Chapter 10: Shards in the MistUnnamed

Chapter 10: Shards in the Mist

Mist coiled across the mountain pass like a living thing thick, clinging, and strangely sentient. Kael stood at the cliffside as dawn struggled to pierce through the veil, casting only pale light across the granite terrain. He gripped his newly bound relic, the Oneiric Wyrm's dormant scale now embedded in the spine of his gauntlet. Every heartbeat synced with the creature's breath in his soul.

Behind him, Tyros cracked his knuckles, impatient. "We should've left last night. This fog isn't natural."

"No," Cehn muttered, crouched with a hand to the ground. "It's not. It's a sign. One of the Sightbearers is awakening."

Kael tensed. He could feel it too now. A tremor across his Oculith—a silent warning only bearable because of the Sightbind Thread anchoring his sense of self.

[System Update: Anomaly Detected — Minor Realm Distortion in proximity. Signature: Unknown Doctrinal Eye. Estimated Seal Level: I]

[Warning: Possibility of hostile engagement. Target classification: Sightbearer class --- Unknown.]

Kael exhaled. "Prepare for contact."

They moved cautiously through the fog-shrouded pass. Mountains towered like slumbering titans on either side. The trail wound through chasms and silent ruins remnants of an older age. Kael noticed etchings in the stone: ancient runes from the Drakon Archive, depicting the twelve world-blooded clans before the Sundering.

It was here that fate stirred.

A pulse rippled through the valley, rattling Kael's bones.

And then she stepped from the mist.

The girl couldn't have been older than twenty. Crimson robes. Bone-white skin. Eyes like twin black suns. From her back spread spectral tendrils that coiled and shifted like smoke. A coffin floated behind her, suspended by an unseen force.

Tyros hissed. "Necrosect bloodline. That's a Tombshade Wielder."

The girl said nothing. Her gaze swept over them, not hostile, but clinical.

[System Directive: Unknown Doctrinal Eye Detected — Codename: Mourning Bloom] [Abilities (Partial): Death Veil, Grave Pulse, Silent Pact. Seal Level: I. Drawbacks: Cannot maintain physical cohesion outside of night hours.]

Kael activated Sightbind Thread immediately. The aura she carried brushed dangerously close to unraveling his emotional coherence.

"I am Seriyah," she said softly. "Bearer of the Ninth Bloom. Are you... real?"

Kael blinked. "Define real."

She stared for a moment longer before nodding. "Close enough. Then we are not enemies. For now."

Cehn narrowed his eyes. "Your Eye just awakened. Why are you here?"

Seriyah raised one hand. The mist coalesced into a circular rune, spinning.

"I was drawn. The Pact of Ruin stirs across the realms. Something has shifted. Time is bleeding in strange directions. The other Sightbearers are not sleeping anymore."

A silence fell.

Suddenly, a scream tore through the canyon. Not human.

[System Alert: Hostile Entity Detected. Classification: Ravager-Spliced Hybrid. Origin: Unknown.]

[Recommended Action: Engage. Threat Level: B+]

From the cliffs above, a creature dropped.

It was malformed, stitched with cybernetic limbs, shadow-forged plates grafted onto chimeric musculature. Its head split four ways, eyes blooming like tumors. The thing charged, ignoring terrain.

Tyros lunged first, his Flameborn fists igniting.

"Mine!"

Cehn followed, blinking through shadows and jabbing at its exposed flanks. Kael held position, analyzing.

[System Suggestion: Invoke Chrono-Anchor to allow retroactive perception of Ravager's battle patterns. Proceed?]

"Yes."

The world blurred. Kael watched the battle play out ten seconds ahead before snapping back to the present.

He moved just as the creature leapt.

Blade met bone. Sparks flew.

Seriyah raised her hand. The coffin behind her cracked open slightly. A hand of bone and mist reached out and grasped the Ravager's neck.

"Return to the soil," she whispered.

The creature shrieked. Soul energy drained visibly from its form.

Kael struck deep, guided by the Reversal Lens' temporal mapping. The Ravager convulsed, then fell into the mist, crumbling like spoiled fruit.

Everyone paused.

[System Update: Hostile Neutralized. Memory Fracture prevented. Experience allocated.]

[System Interlink: Combat Data Recorded. Mourning Bloom ability set: Now 12% analyzed. Further encounters required to map full doctrine.]

Kael turned to Seriyah.

"Why did you help?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she offered a sealed scroll. Kael took it cautiously.

"That is from the Sealed Moon Temple. They know about you. About us. The Sightbearers. And the Pact."

"You read it?"

"It only opens for one who carries the Flame of the Knot. That is not me."

Kael nodded slowly.

Later that night, around a campfire born of Tyros' restrained fury, Kael opened the scroll. Golden ink shimmered.

:: To the One Who Bears the Knot ::

:: The Writ of Collapse draws near. The Realms will shatter not from war, but from unraveling. The Sightbearers are threads in a dying weave. Only those who forge the Pact across Seven Trials may survive the Severance. ::

:: Seek the Shrine of Echoes. There your Third Seal awaits. And with it, your next sin. ::

Kael read it thrice.

Then he burned it.

[System Note: Third Seal Location Received — Shrine of Echoes. Coordinates obscured until bloodline resonance reaches 72%. Current resonance: 61%. Recommend initiation of Trial Catalyst.]