The storm hadn't passed.
It had simply gone quiet.
Ash still hung in the air as Kairan limped beside Liora, his vision flickering between what was real and what wasn't. The streets of Caldrith were mostly rubble now — shattered buildings, twisted light poles, scorched bodies. The Aberrants hadn't just attacked. They had devoured.
Kairan wasn't sure what part of him was healing, and what part was just… wrong.
His blackened eye still pulsed with those glowing glyphs. His hand wouldn't stop shaking.
"You're not okay," Liora said, her voice low.
"I'm not supposed to be," he muttered.
She looked at him then. Really looked. Her gaze lingered on the crimson veins spiraling from the mark on his palm up to his shoulder. "What happened to you?"
Kairan stopped walking.
The System responded first.
[Synchronization Rate: 9.3%]
[Cognitive Integrity: Fading]
[Warning: Memory leak detected]
He clutched his head as a sharp pulse burst through his skull.
A new vision struck — this one clearer than before.
A boy, younger than him, standing before the chained god. The same red glyphs on his hands. He screamed in defiance, then crumbled into dust.
[Memory Recovered: Prior Vessel - Terminated]
The ground felt like it tilted beneath him.
"Kairan!" Liora grabbed his arm, steadying him. "What do you see?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, the System prompted:
[Skill Unlocked: Echo of the Failed]
Effect: Access memories of former vessels. Risk: Identity corruption.
"How many came before me?" he whispered.
The System pulsed once.
[Error: Unknown Number of Prior Vessels. All data corrupted.]
And still, it fed him more.
A name whispered through the void.
"Vekros."
Liora's grip tightened. "What?"
"That's its name," Kairan said. "The god inside me. Or the thing that used to be one."
Lightning cracked overhead. A rift opened in the clouds. Above them, not stars… but eyes. Dozens. Hundreds. Watching.
Liora backed away, blade drawn.
"Why are they looking at you?"
Kairan didn't know.
But deep inside, something growled. And then spoke — a voice like ancient stone.
"Because I've awakened."
---
📝 Author's Note – Kryen:
The darkness in Kairan grows stronger. The System isn't done syncing.
Things are about to spiral.
Chapter 4 — coming tomorrow.