š Chapter 11
Part 1: The Whisper Returns
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The dream hadn't left him, not fully. Its shadow still lingered behind Kael's eyes.
He sat on the edge of his bed, breathing hard. The glowing feather was still in his hand. It hadn't vanished. It hadn't changed. If anything, it was warmer alive.
Outside, mist crawled along the towers of Arcanhelm. Inside Kael's chest, a silent storm brewed.
The door burst open.
"KAEL!"
Lireen's voice cracked through the quiet. Her hair was tangled, her face pale, her red eyes swollen from crying.
Kael stood up instantly. "What happened?"
She didn't answer at first only approached, trembling, then whispered, "They found Naria's body. Behind the observatory."
His heart dropped.
Lireen's voice was barely audible. "Her throatā¦ was stitched shut. Not cut. Not crushed. Sewn. With silver thread."
The feather slipped from his hand. It hit the floor with a ting, but its weight felt heavier than steel.
Kael's eyes trembled. "Noā¦"
Lireen hugged herself. "It wasn't a killing. It was a ritual."
Kael closed his eyes.
He remembered the voice. The mirror. The child.
> "Voice That Shouldn't Speak."
> "Feather is not a gift. It is a seal."
> "You opened it."
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They sat on the cold stone floor. Between them, the feather hovered inches above ground, glowing softly.
Lireen looked down. "Everyone around you is disappearing."
Kael didn't respond.
"You think this is just coincidence?" she asked again, voice tight.
He reached out, fingers brushing the feather. The moment he touched it, golden veins lit up across his skin, crawling from palm to forearm like molten lines.
Lireen gasped. "Kael your hand!"
He grit his teeth. A burning sensation flooded his body, not from pain, but from something ancient stirring.
And then... the voice returned.
> "Your blood is the key."
"The vault opens through you."
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Hours passed.
They relocated to the lower library, an abandoned classroom with high ceilings and cobwebbed windows. No one else was around. Only the two of them and the strange symbol now etched into the back of Kael's hand.
It pulsed like a heartbeat.
Lireen slammed another book shut. "I've searched every text nothing about feathers like this. Nothing about that name... 'The Voice That Shouldn't Speak.' Not even in forbidden histories."
She dropped the book to the floor. Her hands trembled. "Even the sealed records of Arcanhelm are... silent."
Kael stared out the window. "Maybe because... it isn't history."
Lireen looked up. "What do you mean?"
He turned to her slowly. "I think I'm waking something that was meant to stay dead."
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The walls trembled.
A faint vibration shook the floor. Shelves rattled. Dust fell from the ceiling.
"An earthquake?" Lireen asked.
"No," Kael murmured. "That's not it."
Then it came again the voice.
> "Return to the Vault."
"Finish what I left behind."
> "Open the next seal."
Kael stood. Lireen grabbed his wrist.
"Kael, don't! You're not ready. You barely survived the last one!"
But something had changed in him. In his eyes.
They weren't just glowing anymore.
They were burning.
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Night fell.
They stood again before the Spiral Vaultādeep beneath the Academy. Only this time, the feather in Kael's hand shone like a torch, illuminating the ancient runes along the corridor.
Not a single trap activated.
Not a single glyph sparked.
They reached the final door a thick slab of steel and arcane symbols that previously required 12 different spells to unlock.
Kael touched it once.
It melted.
Lireen's breath hitched. "Kaelā¦ that wasn't magic. That was something else entirely."
He stepped inside.
It was dark emptier than anything he'd ever felt. And then, at the center of the roomā¦ was an altar.
Upon it, carved into obsidian, were words that froze his blood:
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KAEL RIVENHART
Heir of the Erased Architect.
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His knees weakened.
Lireen stumbled behind him. "Noā¦ This must be a coincidence. This this has to be fake."
But Kael reached out.
And the altar responded. Glowing. Breathing.
Alive.
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šÆļø To be continued in Part 2 ā The Feather Burns...
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š¢ Teaser & CTA:
> š Chapter 11 ā The Whisper Returns
Kael begins to realize that Naria's death was no accident and his name isn't just known in this world.
The Architect is real. The Vault is waking.
And Kaelā¦ was never supposed to survive.
š Like, comment, and vote to keep the mystery alive!
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Next up:
Chapter 11 ā Part 2: The Feather Burns
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