Chapter 2: The Road to the Citadel

Ariel drifted in and out of consciousness.

Everything felt distant, like he was floating in a sea of whispers and shadowed light. He could feel himself moving, swaying slightly as if being carried. His body ached. His head throbbed. And yet, there was nothing but a heavy, suffocating emptiness inside of him.

He should have been dead.

He wished he was.

Something pressed against his wrists. Cold. Unforgiving. Restraints.

Through the haze of his mind, Ariel stirred. The voices around him sharpened.

"He's waking up."

The deep rumble of an armored knight. Close.

Ariel's eyelids fluttered open. The first thing he saw was steel and gold.

The knights of the Lightbound Order surrounded him, their armor gleaming under the overcast sky. He was slumped over on the back of a large, four-legged beast—an armored warhound, its body covered in protective plating. His wrists were bound in chains of silver, his arms limp from exhaustion.

His mouth was dry. His thoughts were slower than usual, but his instincts screamed at him—something was wrong.

A knight noticed his movements. "Stay still, boy."

Ariel swallowed, his throat raw. He tried to speak, but his voice barely came out. "Where—" His words cracked. "Where am I?"

"The road to the Citadel." Another knight answered, his voice gruff and unreadable. "You're under the custody of the Lightbound Order."

Custody?

His vision swam. His body still felt weak, but a wave of panic crawled into his chest. He remembered everything. The Abyssal Rift. The monsters. The pulse of moonlight that had torn everything apart.

His family.

He turned his head sharply, trying to take in his surroundings. The ruins of Eldrin were long gone, replaced by endless plains of grass and stone, the distant silhouettes of mountains looming on the horizon.

There was no one else.

Ariel's fingers curled into fists. "Where…" His voice was hoarse. "Where is everyone?"

The knights did not answer.

He gritted his teeth. "My—My brother. My mother. They—" His breathing became uneven. "They—They could still be alive—"

"Enough."

The voice was sharp, yet calm—the voice of authority.

Ariel twisted his head to see her.

At the head of the group rode a woman in pure white armor. She was tall, her long silver-blonde hair pulled back in a tight braid. A golden crest was embossed on the shoulder of her armor, marking her as a Knight-Commander.

Her eyes were cold. Unreadable.

"You were found alone in the ruins," she said plainly. "There were no other survivors."

Ariel froze.

No.

That wasn't true. It couldn't be true.

"There… There has to be someone," he whispered, his voice breaking. "They were right there—they—"

"Your town was destroyed," the woman continued, her tone unwavering. "You were found at its center. The only one left."

The words slammed into him like a hammer.

The world blurred.

Gone.

They were all gone.

Ariel's throat tightened, a suffocating, crushing weight pressing into his chest. He wanted to scream. To fight. But his body was too weak, his limbs too heavy, his mind drowning beneath a wave of realization so overwhelming it threatened to swallow him whole.

His home. His family. Everything.

And yet, he was still here.

Why?

Why was he the only one left?

The silence stretched. The knights continued riding, unaffected by his turmoil.

Ariel's hands shook in his restraints. "Why am I alive?"

The Knight-Commander gave him a long, unreadable look before turning away. "That is what we intend to find out."

The Citadel

It took two more days to reach their destination.

By the time the great walls of the Lightbound Citadel came into view, Ariel had stopped speaking entirely.

He was too tired to fight. Too tired to ask questions.

He sat, staring blankly at the city ahead.

The Citadel was massive—larger than anything he had ever seen. Towering white walls stretched high into the sky, enclosing a sprawling fortress city built into the mountainside. At its heart stood the Sanctuary Spire, a colossal structure of silver and gold, its shape resembling an inverted blade piercing the heavens.

This was the stronghold of the Lightbound Order—the most powerful faction in the entire continent of Avren. The place where knights were trained, where Legacy wielders were tested and forged into warriors.

And now, his prison.

The gates rumbled open as the convoy passed through.

People filled the streets—traders, scholars, warriors—but their gazes lingered on Ariel. Whispers followed him, eyes filled with suspicion, curiosity, and something else.

Fear.

Ariel barely processed any of it.

He was too lost in his own thoughts, his own memories.

He hadn't cried. Not once.

Not when they told him no one survived. Not when they forced him into chains. Not when they paraded him through the streets like some caged beast.

There was nothing left inside him.

Nothing but the question that refused to leave his mind.

Why was I the only one left?

Judgment

They brought him to a great hall, lined with pillars of silver and illuminated by floating orbs of pale light. Knights and scholars stood in the background, speaking in hushed tones.

At the far end of the chamber, sitting atop a raised platform, was an old woman.

She looked ancient, yet unyielding. Her golden eyes shimmered faintly with mana, her presence alone radiating an air of immense authority.

Ariel didn't need to ask who she was.

This was Elder Isolde—one of the highest-ranking figures in the Lightbound Order.

The knights forced him to his knees before her.

Elder Isolde studied him for a long, quiet moment. Then, she spoke.

"Tell me, boy," she said. "What are you?"

Ariel's fingers curled into fists.

"I don't know," he whispered.

The old woman leaned forward, her gaze sharp. "That is what concerns us."

She motioned toward the Knight-Commander. "Report."

The silver-haired woman stepped forward. "He was found alone at the epicenter of the destruction," she stated. "The town was annihilated—yet he remains, completely unscathed."

Murmurs spread through the gathered knights.

"His power?" Elder Isolde asked.

The Knight-Commander hesitated. "…Unknown."

The hall grew silent.

The air itself shifted.

Unknown.

That single word was more dangerous than any accusation.

The Lightbound Order feared only one thing—the unknown.

Elder Isolde's expression did not change. She stared at Ariel for a long time before finally speaking.

"The boy will remain in the Citadel," she decreed. "Under watch. He will be tested. Trained. Observed."

Her gaze sharpened.

"And if his power proves to be a threat…"

The air grew heavy.

"…We will decide what must be done."

Ariel said nothing.

Because deep inside, he already knew.

As it stood he was a threat.