely a witness.""He helped the Creator."Silence filled the Forge.Kael's eyes narrowed."Then why is he trying to destroy the Hearts?"Caelan answered quietly."Because he believes the Creator made a mistake.""What mistake?""Creating free will."Lyra stared at him.Caelan continued."The Creator gave the Hearts to living beings because power without choice was meaningless.""But the Sovereign believed people could not be trusted with that power.""He wanted the Hearts under one will."Lyra understood."And that's why he wants them reunited."Caelan nodded."He doesn't want to destroy the Hearts.""He wants to control them."A loud crack interrupted them.The Heart of Courage suddenly released a wave of crimson energy.The Forge doors flew open.Outside, the sky had changed.A dark cloud covered the volcano.Lightning flashed inside it, but the lightning wasn't white or blue.It was black.Seraphine stared upward."The corruption has reached the surface."Aurelia tightened her grip on her spear."How many?"Caelan stepped outside."Too many to count."The others followed.Across the volcanic valley stood an army.Thousands of creatures formed from black stone and smoke surrounded the Forge.At their center stood a familiar figure.The Sovereign.He looked toward Lyra.Even from a distance, she could feel his gaze.Then he raised one hand.Every creature behind him lowered its head.The Sovereign spoke.His voice carried across the entire valley."Lyra."Kael stepped forward."Don't answer him."The Sovereign smiled."I am not speaking to you."His eyes remained on Lyra."You have awakened two Hearts.""That is more than I expected."Lyra's expression hardened."You won't get the others."The Sovereign laughed softly."You still believe this is about power."He raised his hand.A black flame appeared above his palm."This is about memory."Lyra frowned."What does that mean?"The Sovereign's smile disappeared."Ask your mother."Lyra froze.The entire world seemed to stop.Kael looked at her."Your mother?"The Sovereign's eyes gleamed."She knew the truth.""And she died protecting it."Lyra's breathing became uneven."You're lying.""No."The Sovereign turned toward the mountains."She was one of the first people to discover what the Creator had hidden."Lyra stepped forward."What did she discover?"The Sovereign smiled again."You'll find out."He lowered his hand.The army began advancing."But first…"His gaze shifted toward the restored Heart of Courage."…you must survive Ignis."The ground erupted.Black flames spread across the valley.Seraphine drew her sword.Aurelia raised her spear.Kael stood beside Lyra.Rylan swallowed."So much for leaving quietly."Selene stepped forward."We don't need to defeat all of them."Lyra looked at the army."No."She raised her glowing hand."We only need to protect the Heart."The crimson light of Courage spread across the battlefield.The creatures charged.And the battle for Ignis began.