He didn't win.
The truth sat in his chest like a stone.
Kieran had returned from the ruins with bruises, a torn cloak, and a mind heavier than his limbs. The page still whispered in his pocket—reminding him he had seen the edge of something far greater than himself.
The Failed One wasn't just stronger.
He was faster. Smarter. Crueler.
And completely unafraid.
Back at the Guild
Kieran stood in the Guild's open courtyard, surrounded by stone dummies, training poles, and sparring rings. Rain pattered down gently from a gray sky.
He didn't wait for permission.
He began again.
Sword in hand. Over and over. Movements drilled from muscle memory—but now sharpened with purpose.
Guild members watched from windows. A few laughed at first. Then stopped laughing when he didn't.
Hours passed. His hands blistered. His arms bled. Still he moved.
Not because he believed he'd become stronger in a day.
But because weakness had a face now.
A Visitor at Dusk
"You train like you've already seen your death."
The voice came from an old man, white-bearded, cloaked in mage robes stitched with stars. He leaned on a twisted wooden staff, eyes like iron.
"I have," Kieran answered, not stopping. "He wore a mask."
The old man smiled thinly.
"You faced the Failed One and lived. That makes you dangerous. But only half of you is awake."
Kieran stopped. "…What do you mean?"
The man tapped his staff. "You use the sword like a soldier. But you were born from the Void, boy. There's more to you than steel."
The Training Begins
That night, Kieran followed the old man to the cliffs above Caldrath—where the stars seemed closer, and the wind whispered names not spoken in centuries.
"Your blood remembers what your mind does not," the man said.
He opened an ancient tome—the same kind the Whisperer carried.
"The Voidborne were not always feared. In the First Age, they were balancers. They walked between flame and shadow. Until the last of them burned too bright and scorched a city from the map."
Kieran stared into the sky. The stars pulsed.
"Your gift is not power. It's clarity. The calm before death. The eye in the storm."
"We'll awaken it."
End of Chapter Seven
And so began the real training.
Not just sword swings—but void rituals. Breath control. Astral stillness. Understanding fear—not as something to conquer, but something to stand within.
Because the next time Kieran faced the Failed One…
He wouldn't just fight him.
He'd outgrow him.
Next Chapter Preview:
Chapter Eight: Cold Fire
Kieran learns to step into the edge of the void without losing himself. As he begins to glimpse the deeper powers of the Voidborne legacy, a spy in Caldrath watches him closely—sent not by the Guild, but by the capital's throne.