Kaelen sat in silence, absorbing Dorian Vale's words. The dim candlelight flickered over the worn maps and ink-stained documents, casting restless shadows across the room. His father had been part of an order one that sought to control the Crimson Power. Yet something had made him break away, something that led to his betrayal and death.
Kaelen finally spoke, his voice even but laced with restrained fury. "What exactly was my father trying to uncover?"
Dorian exhaled, rubbing his temple. "A hidden source of the Crimson Power. Not just the fragments we see in rare artifacts or in certain bloodlines he believed there was a core. A true origin. If such a thing exists, controlling it would mean controlling the very essence of power in the Cursed Realm."
Kaelen's mind raced. His own Crimson Power was formidable, but unstable. If his father had been searching for its source, it could mean one of two things he either wanted to destroy it, or wield it himself.
Seraphina leaned forward. "And Elias wants it for himself."
Dorian nodded. "He's been searching for years. Your father was the only one who came close to finding real clues. But before he could act, he was eliminated."
Kaelen clenched his fists. "So Elias thinks I have whatever my father found."
"Or he thinks you can find it," Dorian said. "Your Crimson Power isn't just an anomaly, Kaelen. It's proof that whatever your father discovered whatever knowledge he left behind is tied to you."
Kaelen scoffed. "And how do you know all this?"
Dorian hesitated before pushing a leather-bound journal across the table. "Because I was one of the last people your father trusted. He gave me this before he died."
Kaelen's fingers hovered over the worn cover. The emblem of House Vorthron was embossed in the center, barely visible beneath scratches and faded ink. He swallowed, then opened the journal.
The pages were filled with meticulous notes symbols, arcane equations, cryptic messages. But one phrase stood out, repeated in various forms across multiple pages.
The Heart of Crimson.
Kaelen's breath hitched.
Dorian nodded toward the text. "That's what your father believed to be the core of all Crimson Power. And if Elias gets his hands on it…"
Seraphina finished the thought. "The balance of the Cursed Realm will shatter."
Kaelen closed the journal and exhaled slowly. His path had never been more clear. His father had died for this knowledge, and Elias was willing to kill again to claim it.
Kaelen smirked, though his eyes burned with cold fury. "Then we find it first."
To Be Continued…