The cell was cold and damp, the kind of chill that seeped into Kieran’s bones and refused to leave. The Dominion’s stronghold was a fortress of stone and shadow, its walls designed not only to contain but to break the spirit of its prisoners.
Kieran lay shackled to the floor, his wrists raw and bleeding from the iron cuffs that suppressed his magic. His breathing was shallow, each inhale a struggle against the weight of his confinement. His body ached, but it was nothing compared to the torment inside his mind.
They had been working on him for days—perhaps weeks. He’d lost all sense of time. The Dominion interrogators didn’t just use physical pain. They pried into his memories, dredging up moments he’d long buried, forcing him to relive the most harrowing chapters of his life.
And tonight, they took it further.
---
The door to his cell creaked open, and two Dominion enforcers stepped inside, their faces hidden behind dark masks. Behind them stood a figure Kieran recognized all too well: Sorin, the Dominion’s chief inquisitor.
Sorin was a gaunt man with sharp, predatory features and a voice that dripped with malice. He held a staff imbued with glowing runes, its presence sending waves of nausea through Kieran’s magic-starved body.
“Ah, Kieran,” Sorin said, his tone almost conversational. “How are we feeling today?”
Kieran didn’t bother responding. He knew better than to waste his energy on Sorin’s taunts.
“Still defiant, I see.” Sorin smirked and gestured for the enforcers to leave. As the heavy door closed behind them, Sorin crouched beside Kieran, his expression turning grave. “You know, this doesn’t have to be so difficult. Just tell us what we want to know.”
Kieran’s lips cracked into a bitter smile. “You want me to betray my friends. Not going to happen.”
Sorin sighed, feigning disappointment. “You misunderstand, Kieran. This isn’t about betrayal. It’s about understanding. You carry a legacy within you—one that could reshape the world. But instead of embracing it, you cling to these… attachments.”
Kieran’s jaw tightened. “If you think I’m going to help you unleash that kind of destruction, you’re even more deluded than I thought.”
Sorin’s expression darkened. “So be it.”
Raising his staff, Sorin muttered an incantation, and the runes flared to life. A surge of energy coursed through Kieran, burning and icy all at once. He cried out, his back arching as his vision blurred.
Then, everything went black.
---
When Kieran opened his eyes, he was no longer in the cell.
He stood in a vast, open field, the sky above him a roiling mass of crimson and gold. The air smelled of ash and blood.
“What is this?” Kieran muttered, turning in a slow circle.
A voice echoed around him, low and resonant. “This is your past, Kieran. The choices of those who came before you. And the price you must pay.”
The ground trembled, and before him appeared a figure clad in dark armor, their face obscured by a gleaming helm. The figure’s presence was overwhelming, their very aura radiating power.
Kieran recognized them immediately. “You’re him. The First Bearer.”
The figure removed their helm, revealing a face eerily similar to Kieran’s, though etched with lines of grief and rage.
“I am,” the First Bearer said, his voice heavy with sorrow. “And you are my blood.”
Kieran took a step back, his instincts screaming at him to run. But there was nowhere to go. The field stretched endlessly in every direction.
“You don’t belong here,” Kieran said, his voice shaking. “You’re dead.”
“And yet I live within you,” the First Bearer replied. “The curse binds us, Kieran. You cannot escape it, no more than I could.”
The First Bearer raised his hand, and the field around them shifted. The sky darkened, and Kieran found himself standing amidst a battlefield. Bodies littered the ground, their faces frozen in terror.
“This is what my choices wrought,” the First Bearer said, his tone bitter. “I thought I could wield the curse for good. I thought I could control it. But I was wrong.”
Kieran’s chest tightened as he looked at the devastation around him. “I’m not you,” he said. “I won’t make the same mistakes.”
The First Bearer’s gaze bore into him. “Haven’t you already? How many have you lost, Kieran? How many more will you sacrifice in your quest to save them all?”
Kieran’s breath caught in his throat. Images flashed before his eyes: Elira, her face pale and drawn as the curse within her grew stronger; Lila, vanishing into the darkness to protect them; Viktor, his stoic resolve masking the weight of his own burdens.
“Stop it,” Kieran said, his voice breaking.
The First Bearer stepped closer, his expression hard. “You think you can fight this alone? You think you can defy the Dominion, protect your friends, and contain the curse? You’re a fool.”
“Maybe I am,” Kieran snapped. “But I won’t give up. Not on them.”
The First Bearer’s expression softened, and for a moment, Kieran thought he saw a flicker of pride in the man’s eyes.
“Then you must face the pain, Kieran,” the First Bearer said. “Not just your own, but the pain of those who came before you. Only then will you understand the true cost of your choices.”
---
Kieran was thrust into a whirlwind of memories—memories that weren’t his own.
He saw the First Bearer as a young man, full of hope and ambition, discovering the curse’s power for the first time. He felt the rush of exhilaration, the belief that he could change the world.
But the memories grew darker. He witnessed betrayal, the loss of loved ones, and the slow unraveling of the First Bearer’s sanity as the curse consumed him.
Kieran cried out as the pain overwhelmed him, his own grief mingling with that of his ancestor.
“You cannot run from this,” the First Bearer’s voice echoed. “You must accept it, or it will destroy you.”
---
When Kieran finally woke, he was back in the cell, his body trembling and soaked in sweat.
Sorin stood over him, his expression smug. “You’ve seen it, haven’t you? The truth of what you are.”
Kieran’s voice was hoarse as he replied. “I’ve seen enough to know I won’t let you win.”
Sorin chuckled. “You’re stronger than I anticipated. But no matter. You’ll break eventually. They all do.”
As Sorin turned to leave, Kieran closed his eyes, clinging to the flicker of resolve that remained.
He thought of Elira, Viktor, and Lila—of their determination, their sacrifices. He thought of the promise he had made to himself to protect them at any cost.
The pain was overwhelming, but it wasn’t the end. It was a beginning.
And Kieran wasn’t done fighting yet.