Chapter 44 – The Third Mark
Brook woke to the smell of smoke.
For several seconds, he couldn't remember where he was.
Then the pain returned.
His chest felt like it had been crushed.
His right hand burned beneath his sleeve.
He opened his eyes.
A wooden ceiling.
A small room.
Bandages around his chest.
Sera sat beside the bed, asleep in a chair.
Brook tried to move.
Pain shot through his body.
He stopped.
Sera immediately woke.
"Don't."
Brook looked at her.
"How long?"
"Almost a day."
Brook frowned.
"Blackhaven?"
"Still standing."
"How?"
"We helped."
Brook looked toward the window.
The smoke outside was thinner.
"Who won?"
Sera stared at him.
"That's the problem."
Brook waited.
"Nobody knows who started the attack."
She stood and checked his bandages.
"You lost consciousness after the third mark appeared."
Brook looked at his hand.
The sleeve covered it.
"Third."
Sera nodded.
"You're sure?"
"I saw it."
Brook slowly pulled the sleeve back.
Three symbols now rested beneath his skin.
The first was faintly blue.
The second was darker.
The third looked almost black.
Brook stared at it.
"What is it?"
Sera didn't answer.
"Death."
Brook looked at her.
"You sound certain."
"I'm not."
"Then why say it?"
"Because that's what Crowley believes."
Brook sat up despite the pain.
"Where is he?"
"Outside."
"Henry?"
"With Elias."
Brook swung his legs over the side of the bed.
Sera grabbed his shoulder.
"You shouldn't be moving."
"I'm fine."
"You almost died."
"I'm fine."
"You were unconscious for a day."
Brook looked at her.
"Still fine."
Sera stared at him.
"You've become annoying."
"I've always been annoying."
"Not like this."
Brook didn't understand what she meant.
Not yet.
Outside, Blackhaven was still recovering.
The fires had been put out.
Several buildings were destroyed.
The archive was barely standing.
People moved through the streets carrying supplies.
Brook noticed something immediately.
They were afraid of him.
A woman saw him and pulled her child closer.
Two men stopped talking when he passed.
A group of soldiers watched him from across the street.
Brook slowed.
"What?"
Sera looked around.
"They're scared."
"Of me?"
She didn't answer.
Brook continued walking.
He found Crowley standing near the remains of the archive.
Henry was there.
Elias stood beside him.
Crowley looked at Brook.
"You shouldn't be walking."
Brook ignored him.
"Who attacked us?"
"We don't know."
"The man."
"Unknown."
"His name?"
"Unknown."
Brook frowned.
"Helpful."
Crowley looked at his hand.
"The third mark."
Brook nodded.
"What is it?"
"Death."
Brook waited.
Crowley continued.
"But don't assume that means you control death."
"Then what does it mean?"
"The Source has noticed you."
"That's it?"
"For now."
Brook stared at him.
"What happens next?"
"Nothing."
Brook frowned.
"Nothing?"
"You don't get another power simply because a symbol appears."
Crowley looked toward the ruins.
"These things don't work that way."
Brook felt relieved.
"Good."
Crowley looked at him.
"You should be."
"Why?"
"Because if you rush this…"
Crowley paused.
"…the Source will consume you before you ever understand it."
Brook's expression changed.
"What does that mean?"
Crowley didn't answer.
Brook stepped closer.
"What does consume mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like."
Sera looked at Crowley.
"You've seen it happen."
Crowley remained silent.
Henry spoke.
"How many?"
Crowley looked at him.
"Enough."
Brook noticed something in his voice.
Regret.
"You knew people who carried the Sources."
Crowley nodded.
"Long before you."
"What happened to them?"
"Some died."
"Some went insane."
"Some became monsters."
Brook looked at the third mark.
"And the others?"
Crowley's eyes met his.
"They stopped being human."
Brook felt a chill.
"What does that mean?"
Crowley walked away.
Brook followed.
"Answer me."
Crowley stopped.
"Every Source changes its vessel."
"Power changes people."
"That's normal."
"This isn't."
Crowley pointed toward Brook's hand.
"Every time you awaken a Source, it takes something."
Brook's expression hardened.
"What?"
"That depends on the Source."
"The first?"
"Memory."
Brook froze.
"The second?"
"Emotion."
Brook stared at him.
"And the third?"
Crowley didn't answer.
Brook's voice became quieter.
"What does Death take?"
Crowley looked directly at him.
"Humanity."
The word sat between them.
Brook looked down at his hand.
For the first time, he felt something different.
He tried to remember how he'd felt when Mercer died.
The anger.
The grief.
The helplessness.
He remembered the event.
But when he reached for the emotion itself…
There was something missing.
Brook looked at Sera.
"Why can't I feel it?"
Sera's expression changed.
Crowley looked away.
Henry stepped closer.
"What?"
Brook stared at them.
"I remember Mercer."
"But…"
He swallowed.
"I don't feel anything."
Sera looked frightened.
Crowley closed his eyes.
"Too soon."
Brook looked at him.
"What?"
"The third Source is already taking."
That night, Brook sat alone in the remains of the archive.
The building was dark.
Most of the books had been destroyed.
Ash covered the floor.
Brook opened his father's notebook.
Nothing happened.
He waited.
Nothing.
He flipped through the pages.
Still nothing.
Then he noticed something.
The compass Elias had given him was moving.
The needle spun slowly.
Brook held it up.
It pointed toward the north.
Blackhaven.
Then suddenly…
it pointed downward.
Brook frowned.
He knelt.
The compass needle continued pointing toward the floor.
He moved it.
It followed.
Brook scraped away the ash.
A stone tile was underneath.
He lifted it.
A small metal box sat inside.
His father's initials were engraved across the lid.
T.S.
Brook stared.
He opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
His parents.
Together.
Brook hadn't seen their faces in years.
His mother was smiling.
His father stood beside her.
But there was someone else in the photograph.
A man standing behind them.
Brook's expression changed.
He recognized him.
The dark-haired man from the attack.
Brook turned the photograph over.
There was writing.
If he finds you before I do, run.
Brook stared at the words.
Then another line.
He isn't working for the Maker.
Brook's breathing stopped.
He read the final sentence.
He's afraid of it too.
Brook lowered the photograph.
The mystery had become deeper.
Not clearer.
Deeper.
The man wasn't working for the Maker.
Then who was he?
And why had his parents known him?
Brook found Elias outside.
"Who is he?"
Elias looked at the photograph.
His expression changed immediately.
"Where did you find this?"
"In the archive."
Elias took a breath.
"His name is Malachai."
Brook waited.
"Who is he?"
Elias looked toward the burning remains of Blackhaven.
"Someone who has been searching for the Sources longer than any of us."
"Why?"
"Because he believes they belong to someone."
"Who?"
Elias shook his head.
"I don't know."
Brook held up the photograph.
"My father knew him."
"Yes."
"My parents were working with him."
"Not exactly."
Brook frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"They were trying to stop him."
Brook stared.
"From doing what?"
Elias hesitated.
"Finding the vessel."
Brook's blood went cold.
"He knew about me?"
"Probably."
"Five years ago?"
"Yes."
Brook looked toward the north.
"Then why didn't he come for me?"
Elias shook his head.
"Maybe he didn't know where you were."
Brook didn't believe that.
Someone had known.
Someone had been watching.
Someone had been waiting.
Henry found Brook later that evening.
"We need to leave."
Brook looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because the Royal Guard is coming."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
"My father sent them."
"How many?"
"Enough."
Brook stood.
"He's trying to bring me back."
Henry nodded.
"Yes."
Brook shook his head.
"I'm not going."
"I know."
"Then why tell me?"
"Because there's something else."
Henry handed him a sealed letter.
Brook opened it.
The royal seal was broken.
The message was short.
Henry,
Bring Brook home.
If he refuses, do not allow him to continue north.
Brook looked up.
"He doesn't trust me."
Henry shook his head.
"No."
"Then why does he care?"
"Because he knows what you're becoming."
Brook stared at the letter.
"What am I becoming?"
Henry didn't answer.
Brook looked at his hand.
Three marks.
Three Sources.
Two awakened.
One beginning.
And somewhere deep inside him, something felt different.
He wasn't as angry as before.
Not because he had forgiven anyone.
Because the anger itself seemed farther away.
Brook looked at Henry.
"Do you ever feel like something inside you is disappearing?"
Henry studied him.
"Why?"
"Because I think it is."
Henry stepped closer.
"Then we find a way to stop it."
Brook nodded.
"Yeah."
He looked toward the north.
"But first…"
He held up the photograph.
"…we find my parents."
Henry looked at it.
"And Malachai."
Brook nodded.
"And whoever is really behind all of this."
Far away from Blackhaven, deep beneath the earth, something opened its eyes.
A massive chamber stretched beneath ancient stone.
Six empty structures stood in a circle.
Three were glowing.
Three remained dark.
A figure stood in the center.
Its face couldn't be seen.
Its voice echoed through the chamber.
"The vessel has awakened three."
Another voice answered from the darkness.
"Then the process has begun."
The first figure turned.
"How long?"
A pause.
"Until the fourth?"
"Not long."
"And the fifth?"
"Unknown."
"And the sixth?"
Silence.
The first figure looked toward the three glowing symbols.
"Then we wait."
"Wait for what?"
The figure smiled.
"For Brook to become strong enough to understand what he is."
"And when he does?"
The figure looked toward the darkness.
"Then he'll have to decide."
"Between what?"
The answer came quietly.
"Freedom…"
A pause.
"…and humanity."
End of Chapter 44