Court of Chains – The Arbiter's Gaze
The Iron Court was silent now. The crowd gone. The lights dimmed.
Raghav sat alone on the bench, still gripping his racket, when a soft metallic clink echoed from behind.
He turned.
A hidden wall opened behind the north spectator gate, revealing a corridor lined with chains. Literal chains—thick, rune-etched, hanging from the ceiling like vines of punishment.
Mira approached cautiously.
"You're being summoned."
"By who?"
She didn't answer. Just pointed upward.
Raghav followed her gaze.
The Arbiter's Box.
---
The walk was silent. No words. No guards. Just the sound of their footfalls and the faint hum of suppression runes woven into the walls.
At the end of the hall, two doors of black stone parted without touch.
Inside was darkness—pure, endless.
Until he spoke.
"You returned the serve."
The voice wasn't loud. But it scraped across Raghav's skin like cold steel.
A figure sat atop a raised obsidian throne. His robes were crimson and gray, marked with a serpent coiling around a burning racket. His face was covered by a pale silver mask, but his presence was louder than sight.
Arbiter XIII – "The Coil."
Raghav remained standing.
"I didn't know it was yours."
The Arbiter tilted his head.
"Everything within the Iron Court belongs to us. Your victory was... intriguing. So was your weapon."
He pointed with one finger.
"Bring it forth."
Raghav hesitated—but stepped forward and held out the Devourer.
The Arbiter didn't touch it. He looked at it—and the room dimmed. The chains on the walls clinked, reacting. Faint whispers echoed. Not voices—memories.
He leaned back slowly.
"So it still lives."
Raghav's breath caught.
"You've seen it before?"
The Arbiter was silent for a long time.
"I fought the one who last wielded it. Long ago. Before the Court even had twelve."
The torchlight flared, illuminating murals etched along the chamber walls—epic battles, courts reduced to ash, and at the center of one… a warrior with a racket just like his.
"But that's not possible," Raghav whispered. "Relics are unique. They bond with one user. How—"
The Arbiter cut him off.
"That Relic is not bound. It feeds. It evolves. It was exiled for a reason."
He rose from the throne.
"Do not mistake your progress for permission."
He walked forward slowly, until the gap between them was inches.
"We allowed you to rise. Do not think we will allow you to reign."
Then he reached into his sleeve—and dropped something at Raghav's feet.
A simple black iron chain-link. But it pulsed faintly.
"This is your leash."
Raghav stared at it.
"If you stray from the path we design—if the Devourer hungers too deeply—we will chain you. Or worse."
---
Later that night, Raghav stood on the balcony of the recovery wing, chain still in hand.
Mira leaned beside him.
"Why didn't you throw it away?"
He looked at her, eyes sharp.
"Because if they think they own me… they're already afraid."
He clenched the chain—and slipped it into his pocket.
"And fear can be devoured, too."
---