Chapter 131: The Mark of Calamity

Rin ran.

He didn’t care who saw him.

He didn’t care whether the servants heard his footsteps echoing through the corridors.

The moment he had felt that strange pain in his chest, he knew something was wrong.

Eryndor.

Something had happened to him.

The old family record was still in Rin’s hand as he moved through the dark corridor.

The words kept repeating inside his mind.

Bearer of Calamity.

That title couldn’t be a coincidence.

Not after everything Rin had already learned.

Not after discovering that Eryndor would one day become Kaelith.

Not after seeing that strange symbol in the book.

And now...

The mark.

A black mark had appeared on Eryndor’s palm.

Rin reached the end of the corridor and stopped in front of the door.

"Eryndor!"

No answer.

Rin opened the door.

The room was dark.

"Eryndor?"

Nothing.

Rin stepped inside.

The window was open.

The curtains moved with the wind.

The bed was untouched.

"Eryndor?"

He walked toward the window.

Then he noticed something on the floor.

A small piece of black cloth.

Rin picked it up.

His expression changed.

There was a symbol embroidered into it.

The same symbol from the family record.

The same symbol he had seen before.

The same symbol connected to calamity.

"What is this?"

A warning.

Rin nearly dropped the cloth.

"Aelion."

Yes.

"Where is he?"

Aelion didn’t answer.

Rin’s heart began beating faster.

"Aelion."

I don’t know.

"You’re lying."

I’m not.

"Then tell me what you know."

Silence.

Rin clenched the cloth in his hand.

"You knew about that symbol."

Yes.

"How long?"

Since before you came here.

Rin’s eyes widened.

"Then why didn’t you tell me?"

Because you weren’t supposed to know.

"Why?"

Because knowing too much changes things.

Rin stared at the empty room.

"Everything changes things."

Exactly.

Rin turned toward the door.

"I’m finding him."

Rin—

"I’m not waiting."

You don’t know what you’re walking into.

"Neither did you when you started all of this."

Aelion fell silent.

Rin ran.

He searched the servants’ quarters first.

Nothing.

Then the gardens.

Nothing.

The stables.

Nothing.

Finally, he reached the old courtyard behind the estate.

It was rarely used.

The stone path was covered with moss, and several ancient statues stood along the walls.

Rin stopped.

There.

Someone was standing beside the old fountain.

Eryndor.

Rin’s heart jumped.

"Eryndor!"

The boy turned.

His face was pale.

Rin immediately ran toward him.

"What happened?"

Eryndor stared at him.

"I don’t know."

"Show me your hand."

Eryndor hesitated.

"Why?"

"I saw the mark."

Eryndor looked down.

The black symbol was still visible on his palm.

"I don’t know what it is."

Rin took his wrist gently.

The moment Rin touched the mark, a wave of cold passed through his body.

He saw something.

A field.

Burning.

A black sky.

Thousands of people running.

A young man standing in the middle of the destruction.

His clothes were torn.

His hands were covered in black magic.

And his eyes...

They were the same eyes Rin had seen countless times.

Kaelith.

Rin immediately pulled his hand away.

He stumbled backward.

Eryndor caught him.

"Aelion!"

Rin breathed heavily.

"I saw you."

"What?"

"Not you..."

Rin looked at him.

"I saw someone else."

Eryndor frowned.

"Who?"

Rin couldn’t answer.

Because saying the name felt impossible.

Because Eryndor was standing right there.

A boy.

Not Kaelith.

Not yet.

Rin looked at the mark again.

"Where did you get this?"

"I woke up with it."

"When?"

"After I left your mother."

Rin’s expression hardened.

"What did she do?"

"Nothing."

"Eryndor."

"She didn’t touch me."

"Then what happened?"

Eryndor looked away.

"She told me something."

"What?"

"That if I continued staying close to you, I would destroy your future."

Rin’s expression changed.

"She said that?"

"Yes."

"And you believed her?"

Eryndor remained silent.

Rin stepped closer.

"You can’t believe her."

"Why?"

"Because she’s wrong."

"You don’t know that."

"I do."

"How?"

Rin froze.

He couldn’t answer.

How could he explain that he had seen Eryndor’s future?

That he had seen the man he would become?

That he knew Eryndor would become someone called Kaelith?

That he had loved that man?

That he had cried his name only hours ago?

Rin looked away.

"I just know."

Eryndor studied him.

"You’re hiding something."

Rin’s heart skipped.

"What?"

"You’ve been different since yesterday."

Rin didn’t answer.

"You look at me strangely."

"Eryndor..."

"Sometimes you look at me as if you’re afraid."

Rin swallowed.

"Because I am."

"Of me?"

"No."

"Then what?"

Rin looked directly into his eyes.

"Of losing you."

Eryndor froze.

The mark on his palm suddenly glowed.

Rin’s eyes widened.

"Eryndor!"

The black symbol spread slightly across his hand.

Eryndor gasped.

"What is happening?"

"I don’t know."

Rin grabbed his wrist.

The moment he did, another vision struck him.

This time, he saw a different place.

A magnificent temple.

White stone.

Golden pillars.

A group of people kneeling before something invisible.

Then he saw a young Aelion.

Not seventeen.

Much younger.

Standing beside Eryndor.

And someone was speaking.

"The vessel has been chosen."

Rin’s breathing stopped.

Then another voice answered.

"No. The vessel has chosen itself."

The vision shattered.

Rin fell to his knees.

Eryndor immediately knelt beside him.

"Aelion!"

Rin pressed a hand against his forehead.

"What was that?"

Aelion’s voice sounded shaken.

You saw it.

"Who were they?"

I don’t know.

"You do."

I remember the place.

"Where?"

The Sanctuary of First Light.

Rin stared at the ground.

"Was Eryndor there?"

Aelion remained silent.

"Aelion!"

Yes.

Rin’s heart dropped.

"Why?"

I don’t know.

"You’re hiding something again."

Because I don’t remember everything.

Rin looked at his own hands.

For the first time, he understood that Aelion’s memories weren’t complete either.

Maybe neither of them knew the whole truth.

Maybe Aelion had forgotten just as much as Rin had.

Then Eryndor spoke.

"Aelion."

Rin looked at him.

"What?"

"What’s a vessel?"

Rin froze.

"You heard that?"

"I heard you say it."

Rin didn’t know what to answer.

Eryndor stared at him.

"What does it mean?"

"I don’t know."

"But you reacted."

"I saw something."

"What?"

Rin hesitated.

Then he told him.

"A temple."

Eryndor’s expression changed.

"I’ve seen it."

Rin stared.

"What?"

"I’ve dreamed about it."

Rin’s heart began beating faster.

"What kind of dream?"

"A white temple."

Eryndor’s voice became distant.

"There’s a woman there."

"A woman?"

"I don’t know who she is."

"What does she say?"

Eryndor closed his eyes.

"She always says the same thing."

Rin waited.

Eryndor whispered,

"You were created to carry what he cannot."

Rin’s blood ran cold.

"Who?"

"I don’t know."

"Does she mention Aelion?"

"No."

"Then who?"

Eryndor opened his eyes.

"I don’t know."

The two boys remained silent.

The wind moved through the courtyard.

Then Rin noticed something.

The mark wasn’t disappearing.

It was spreading.

Slowly.

Moving from Eryndor’s palm toward his wrist.

Rin immediately grabbed his hand.

"We need to hide this."

"Why?"

"Because if my mother sees it, she’ll use it against you."

"Maybe she already knows."

Rin looked at him.

"What?"

Eryndor lowered his voice.

"Yesterday, before she sent me away, she told me something."

"What?"

"She said my family had always been cursed."

Rin’s eyes narrowed.

"What curse?"

"She didn’t say."

"Anything else?"

Eryndor nodded.

"She said that House Valen had made a mistake many generations ago."

"What mistake?"

"I don’t know."

Rin’s mind immediately returned to the old family record.

The erased names.

The strange title.

The symbol.

The Bearer of Calamity.

House Valen was connected to this.

But how?

And why?

Rin suddenly remembered the mysterious figure from the past.

The thing that had been waiting.

The thing that had opened its eyes when Rin arrived.

His blood ran cold.

"What if this house isn’t just your home?"

Eryndor frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"What if your family has been hiding something?"

"About what?"

Rin looked toward the mansion.

"About you."

Eryndor stared at him.

Then the sound of footsteps echoed from the courtyard.

Both turned.

The Crown Prince appeared at the entrance.

He looked surprised to see them.

"There you are."

Rin stood.

"What happened?"

"Your mother is looking for you."

Rin’s expression darkened.

"Why?"

"She received a message from the capital."

"What message?"

The Crown Prince looked at Eryndor.

Then at Rin.

"The King has approved the engagement."

Silence.

Rin’s expression became cold.

"But you refused."

"I did."

"Then why?"

"Because the royal council has already made its decision."

Rin clenched his fists.

The Crown Prince continued.

"And there is more."

"What?"

"The King has ordered that the wedding preparations begin immediately."

Eryndor’s face became pale.

Rin looked at him.

Then at the Crown Prince.

"There’s no way."

"There is."

Rin shook his head.

"No."

He looked at Eryndor.

The black mark on Eryndor’s hand suddenly burned brighter.

Eryndor winced.

Rin immediately grabbed him.

"Are you okay?"

Eryndor nodded.

But his eyes had changed.

For a brief moment, they looked darker.

Almost black.

Rin froze.

"Eryndor..."

The boy looked at him.

"What’s wrong?"

Rin couldn’t speak.

Because for one second...

He had seen Kaelith.

Not Eryndor.

Kaelith.

The same eyes.

The same expression.

The same overwhelming presence.

Then it disappeared.

Eryndor was himself again.

Rin stepped backward.

Aelion’s voice whispered inside him.

Now you understand.

Rin swallowed.

"Understand what?"

Why you can’t change the past.

Rin looked at Eryndor.

"No."

Everything you’re doing is already becoming part of his story.

Rin’s eyes widened.

"No..."

The more you try to save him...

Aelion’s voice became almost unbearably sad.

...the closer you bring him to becoming Kaelith.

Rin stared at Eryndor.

The boy was still standing there.

Confused.

Afraid.

Alive.

Rin clenched his fists.

"Then I’ll find another way."

Aelion didn’t answer.

The Crown Prince looked between them.

"What are you talking about?"

Rin turned toward him.

"We’re leaving."

"Leaving?"

"This house."

Eryndor stared.

"Aelion..."

Rin looked at him.

"If staying here is what leads to your future..."

He tightened his grip around Eryndor’s hand.

"Then we’ll leave before it happens."

The Crown Prince’s expression changed.

"That’s impossible."

Rin looked toward the mansion.

"Maybe."

Then he looked at Eryndor.

"But I’m going to try."

Far above them, hidden beyond the clouds, something watched.

Something ancient.

Something that had been waiting for Aelion to return.

And a voice whispered into the wind:

"Run if you want."

"The past will follow you."

"And he will still become him."