THE BOY WHO SHOULDN’T EXIST

The Symbol

The first time Kael saw the symbol, three people died.

He just didn’t know it yet.

The night had begun peacefully.

Above the small village of Elaris, thousands of stars scattered across a cloudless sky. The mountains surrounding the village stood like silent giants, their dark peaks cutting into the moonlight.

Elaris was the kind of place people forgot existed.

There were no grand castles.

No famous warriors.

No royal families.

Only wooden houses, narrow paths, farms, and a few old buildings that had survived longer than anyone could remember.

Kael liked it that way.

He stood on the roof of Master Orren’s workshop, looking toward the mountains.

Eighteen years.

That was how long he had lived in Elaris.

Eighteen years since Master Orren had found him as a baby.

Eighteen years without knowing who his parents were.

Orren had never told him much about them.

Whenever Kael asked, the old man always gave him the same answer.

“Some questions are safer without answers.”

Kael hated that answer.

Tonight, however, he wasn’t thinking about his parents.

He was thinking about the future.

Tomorrow, he would leave the village.

At least, that was the plan.

“I knew I’d find you here.”

Kael heard the voice behind him.

He didn’t turn.

“You’re terrible at sneaking up on people, Darian.”

Darian climbed onto the roof and dropped beside him.

“I’m not sneaking.”

“Exactly.”

Darian laughed.

He was Kael’s closest friend and, according to everyone in Elaris, the complete opposite of him.

Where Kael was quiet, Darian talked too much.

Where Kael thought before acting, Darian acted and then wondered why he was in trouble.

And unlike Kael, Darian had Aether.

A small blue flame danced between his fingers.

Kael glanced at it.

“Showing off again?”

“Maybe.”

Darian grinned.

“Some of us were blessed with talent.”

Kael looked at his own empty hands.

“Some of us were blessed with annoying friends.”

“You’re welcome.”

Kael smiled.

Darian pulled two cups from his coat and handed one to him.

Kael took it.

He smelled it.

“Tea?”

“Obviously.”

Kael took a sip.

His face immediately twisted.

“What did you put in this?”

Darian looked offended.

“Nothing.”

“Exactly.”

They both laughed.

For a few minutes, neither spoke.

The village below them was quiet.

Lanterns glowed outside several houses.

Children were being called inside.

Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.

Everything was normal.

Then Kael felt something.

A strange pressure inside his chest.

He frowned.

“You okay?” Darian asked.

Kael didn’t answer.

The pressure became pain.

Sharp.

Sudden.

He dropped the cup.

It shattered against the roof.

Kael grabbed his chest.

“Kael?”

His breathing became difficult.

Something was moving beneath his skin.

Darian stood.

“What’s happening?”

“I… don’t know.”

Kael pulled his shirt open.

A faint black line had appeared across his chest.

Darian stared.

The line began spreading.

It formed a circle.

Inside the circle appeared the shape of a broken crown.

And beneath the crown…

An eye.

Kael’s eyes widened.

“What is that?”

Darian didn’t answer.

He had stopped smiling.

“Where have you seen that?” Kael asked.

Darian took a step backward.

“Old books.”

“What books?”

“History books.”

“What does it mean?”

Darian’s face had gone pale.

Before he could answer, a bell rang from the centre of Elaris.

Once.

Kael looked toward the village.

The bell rang again.

Twice.

Then a third time.

Darian’s expression changed completely.

“That’s the warning bell.”

Kael stood.

“Warning for what?”

A scream came from the village.

Then another.

Then several more.

A bright orange glow rose above the rooftops.

Fire.

Kael stared.

“No…”

Another explosion shook the ground.

People began running through the streets.

Some were carrying children.

Others were trying to escape.

And then Kael saw them.

Soldiers.

Dozens of them.

They entered through the northern gate wearing black armour marked with a silver wolf.

Darian whispered:

“Valen.”

Kael looked at him.

“Why would Valen soldiers attack Elaris?”

“I don’t know.”

The workshop door below them suddenly slammed open.

Master Orren stepped outside.

The old man’s face changed the moment he saw the mark on Kael’s chest.

His eyes widened.

For the first time Kael could remember, Orren looked genuinely afraid.

“Master?”

Orren stared at the symbol.

His lips moved.

“No.”

He rushed toward the ladder.

“Come down.”

Kael climbed down.

Orren grabbed his arm.

“Where did that come from?”

“It just appeared.”

“How long?”

“Minutes.”

Orren looked toward the village.

Then back at Kael.

“We have to leave.”

Kael pulled his arm away.

“What’s happening?”

“There’s no time.”

“You know what this is.”

Orren said nothing.

Kael’s anger grew.

“You’ve always known.”

“Kael—”

“You knew something about my parents.”

Orren looked at him.

“I was trying to protect you.”

“From what?”

A loud voice echoed outside.

“SEARCH EVERY HOUSE!”

Orren closed his eyes.

“They found you.”

Kael froze.

“Who?”

Orren opened an old wooden chest beneath the workbench.

Inside was a sword.

Kael had never seen it before.

The blade was dark.

Almost completely black.

A strange silver symbol ran along its edge.

Orren picked it up.

Kael stared.

“You have a sword?”

“I have many things you don’t know about.”

Orren handed him the weapon.

Kael struggled with its weight.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Stay alive.”

The workshop door exploded inward.

A soldier stepped through.

His sword was drawn.

“By order of the Kingdom of Valen, surrender the marked child.”

Kael looked at Orren.

Marked child?

The soldier raised his weapon.

Orren moved.

The old blacksmith crossed the room faster than Kael had ever seen him move.

His sword struck the soldier’s weapon aside.

Then Orren drove his elbow into the man’s chest.

The soldier crashed against the wall.

Kael stood frozen.

“Master…”

“RUN!”

Orren kicked open a section of the workshop floor.

A hidden staircase appeared.

Darian stared.

“You had a secret tunnel this whole time?”

Orren glared at him.

“Now is not the time.”

Kael hesitated.

“What about you?”

“I’ll follow.”

“You promise?”

Orren looked at him.

For a moment, something sad appeared in the old man’s eyes.

“I promise.”

Kael climbed into the tunnel.

Darian followed.

Before Kael disappeared underground, he looked back.

Orren was standing alone in the burning workshop.

“Master!”

Orren shouted:

“GO!”

Kael ran.

The tunnel was dark and narrow.

They moved through it as explosions shook the earth above them.

Darian was breathing heavily.

“Who are they?”

Kael didn’t answer.

“Kael.”

“I don’t know.”

“You know that’s not true.”

Kael looked at him.

“What?”

“You’ve been asking about your parents for years.”

Kael stopped.

Darian stared at him.

“Maybe tonight is the night you finally get your answer.”

They reached the end of the tunnel.

A wooden door opened into the forest.

Kael stepped outside.

Cold air struck his face.

He turned around.

The village was burning.

Elaris.

His home.

Everything he had ever known was disappearing behind walls of fire.

Kael clenched his fists.

“We have to go back.”

Darian grabbed him.

“No.”

“Master is still there.”

“We’ll die.”

“I don’t care.”

“You should.”

A voice came from the darkness.

“He’s right.”

Both boys turned.

Orren stood among the trees.

Blood covered one side of his shirt.

Kael rushed toward him.

“Master!”

Orren caught himself against a tree.

“I’m fine.”

“You’ve been stabbed.”

“It’s nothing.”

Kael looked behind him.

“Where are the soldiers?”

Orren didn’t answer.

Instead, he looked at the symbol on Kael’s chest.

His expression became heavy.

“Listen carefully.”

Kael waited.

“You must find a girl.”

“What girl?”

“Her name is Lyra.”

Darian frowned.

“Where do we find her?”

“She will find you.”

Kael shook his head.

“Master, I don’t understand any of this.”

Orren reached into his coat and pulled out a small silver pendant.

Kael recognized it immediately.

He had seen it every day of his life.

It had been around his neck since childhood.

“You gave me this.”

“No.”

Orren placed it in Kael’s hand.

“Your father did.”

Kael stared at the pendant.

“My father?”

Before Orren could say another word, an arrow flew from the trees.

It struck him in the chest.

“MASTER!”

Orren fell.

Kael caught him.

Blood covered Kael’s hands.

“No.”

Orren tried to speak.

Kael leaned closer.

“Don’t die.”

Orren’s eyes met his.

“Don’t… become what they say you are.”

Kael’s voice broke.

“What am I?”

Orren smiled weakly.

“The last…”

His voice disappeared.

Kael shook him.

“Master?”

Nothing.

Darian stood behind him, staring into the darkness.

“They’re coming.”

Kael slowly lowered Orren’s body.

His hands were shaking.

His eyes were filled with tears.

But beneath the grief was something else.

Something darker.

The symbol on his chest began glowing.

Black light spread across his skin.

The forest became silent.

The birds stopped singing.

The wind stopped moving.

Even Darian stepped backward.

“Kael…”

Kael looked down at his hand.

A tiny black flame appeared in his palm.

It didn’t burn him.

It felt like it belonged there.

Then a voice whispered from somewhere deep within the forest.

“The heir has awakened.”

Kael looked up.

There was nobody there.

But far away, beyond the mountains, something ancient opened its eyes.

And for the first time in eighteen years…

the world remembered the name Noctis.