2025-01-24 08:31:06Chapter 3: Embers of Resolve
It was sunrise, and life had awakened in the woods with the soft, warm chirp of birds blending with the rustling leaves, wave-like, touched by the gentle breeze. Kael sat at the mouth of the clearing, eyes glued to the faint glow cast by the sigil carved in his chest. The pulse of power was a constant reminder of his pact with the Abyss, and each beat felt like a countdown—both to his vengeance and his destruction.
He flexed his fingers, recalling the orb of flame he’d conjured the night before. It had been weak, unstable, and in itself just a shadow of a wholly different power he had once commanded. All the same, it was real-a spark of hope in the utter abyss of his present state.
"Still very much alive, I see" Elara's voice cut through his musings. Kael did not turn as she came near, footsteps crunching ever so slightly on the forest floor. A small basket of herbs and roots hung on her head with her sharp green eyes surveying him from a distance.
"Disappointed?" Kael asked coolly.
Elara chuckled softly and laid the basket on the ground before kneeling beside him. "Not just yet. But if you play with fire without knowing what you're about, it's only a question of time," she added.
Finally, Kael turned and looked at her. The soft morning glow lit the crimson irises of his eyes. "You talk like one who actually cares," he said.
Elara didn't flinch but met him stare for burning stare, "It is my home that I care about. If you lose it, it is not you at risk of burning."
Kael's lips twitched into an empty humorless smile. "That seems fair."
Elara stood up brushing off dirt from her hands, "If you are really going to test your limits at some point then you better learn how to control it."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "And you are offering to teach me?"
She shrugged and glanced far ahead towards the horizon. "I know one who may. One who knows curses, sigils and, well, the kind of power you're dealing with."
Kael was interested, but his tone remained neutral, "And what would be the f*e for this information?"
Elara glanced his way. "One favor owed to me."
Kael frowned. "A vague favor from a woman who drags half-dead strangers out of the woods? Tempting."
The little smile returned on Elara's lips. "Consider it an investment. You are a risk, Kael, but you are also interesting. Survive it and he might be worth something to you."
Kael chuckled. The sound was low and mirthless. "Fair enough. Tell me about the person."
Elara nodded. "His name is Malek. He is a hermit living deep in the Ashen Wilds, a day's journey from here. They say he is mad, but if anyone can help you control that mark, it is him."
Kael set the name aside, his mind already planning. If this Malek would help him master the sigil's power, it would bring him step closer toward reclaiming that which had lost to him. But Kael knew that nothing is without a price, especially in a world where power is currency.
---
By midday Kael had put himself on the road. Elara had unwillingly provided him with a small pack of bread, a waterskin, and a sharp but worn dagger. A meager pack, but it should be enough. He prefers to lean lightly during travel, especially in his current state.
The forest stretched endlessly around him, its canopy filtering the sunlight into dappled patterns on the ground. The path to the Ashen Wilds was overgrown, a seldom-used trail that twisted and turned through dense thickets. Kael moved with measured steps, his senses sharp despite his weakened body.
The sigil pulsed faintly, a rhythm that seemed to sync with the forest itself. Kael’s connection to the Abyss was growing stronger, its presence more tangible with each passing hour. Wary or encouraged he felt not knowing this.
The sun was sinking, and it felt as if the air was rewriting itself. The temperature fell, and the warm bright greens of the woods turned into shades of gray and black. The trees in the Ashen Wilds were burned, their trunks twisted as though frozen in agony. There was a part of the ground that was completely ash and brittle pieces of plant that had perished long ago.
Kael abruptly stopped to narrow his eyes. Silence here is penetrating; there's an unsettling absence of life. He has seen many battlefields, but this one was so different. The Wilds bore none of the scars of war but only decay, as if the land had been cursed itself.
"Intriguing place," muttered Kael into the silence.
He pressed on, his hand against the hilt of the dagger Elara had given him. He felt that he was being watched, and Kael had learned long ago to trust those instincts.
---
The attack came swiftly, a blur of motion from the shadows. Kael ducked, the wind of a blade slicing through the air where his head had been moments before. He rolled to the side, coming up with the dagger in hand.
A figure emerged from the darkness—a man clad in tattered black robes, his face obscured by a hood. His movements were erratic, his posture hunched, but the glint of steel in his hand was unmistakable.
Kael’s crimson eyes glowed faintly as he assessed his attacker. The sigil on his chest flared, the pain sharp but manageable. He felt the power stir within him, waiting to be unleashed.
Lunging forward, the man aimed the tip of his sword straight towards Kael's throat. A sideward evasion happened at this point, and Kael's dagger lifted to counterattack. The man staggered, cut shallowly along his arm, but it was hardly anything to bother him.
"You reek of the abyss," the man hissed in a voice like a raspy and crazy man. "You don't belong here."
Kael grinned, and the glow of his eyes intensified. "Neither do you."
The sigil pulsed again, and Kael let that power infuse his being. Unstable indeed, he channeled it into his hand and formed a small orb of red energy. He threw it at the man, who just managed to evade it. The orb crashed into a tree with an explosion of heat and light.
The man faltered, exposing hollow eyes and a gaunt face, twisted in rage. "You shouldn't have come here," he snarled and melted away into the shadows.
There was no chase by Kael. Breathing heavily, the majesty of the sigil's power towered over him, but a small satisfied smile played on his lips.
"I'll take that as a warm welcome," he muttered.
Readjusted at his knapsack, Kael continued down the path. The Ashen Wilds were full of secrets, and Kael intended to unearth them all. Whatever lay towards the end of this path, whether knowledge or power or death even, he would face it.
The embers of his resolution burned more fiercely than ever. This was just the beginning.
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