Chapter 101 The Brand
"On the eastern border. An entire village was struck by a wave of dark magic. It wasn't just erasers this time... it was wolves. Wolves that lived in the very village that participated in the attack."
"On the eastern border. An entire village was struck by a wave of dark magic. This time, it wasn't just erasers... it was wolves. Wolves that lived in the very village that participated in the attack."
The baby stirred strongly inside me.
Fear. Recognition.
Kael continued, his voice lower.
"And there's more... I found a symbol at the site. The same one that tried to kill me in the library."
A silence settled like a sentence.
The path to the village was silent.
Heavy.
I was mounted beside Conrad, with Kael right behind us and a small troop of soldiers accompanying us. The air felt colder as we approached, as if the earth itself was trying to warn us not to continue.
When we finally crossed the last stretch of the forest, my chest opened.
The village... was destroyed.
Burnt houses.
Departure of the wood.
Dried blood on the dirt floor.
The smell of smoke still lingered in the air, mixed with something worse—corrupted magic.
My stomach churned immediately.
The baby reacted.
Don't be afraid.
But with unease.
Conrad held my hand tightly.
"Stay close to me," he said softly.
I nodded.
A few survivors were gathered near what remained of the central square. As soon as they saw us, the murmuring began. It wasn't hostility.
It was despair.
One of the soldiers was moved from one soldier to get information, but before he could speak, a woman emerged from the crowd.
She looked... broken.
Her eyes swollen.
Her face covered in dried tears.
The blood-stained clothes that weren't hers.
"It was him..." she said, her voice trembling. "It was my husband."
Silence fell immediately.
My heart opened.
Conrad stepped forward, a firm posture, but a soft voice.
"Can we tell you what happened?"
The woman began to cry before she could even answer.
"He left home in the early morning... said he heard a call. I thought it was the patrol... he was a good man... always protected everyone..."
Her voice cut off.
"When I woke up... I heard screams."
Her hands trembled violently.
"I ran outside... and he was there."
She began to hyperventilate.
"But... it wasn't him."
My body tensed.
"What do you mean?" Kael said carefully.
She mentioned the look.
"Their eyes were... dark. As if there was no one inside. Strange movements... too fast... like wounded animals."
A shiver ran down my spine.
"They had marks," she continued. "Deep cuts on their faces... as if someone had torn their skin."
My gaze immediately went to Kael.
His scar.
The same.
"He saw me," she whispered. "I thought he would stop... that he would consider me..."
Tears fell uncontrollably.
"But he attacked."
The hall in the square fell into complete silence.
"He... killed our neighbor in front of me. Then I tried to kill myself too."
My hand automatically went to my stomach.
The baby stirred strongly.
Emotional pain.
Sadness.
The woman fell to her knees.
"I had to defend myself..." she cried. "I had to hurt him... I... I..."
Conrad knelt in front of her.
"You survived," he said firmly. "This wasn't your fault."
She shook her head desperately.
"They don't remember anything!"
Everyone froze.
"What?"
"Then... when they were finished... they fell to the ground. As if they had made agreements from a dream. Confused... scared... they questioned what had happened..."
My heart sank.
"My husband... looked at me... and said why I was crying."
The silence became unbearable.
"He didn't remember... trying to kill me."
Kael stood completely still beside me.
I knew he was thinking the same thing I was.
The scar.
The lost memory.
The dark magic.
Manipulation.
The woman continued, her voice almost weak.
"They aren't monsters... they were used... someone got inside their heads... turned them into weapons."
The baby moved again.
Recognition.
My throat went dry.
Because now we knew.
This wasn't just creature attacks.
Someone was creating soldiers.
And Kael... had been the first test.
The weight of that conclusion fell on all of us at once.
I felt it.
Like an invisible wave rippling through the air.
Kael took a deep breath beside me, but said nothing. His eyes were fixed on the woman kneeling before Conrad—but I knew he wasn't just seeing her.
He was seeing himself.
The library.
That night.
The attack.
The scar.
And the emptiness in her own memory.
Conrad helped the woman to her feet carefully.
"Is your husband alive?" he asked.
She nodded, sobbing.
"He is... but he's not the same anymore. He wakes up screaming. He says he feels like he did something horrible... but he can't remember what."
My heart tightened.
Guilt without memory.
Pain without explanation.
This was cruel on a level that surpassed physical violence.
"Can we see him?" I asked softly.
She hesitated only a second before agreeing.
"He's in our house... or what's left of it."
We followed the woman through the ruins of the village. Each step revealed more signs of the attack: deep claw marks on the walls, dried blood, broken furniture, doors ripped from their hinges.
But there was something else too.
Remnants of energy.
Black magic.
I could feel a metallic taste on my tongue.
When we arrived, I saw the man sitting on the ground, leaning against a partially destroyed wall. He was strong, clearly a warrior accustomed to a hard life... but at that moment he seemed like just a lost man.
As soon as he saw us, he tried to stand up.
"My king..." he said, lowering his head.
Conrad gestured for him to remain seated.
"Rest assured. We are not here to judge you."
The man swallowed hard.
"They said... they said it was me."
His voice trembled.
"That I attacked people."
Silence.
"But I don't remember."
He put his hands to his head.
"I only remember a pain... here."
He pointed to his temple.
My gaze automatically fell to his face.
And there it was.
A long, jagged scar running across the skin from his eyebrow to his cheekbone.
Just like Kael's.
My stomach sank.
I approached slowly.
"Did you hear anything before the attack?" I asked. "A voice? A strange feeling?"
He frowned, trying to remember.
"A... whisper."
Kael stiffened behind me.
"What kind of whisper?" he asked.
The man closed his eyes tightly.
"Promises... I think. I can't remember the words... but it was like someone saying I needed to go... that I needed to protect... that I needed to fight."
Emotional manipulation.
Mind control.
Invasive magic.
My heart began to race.
"Did you see anyone?" Conrad asked.
The man shook his head.
"No... just darkness."
The baby moved strongly inside me.
Reaction.
Recognition.
Disturbing affinity.
I took a deep breath.
Because now it was too clear.
"It wasn't a random attack," I said, looking at Conrad and Kael. "Someone is testing range."
Kael nodded slowly.
"First me," he murmured. "Now an entire village."
Conrad was silent.