Pain wasn't what troubled Kael the most.
He knew pain.
He knew the burn in his muscles, the pressure in his chest, the metallic taste in his mouth when his body reached its limit but refused to stop. He knew visible wounds and silent ones. He knew scars you show… and scars you hide.
But what these chains were doing to him wasn't pain.
It was worse.
They seemed to search inside him.
Not to restrain his body, but to open his memories, twist what he believed to be true, tear out parts of his soul he was never meant to see.
Suspended a few meters above the ground, Kael inhaled sharply.
The seals of light around his wrists, ankles, and chest pulsed in a slow, almost living rhythm. Each pulse drained part of his energy and sent it flowing into the ancient symbols etched in the air around him.
The battlefield had vanished.
Instead, he found himself in a vast circular chamber of white stone, so high the ceiling disappeared into darkness. Columns carved with runes rose all around him, and between them floated fragments of memory: images, faces, pieces of lives he recognized without yet fully understanding.
The Council had imprisoned him.
But more than that…
They had brought him back to where it all began.
A step echoed in the silence.
A Council member dressed in white stepped forward slowly, hands clasped behind his back. His face remained hidden beneath a hood, but his presence filled the room like an ancient judgment.
— You resist better than expected, he said calmly.
Kael slowly lifted his head.
— Disappointed?
The Council member stopped a few feet away.
— No. Curious.
Silence.
— You react exactly like him.
Kael frowned.
— Like who?
The Council member raised a hand.
And the air before them tore apart.
An image appeared.
At first blurred. Then sharp.
Kael held his breath without realizing it.
He saw himself.
Or rather… someone who looked like him.
The same gaze.
The same stance.
But clad in black armor with golden edges, standing before an immense portal engraved with celestial symbols. His face was harsher, more mature, marked by battles Kael had never fought… or not yet.
And by his side…
Lyra.
Not the Lyra he knew.
Not the trembling, brave girl who had found herself lost in a world too vast for her.
This Lyra seemed born of light itself.
Her white dress floated like sacred mist. Golden runes circled her wrists. Her gaze shone with a power so pure it seemed almost inhuman.
And yet…
When she slightly turned her head toward the man beside her, there was something simple in her eyes.
Something gentle.
Something true.
She loved him.
Kael felt his chest tighten.
— Our first life… he murmured.
— Your original life, corrected the Council member. The one you have the least right to reclaim.
Kael no longer looked at him.
His eyes were fixed on the vision.
On them.
On what they had been before being shattered by cycles, deaths, forgetfulness, and rebirths.
The scene shifted abruptly.
The sky turned red.
The ground trembled.
The portal behind them began to crack, as if something were trying to break through.
Thousands of figures appeared in the distance. An army.
No.
An execution.
And before this storm, Lyra slowly raised her hand.
Energy erupted around her.
Kael felt his breath catch.
Even through the memory, this power was overwhelming.
Uncontrollable.
Terrifying.
But what chilled him the most…
It wasn't the power.
It was the gaze he saw cast upon her.
No fear.
No hatred.
Only sadness.
And a decision already made.
— No… murmured Kael.
In the vision, he saw himself approaching her.
Gently holding her face in his hands.
Whispering something.
Without sound.
Without voice.
But Lyra of that time understood.
And she broke.
Even without hearing the words, Kael felt a pain pierce his chest like a blade.
Then everything happened too fast.
The portal exploded.
The sky opened.
Lyra's energy became uncontrollable.
And he…
He raised his weapon.
Not against the enemy.
Against her.
Kael struggled violently against the chains.
— NO!
The seals flared brightly, tightening around him.
The Council member did not move.
— You wanted the truth.
Kael breathed heavily, rage and shock mixed in every heartbeat.
— I never wanted to hurt her!
— And yet, you already have.
— It wasn't me!
— It will always be you.
Silence.
The Council member raised his chin slightly.
— The Black Guardian was not made to love the Source.
His voice echoed against the columns.
— He was made to stop it.
The words hit Kael like a direct blow to the stomach.
— No…
— Your original role wasn't to save her, Kael.
Another step.
— Your role was to kill her before she destroyed everything.
Kael's breath faltered.
His gaze wavered for a moment.
Then he slowly lifted his head.
This time, his voice was lower.
More dangerous.
— Then your system is even more monstrous than I thought.
The Council member tilted his head slightly.
— You refuse the truth.
— No, Kael replied. I refuse your rules.
His fists clenched.
Dark and golden energy began to vibrate around him.
Weakly at first.
Then stronger.
The chains reacted immediately.
But something had changed.
Because now, Kael wasn't fighting just a prison.
He was fighting a destiny written before he was born.
And this…
He would never accept it.
At the same time, miles away, deep in the ancient forest, Lyra fell to her knees in the center of a rune circle.
A wave of pain shot through her bond so violently it felt like her heart was being torn out by hand.
— Kael…!
Her voice cracked.
She could still feel him alive.
But something was wrong.
Something bad.
Eryndra, standing not far away, watched gravely.
— The Council has begun.
Lyra's blood ran cold.
— Begun what?
— They're showing him the truth they hid from you.
Lyra's breath hitched.
— What truth?
Eryndra stayed silent for a few seconds, as if even for her, speaking it was difficult.
Then she said:
— In your first life… Kael wasn't simply your ally.
Lyra's eyes widened.
— …No.
— That's why the system separates you again and again, she continued. Every time you get close, your bond awakens something older than love.
Lyra shook her head.
— No. You're lying.
— I wish I were.
Eryndra stepped closer.
— You want to know why your power becomes uncontrollable when you fear losing him?
Lyra's trembling breath faltered.
— Because your first soul chose to bind your existence to his.
Her eyes widened.
— Wha…?
— As long as he lives, you remain anchored. As long as he chooses you, you can still return.
A silence.
Then Eryndra's voice darkened.
— But if he ever decides to fulfill his original function…
Lyra shivered violently.
— No…
— Then nothing can save you.
Lyra rose suddenly.
— Be quiet.
— Lyra—
— BE QUIET!
A burst of energy erupted around her, blowing leaves away, bending trees, cracking the rune circle beneath her feet.
Her eyes shone with golden light so bright Eryndra had to take a step back.
— He will never do that to me, Lyra said in a trembling voice. Never.
But deep down…
A fear was born.
Not fear of the Council.
Not fear of her power.
Something more intimate.
More cruel.
What if everything they lived through was only a delay?
And what if their love wasn't a victory over fate…
But the cruelest way fate had found to destroy them?
She staggered.
And suddenly, without warning, images exploded in her mind.
A vast hall.
A broken portal.
Blood on a black blade.
Kael.
His eyes.
His trembling hands.
His voice…
"Forgive me."
Lyra let out a muffled scream and held her head.
— NO!
Eryndra rushed to her side immediately.
— Lyra! Breathe!
But Lyra could barely hear her.
For the first time since leaving Kael…
She wasn't seeing an illusion.
She was remembering.
And the memory was worse than anything.
Kael crying.
Kael holding her.
Kael killing her.
— No… no… no…
— Lyra, listen to me! shouted Eryndra, kneeling before her. If your memories come back all at once, your power will explode! You must stabilize!
But Lyra could no longer distinguish the present from the past.
Lives.
Deaths.
Promises.
Betrayals.
And at the center of it all…
Always him.
Always Kael.
Always the same soul returning to her… to love her, lose her, and then destroy her.
A tear slid down her cheek.
— Why…?
Her voice was barely a whisper.
— Why do I still love him…?
Eryndra froze for a second.
Then her gaze softened slightly.
— Because that's not the real tragedy.
Lyra looked at her with shattered eyes.
Eryndra whispered:
— The real tragedy… is that he still loves you too.
Silence fell between them.
Heavy.
Unbearable.
And for the first time since leaving Kael…
Lyra felt something break inside her.
Not her power.
Not her courage.
Something simpler.
More human.
Her hope.
In the prison of light, Kael closed his eyes for a moment.
He breathed hard.
Every heartbeat sounded like a war drum against his cage.
But behind the rage…
Behind the pain…
There was something else.
A memory.
Faint.
Ancient.
A voice.
His own.
But older.
More weary.
"If there is another life…
Find me before they do."
His eyes snapped open.
A blast of black and golden energy erupted around him.
The columns trembled.
The chains tightened until several runes shattered in the air.
The Council member raised his head abruptly.
— Impossible…
Kael inhaled deeply.
And for the first time since being captured…
He smiled.
A cold smile.
Weary.
But dangerous.
— You made a mistake.
The Council member stiffened.
— Which one?
Kael slowly lifted his eyes.
— You showed me just enough truth…
His voice resonated.
— To remind me why I must destroy you.
The chains cracked.
One.
Two.
All of them in an instant—
The entire chamber exploded in light.