The morning air was heavy with dew and silence. The mist coiled like living smoke around Kaen's feet as he packed his belongings. His breath came out in cold clouds, and the mountain above loomed like a sleeping giant, ancient and unknowable. The Shrouded Peak had a presence, an aura that made the very ground feel like it held memories.
As Kaen began his ascent, the path became steep and treacherous. The rocks were slick with moisture, and the fog made it hard to see more than a few feet ahead. But something urged him forward—an invisible thread pulling him toward whatever lay hidden beyond the clouds.
Hours passed.
Every step forward felt like walking through a forgotten dream. The mist whispered around him—not words, but impressions. Echoes. He thought he heard his name once. Then again. Kaen…
He paused. "Who's there?"
No response. Just the sound of wind slithering through the crags, the slow beat of his heart, and the faint, almost imperceptible sound of… humming?
He turned sharply. The mist shifted, and for a brief second, he saw a figure—tall, cloaked in white, their face hidden beneath a hood. They stood silently ahead on the path.
Kaen drew his sword cautiously. "Show yourself."
The figure didn't move. The humming grew louder—almost like a lullaby. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the figure vanished into the fog.
Kaen rushed forward, but the path had changed. The terrain was no longer jagged stone but smooth, ancient steps carved into the mountain itself. Strange symbols lined the sides of the steps—similar to those on his map.
His heart pounded. "This mountain… it's alive."
As he climbed, the whispers became clearer. Memories... buried... legacy...
Then came the visions.
Images flickered before his eyes—like flashes of lightning:
A woman with silver hair, standing atop a burning battlefield, her eyes glowing with the same fire Kaen had felt inside himself.
A man cloaked in shadows, holding a blade that bled darkness, facing down an army of glowing beasts.
A child, hidden in the arms of a dying guardian, as the world crumbled around them.
Kaen dropped to one knee, gasping.
The power inside him surged in response, reacting to the mountain, to the memories. His vision blurred, and for a moment, he wasn't standing on a mountain anymore—he was inside a memory not his own.
A circular chamber of stone. Runes lining the walls. In the center, a pedestal with a single glowing orb.
A voice spoke—one that vibrated through his bones.
"You were never meant to awaken alone."
Kaen blinked. The vision vanished. The mist was still around him, but the air had grown colder.
He reached the top.
The peak was a flat plateau surrounded by jagged spires. At the center stood an ancient structure—half-ruined, yet still humming with power. Pillars of black stone formed a ring around a massive seal etched into the ground. In its center, the same symbol from the map—circle with an "X".
Kaen stepped forward. The moment his foot touched the seal, the ground trembled.
The sky above darkened, and the mist coalesced into a shape—no longer a figure, but a face. A massive, spectral face with eyes like twin suns.
"You carry a legacy not just of power… but of war."
Kaen stood firm, though his body trembled.
"The world remembers. Do you?"
The seal pulsed beneath him. Kaen's sword vibrated. His eyes widened as a memory—no, a truth—crashed into him.
His mother wasn't just a healer. She was a warrior. A protector of something called the Veilbound Pact—an ancient order that once sealed away forgotten gods. And his father… his father wasn't even from this world.
Kaen gasped. "What am I?"
The spectral face faded. But in its place, something else awakened—a glyph on the seal glowed bright, and from it rose a single item: a pendant. Silver, with the same circle-X symbol.
Kaen took it, and immediately, he felt something unlock inside him. Not power—but clarity. A new understanding. The whispers in his mind no longer spoke in riddles. They spoke in names. Places. History.
And a warning.
"She is coming."
Kaen looked to the sky. A storm was brewing.
He had the answers. But now, he had questions he never thought to ask.
He wasn't just part of a legacy.
He was the last line between the sealed past and a future on the edge of awakening.
To be continued…