Chapter 3
The 12 Seals of AramenthiaIt felt like the ground beneath Kris was shuddering, but he knew not to pay any mind to it. He had been in this situation far too many times to count, and it was quickly becoming almost a routine. He didn't know where he was, he never did, but he found himself in a pitch black room with a large boxed window as the only source of light. The darkness made his spine shiver; it was unnatural and almost suffocating, so like every night, he crawled on his hands and knees towards the light, sliding across the slick stone and turned to await the person he knew was going to appear.
It took less than a moment for a silhouette to appear in the beam of light, illuminated up to only their neck so their face was still consumed with darkness. They wore a long hooded cloak that completely covered their body and fell to the floor, skimming the stone with each movement, and the hood shrouded their face, so Kris could never see whom he faced every night.
"The 12 Seals protect Nerfelden," it begins, it's voice incredibly deep and raspy, almost inhuman. "But the seals must also have protectors. The Scaren will be unleashed if these protectors are not found." Kris decides to try his usual course of actions and whispers, "Who are you?"
As usual this seems to make the figure displeased, as Kris can just make out the upset downturn of the mans lips. Kris inhales a deep breath and blinks, but still flinches in surprise when the figure is sudden knelt before him as he opens them again, the man's nose only 5 inches from his own and his eyes glowing an unnatural shade of white in the darkness.
"You must find them Kris," it growls, clutching Kris' arms. He tries to shuffle away from the man's tight grip.
"Find who?! You never tell me who I have to find!!" Kris cries, shoving the man's arms away from him. This was the part he disliked.
Thick, leathery fingers wrap around Kris' neck and he gasps for air. The mans eyes never stop glowing. Images and visions are thrown in front of Kris' eyes as he squirms as he's seen this images all before. The seals, soldiers, King Daejung and King Jinho, Sarenha desert, a noble, wait was that Kyungsoo? Kris claws at the fingers squeezing around his neck, his lungs beginning to burn and this all feels painfully real to him. Too real.
"YOU HAVE TO FIND THEM KRIS," the figure jerks Kris towards him, crying down his ear, and Kris still tries to flinch away from him, still being drowned with images of lands he's never seen before, elves, dirty city streets, two young boys, Verexis. "THE LAND WILL DIE KRIS, AND YOU ALONG WITH IT. FIND THEM! FIND THEM ALL!"
Blind spots were appearing over his vision, the strength weakening in the fingers which still clawed at the vice around his throat.
The figures voice had dropped to a whisper. "Find them, go to the seals, and you will gain power Kris. Powers you never knew you had."
Pain. So much pain.
Kris awoke, shuddering and crying on his bed, his sheets soaked with the sweat pouring from his back. The room felt like it was on fire, even though Kris could feel the soft draft from his open window caressing his bare torso. He had learnt not to sleep with a shirt on since the visions started. Bringing a hand to his forehead, Kris took a deep, shuddering breath, his fingers shaking as he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to keep this throat from convulsing. That was the worst part about these visions, they felt so real at the time that he usually struggles to breathe afterwards, the memory of those fingers crushing his windpipe still feeling all too real.
Kris
Verexis' presence swept through Kris' consciousness like a soothing and calm sea, wiping away all sense of panic and fear coarsing through his veins, and immediately Kris relaxed back against the sheets, his breathing slowing until it was a calm lull again. He felt Verexis bask in the glow of sincerity that he was exuding from himself, and gasped out a thanks.
Maybe you should see someone about these dreams, they mean something Kris.
Kris rolled onto his side and tugged the sheets up over his lithe form, burying his head into his pillow as if he hoped it would act as some sort of protective barrier against this heavy niggling feeling of anxiety that was worming its way through his thoughts. It was that itching feeling in his gut, like he was missing something important. And maybe it had something to do with these incredibly disorientating dreams. But all Kris wanted to do was bury it far far away and not bother himself with the effort; it was too deep, too threatening, and above all, the prospect of this looming sense of duty peering over his shoulders and weighing them down like the Earth itself frightened him. Didn't understand anything anymore. Then again, he never really had.
Do not worry yourself young one, all things are explained with time.
I get the feeling that time is running out Verexis. Very, very fast.
-
"Excuse me. Sorry, excuse me. Pardon me, please may I pass? My apologies. Sorry."
Kyungsoo fought the urge to spit right in the old man's face as the elder sneered at him from over the thick log book clutched in his sausage fingers. In all fairness, the lardy man of maybe 50 years old was so rounded around his stomach that his hunkering body took up at least three quarters of the library aisle, and Kyungsoo had been very politely asking for a way past him for about 6 minutes now. There's always one, Kyungsoo thought, his inner voice sour with irritation as he scrunched his nose up in distaste and made his way towards the back of the library.
Kyungsoo was a regular visitor to the library, only because it was the only place where his pestering attendents and displeased father would give him some sort of privacy and space. The musky smell of huge books that must've been thousands of years old made Kyungsoo's toes curl with sentimental memories, trailing fingers across withering spines and throwing up a storm of dust into the light, and then watching as they swirled around each other in a captivating waltz. There was this sense of peace and serenity that Kyungsoo savoured with all his being as he peered up with bright and wide eyes at the towering ceiling and intricate architecture, paintings of godly deities looming down from overhead and watching the silent readers with frozen eyes. The Library of Erina, which is was so grandly called, was the largest in all Nerfelden, with its wooden canyons of bookcases, a hidden maze of books and knowledge, only barely cracked by the most intelligent of preists and nobles. This of course, included Kyungsoo. Kyunsoo, on a usual day, would slip silently past the feeble and crooked nosed librarians and would bury himself within the books of the old times, historical accounts of important events being his favourite to flick through. There wasn't a book in this section that he hadn't read, but today wasn't a usual day, such being that Kyungsoo plodded straight past his favourite reading spot by the window sill, and tread unsavoury ground into the slightly more darker section.
Tapping his fingers against spines that were close to falling apart at his repeated touch, Kyungsoo scanned row after row, gnawing absently on his lip as he searched. He didn't want to stand around without a book in his hands for too long (he had a tendency of attracting every available librarian in the area when he searched empty handed), so he moved deeper into a dimly light aisle, letting his fingers linger on author names and titles. A few more moments passed and he let out a barely audible 'Aha!', before yanking a huge tome from the bookcase, dust shooting out into his face and he sneezed quietly, pressing his hand to his mouth and pinching his nose. He froze as a preistess wandered past the aisle, eyes far away in thought, before Kyungsoo released the breath he was holding and hitching the tome up into his arms.
On the cover were the words 'Céra Teln Furhlmâ', and Kyungsoo gingerly opened the book up quickly flicking through the pages with a practiced eye.
"That's an awfully big book you've got there."
Kyungsoo yelped much louder than he would've liked, but managed to keep the artifact in his arms as he jumped a mile from the unnoticed presence by his shoulder, pressing it to his chest and smudging dust down his cleanly cut uniform. He gasped out a shocked chuckle as he recognised the hulking figure of Kris, his bright eyes almost gleaming in the dim lighting.
"What the hell Kris, that's the second time you've done that to me." he whispered breathily, shoving Kris playfully on the shoulder before brushing the dust away, earning a ed chuckle.
"You leave yourself wide open." Kris shook his head before looking up at the ceiling like Kyungsoo had done on his first visit. "Wow, this place is huge."
Kyungsoo tugged at his collar before returning to the tome and running his fingers over the pages, squinting as he skimmed over the lines of tiny written scrawl. "So, what brings you to the maze of the deepest depths of knowledge?" Kyungsoo murmured, sounding only half-interested.
"Looking for some answers, I suppose." Kris said with a casual shrug of the shoulders. Kyungsoo felt Kris shuffle away slightly, leaning forward to look at some books before meandering back over to peer over his shoulder. "What about you?"
"Me too, actually." His fingers were about to pinch the corner of the page and flip it over when suddenly arms reached in front of his vision and then the heavy weight of the book disappeared from his hands. "Hey! I had that first!" Kyungsoo scrambled forward and his hands out to snatch it back, but Kris held the book up out of his reach, reading the title on the cover. "Not fair! Now I've lost my page." Kyungsoo whined, shoulders slumping and his lower lip jutting outwards.
"'Céra Teln Furhlmâ'?" Kris said, eyeing the author and raising his brows. "Well, looks like I don't have to search anymore. Why are you looking at this Kyungsoo?"
Kyungsoo blinked at Kris for a moment. "What do you mean? Is this what you're looking for?" He gestured cautiously at the tome. "I was just trying to find other source material on the history of The Seals."
Kris' eyes were shadowed from view as his bangs fell across his eyes and he began to flip through the pages like Kyungsoo had been, before stopping for a moment which stretched the seconds. Then, Kris snapped the book shut, the thump echoing upwards and along the aisles of books.
"I'm taking this book."
Kyungsoo gaped. "Uh... okay? But why?"
Kris looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Tell me Kyungsoo, what exactly do you know about the 12 Seals?"
-
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