Kael didn't return to his dorm.
He couldn't.
The hunters had failed but the message was clear. Someone wanted him gone before he could learn more. Before he could unlock what was buried in his blood.
He sat in the old chapel ruins behind the academy. Moonlight streamed through the broken roof. The silence was heavy. Like the world itself was holding its breath.
Then the mark on his arm started to shift.
Not glow.
Not burn.
Shift
It moved like ink in water.
Alive.
He pulled back his sleeve.
The shape had changed.
A circle was forming around it. New symbols crawling out like veins. Kael grabbed his arm but there was no pain. Just pressure.
Then he heard it again.
The whisper.
Only this time it said something different.
"She knew"
Kael's eyes widened.
He stood fast. Heart racing.
"Who"
No answer.
But in his chest he felt it.
The truth wasn't buried in the ruins.
It was buried in his own house.
He returned to the old Orien home just before dawn. It was quiet. Empty. Dust on the windows. No fire in the hearth.
He hadn't been back in months.
His mother's room was still locked.
But the mark on his arm pulsed when he touched the door.
It clicked open.
Inside were old scrolls.
Books banned by the Guild.
A dagger with symbols that matched the ones on his arm.
And one letter.
Addressed to him.
He opened it slowly.
The writing was hers.
Kael
If you are reading this
Then the seal has broken
And the thing inside you has seen light again
You must listen carefully
You were never meant to be a summoner
You are a Binder by blood
Your father was not from this world
They lied to you
They lied to all of us
Run if you want
But the abyss does not forget its children
Kael dropped the letter.
His hands shook.
He wasn't just cursed.
He was part of it.
Far away across the sea in the floating Guild Fortress, a figure in white robes stood on a balcony.
She held a crystal orb.
Inside it, Kael's face appeared.
The woman turned.
"The child has awakened. His bloodline is active. Begin the hunt. No witnesses."
And behind her, a beast with ten eyes opened all of them at once.