The night fog still hung over the lower districts of Arkhaven.
Kael did not sleep.
The chamber lamp remained extinguished, and only dim light from the street penetrated his small window. The city looked like an ancient creature breathing slowly in the darkness.
On the worn wooden desk, the black book lay still.
But Kael knew one thing now.
The object was not truly still.
He sat in the chair, his body slightly leaning forward. His eyes never left the cracked symbol that had appeared on his wrist.
The symbol was still there.
Not fading.
Not changing.
As if it had always been meant to be there.
Kael raised his hand slightly, observing the thin lines forming that cracked circle.
If he looked at it long enough, he felt the pattern... moved very subtly.
Not moving physically.
More like an optical illusion.
As if the small cracks were trying to form something larger.
He lowered his hand.
His mind returned to the masked man who had stood in the street earlier.
One fact was clear.
The man was not surprised.
Meaning he already knew about this book, or at least about something similar to it.
Kael opened the book once more.
The first page remained empty.
The second page remained empty.
The third page still displayed the same writing.
"Finally."
He turned to the next page.
"We have waited for you for so very long."
Kael stared at the sentence for a moment.
Then he spoke softly, as if addressing something that might be listening.
"Who are you?"
There was no answer.
Only the silence of his small chamber.
But after several seconds...
the ink on that page began to move.
Slowly.
Like a living creature waking from long sleep.
The old letters faded, replaced by a new sentence.
Kael did not move at all.
He merely read.
The writing appeared one word at a time.
"A bad question."
Several seconds passed.
The next sentence emerged.
"The right question is..."
The ink paused for a moment.
Then continued.
"Are you ready to know the answer?"
Kael closed the book.
A quick movement.
Too quick for someone usually calm.
He stood from his chair.
Several steps away from the desk.
Not afraid.
But wary.
That book was clearly not merely an artifact.
Artifacts usually have functions.
Artifacts do not... speak.
Kael stared at the book from a distance.
Several minutes passed.
No more changes occurred.
As if the object had returned to being an ordinary thing.
Kael finally returned to the desk.
He opened the book again.
That page was empty now.
No writing at all.
As if the conversation had never happened.
Kael exhaled softly.
"Interesting."
But before he could close the book—
a knock sounded from his apartment door.
Three times.
Soft.
Regular.
Kael froze.
Almost no one knew his residence.
And those who knew... would not come at midnight.
The knock sounded again.
Three times.
This time slightly louder.
Kael walked toward the door.
His steps silent.
He stopped right before the thin wooden door.
Then spoke.
"Who?"
Several seconds passed.
Then a woman's voice was heard from behind the door.
Calm.
Cold.
Yet not hostile.
"I am looking for someone."
Kael did not open the door.
"Name?"
A brief silence.
Then the woman answered.
"Kael Ardent."
Kael said nothing.
The woman's voice continued.
"Rest easy. If I wanted to kill you, this door would not stop me."
That sentence was delivered without emotion.
As if merely a simple fact.
Kael considered that possibility.
This old building indeed would not hold back someone strong enough.
He unlocked the door.
The door opened slightly.
In the dark corridor stood a young woman in a long gray coat.
Her hair was long and black.
Her eyes... strange.
Not because of their color.
But because of the way she looked.
As if she was not seeing Kael's body, but something behind it.
The woman's gaze moved past Kael.
Toward the desk.
Toward that black book.
She smiled thinly.
"So it is true."
Kael leaned against the door.
"True about what?"
The woman looked at him again.
Her eyes were calm.
Yet behind that calmness lay something deeper.
Something that felt like an abyss.
"An artifact awakened tonight."
She pointed into the room.
"It seems... the artifact chose you."
Kael did not answer.
The woman continued in the same calm voice.
"The problem is simple."
She raised one finger.
"When such artifacts appear... there are usually two possibilities."
A second finger rose.
"Either you die."
Or...
She lowered her hand.
"you become something far more dangerous."
The woman tilted her head slightly.
Her eyes studied Kael's face with genuine interest.
"So I came to see."
Her smile widened slightly.
"which you will become."