Chapter 16: The devil’s eye
Rain hissed against the blackened rooftops of Iskareth, the forgotten city once buried by curses and time. Every drop fell like a whisper, as if the sky was mourning something it couldn't speak aloud. Cain stood alone on the ledge of a crumbling watchtower, the wind brushing his coat back, hair damp, eyes locked on the distance.
Below, Ayden trained furiously, bare-chested, his knuckles bleeding from punching stone pillars reinforced by Lucien's magic. Each strike was an echo of frustration, of helplessness. "He's out there," Ayden muttered, "and we're stuck hiding like cowards."
Lucien lounged on a shattered statue, chewing on a piece of dried jerky, trying to mask his worry. "Maybe we're hiding for a reason. Ever think of that, musclehead? Last time we rushed in, Cain nearly got swallowed by that cursed gate." He twirled a rune coin between his fingers, pretending not to care. But his eyes flicked to Cain often.
Cain didn't say much. He didn't need to. The weight in his chest was growing heavier, and now, he could feel it—something in the air twisting. Like a storm that didn't need clouds.
Somewhere far beyond the ruins...
Rei knelt at an altar of carved obsidian, whispering incantations. Her fingers glowed with old magic, and symbols burned on her skin like tattoos waking up. "The Devil's Eye has been disturbed," she whispered. "They're coming... faster than we thought."
A girl stood behind her, silent, arms crossed. She had short midnight-blue hair, a mechanical eye glowing with data and magic combined—Kira, a techno-mage from the East Wing guild. "If the Eye opens, it won't just be the boys who suffer. This whole continent could fall apart. You're sure it's Cain?"
Rei nodded, painfully. "His bloodline is what binds it. But he doesn't know that yet."
Back in Iskareth...
Night crept in slow, turning the ruined city into a labyrinth of whispers. The three brothers gathered in the hollowed-out cathedral they'd claimed as a hideout.
Cain placed a cracked orb on the altar—The Eye. Black and red, swirling like a storm trapped in glass. "This is what father sealed his power into," he said, voice low. "It's waking up. Because I'm waking up."
Ayden stepped forward. "Then let it wake. We'll face whatever comes next—together."