Chapter 14: The Silent Watchers

Kael's fingers twitched. The Mark of Aetheris.

The name felt ancient, like something whispered through the cracks of time itself. But what unsettled him more was what the stranger had called it.

The Mark of Defiance.

A title that could mean only one thing.

He was a threat.

To what? To whom?

The stranger—who still hadn't given their name—watched him with an almost expectant look, as if waiting for him to piece it together.

Kael exhaled, keeping his voice steady. "You said the ones who control the cycle will notice me now. Who are they?"

A shadow passed over the stranger's face. "We call them the Silent Watchers."

The air grew heavier, as if just speaking the name was enough to stir something unseen.

Kael frowned. "Watchers of what?"

"Existence itself."

A gust of wind rushed through the ruins, carrying a distant, hollow whisper—one Kael couldn't quite make out.

The stranger's golden eyes flicked toward the sky. "They are already looking."

Kael's skin prickled. He felt it, too.

Something beyond sight, just out of reach—an awareness pressing down on him.

His mark pulsed again, and for the briefest moment, the world around him seemed to bend.

The ruins. The air. Reality itself.

As if something was... correcting.

Kael's breath hitched. "What the hell was that?"

The stranger's smirk returned, but it was sharp now, edged with something darker.

"That," they said softly, "was them deciding whether or not you should still exist."