Page 48 of Beyond the Treaty
Darius groaned. “Why do you have to say that like it’s as
simple as breathing?”
I turned to face Darius. “Because if we don’t confront it,
the council prevails. And if we delay too long, we forfeit any advantage we possess.”
Azrael regarded me for a long moment. The muscles in his jaw tensed, but at last, he gave a curt nod. “Very well,” he said.
“But we shall do this swiftly.”
I stepped forward and placed the tome on a large slab of
blackened stone, its runes glowing faintly. The instant it touched the surface, a low hum filled the air. I swallowed hard and pressed my palm against the cover.
The magic responded immediately.
A pulse of heat shot through my veins, burning but not painful. The runes along the book’s spine began to shift, rearranging themselves, unlocking something unseen. The molten veins in the ground pulsed brighter, as if the land itself was awakening.
Then whispers...
“You seek the truth, but the truth does not seek you.”
The voice echoed through the land, vibrating in my bones. Azrael’s sword was drawn in an instant.
“What was that?”
Darius took a step back, cursing. “Oh, that’snevera good sign.”
I grit my teeth, unwilling to part with the book. “Who are you?” I demand.
The voice did not answer directly. Instead, magic flared, and images flickered across my mind, shadows of a past buried beneath centuries of deceit.
I beheld the council’s chambers, the lofty pillars adorned with firelight. I noticed figures in dark robes assembled in a circle, murmuring incantations. And in the centre,
Kaelen.
I drew a sharp breath. He knelt, bound in chains that pulsed with the same cursed light as the tome. His head was bowed, his face obscured by dark, matted hair. He wasn’t a beastyet. Not fully.
But they were making him one.
His body convulsed as the magic seized him, his breathing ragged and uneven. He was resisting it, even then. Even as the power of the Council bore down on him like an iron weight. One of the robed figures stepped forward, their voice rising in incantation.
“For the strength of our dominion, we sacrifice the last of the old blood. Flesh to power, soul to darkness, body to war.”
“No,” I whisper, my fingers digging into the tome’s cover.
Kaelen let out a strangled sound, his arms trembling as he tried to lift himself from the stone. The magic swelled, a vortex of red and gold, until it broke,
And the beast was born.
I stumbled backwards, gasping as the vision faded, the force of it knocking me away from the book. Azrael manages to catch me before I hit the ground.
“Elara!” His grip was tight, steadying me.
Darius knelt beside me, his face unusually serious. “What did you see?”
I swallow hard, trying to steady my breath. My voice came out hoarse.
