Echoes of the Past

Chapter 12: Echoes of the Past

The trembling earth beneath Everglen's ruins faded as the group found shelter in a crumbled hall, its high ceilings cracked but still intact. The morning light barely filtered through the vines and jagged stones, casting the room in a dim, golden glow. Kaelin sat apart from the others, the shard he had just claimed resting in his hands.

“You alright?” Anara asked, leaning against a nearby pillar. Her voice was soft, without its usual edge.

Kaelin nodded, but the tension in his face told another story. “I saw them,” he said quietly. “My parents.”

Anara exchanged a glance with Verrin, who stood silently near the doorway, keeping watch.

“They blamed me,” Kaelin continued, his voice heavy. “Said I abandoned them.”

Anara hesitated before sitting down beside him. “Was it real?”

Kaelin shook his head. “No. It was the shard testing me. But... it felt real. Too real.”

For a moment, the room was silent except for the faint hum of the shard in Kaelin’s hands.

“When I was twelve,” Kaelin began, his voice barely above a whisper, “my village was attacked by raiders. They came at night—set everything on fire, dragged people away. My parents told me to run.”

He paused, his hands tightening around the shard. “I hid in the woods, waiting for them to come. But they never did. The next morning, the village was gone. Burned to the ground. I never found their bodies, but... I knew.”

Anara stayed quiet, her expression unreadable.

Kaelin took a shaky breath. “I’ve carried that guilt with me ever since. That I lived because I ran. That maybe if I’d stayed, I could have saved them.”

“And the shard used that against you,” Anara said, her voice low.

Kaelin nodded. “It made me face it. But... I don’t think it was just a test. It felt like it was forcing me to let go of the guilt, to accept that I did what I could.”

Verrin finally spoke, his tone measured. “The shards challenge you because they need a wielder who knows their own strength—and their limits. Guilt blinds you. Doubt weakens you. The shard wouldn’t have let you claim it unless you proved you could rise above both.”

Kaelin looked up at Verrin, a spark of defiance in his eyes. “And what about you? Did it make you face your past, too?”

Verrin’s expression darkened, his eyes flicking away. “I failed my test. That’s all you need to know.”

Anara frowned but didn’t press further.

Kaelin stood, his resolve hardening. “I’m done running from the past. My parents didn’t die so I could wallow in regret. They died so I could live—and I’m not wasting that chance.”

The shard in his hands pulsed softly, as if in agreement.

Anara rose as well, her smirk returning. “Good. Because something tells me we’re going to need every bit of that resolve before this is over.”

Verrin turned back to the doorway, his voice cutting through the quiet. “The ruins won’t stay dormant for long. If you’re done making peace with your ghosts, we need to move.”

Kaelin slipped the shard into his pouch and followed, his steps steady, his heart lighter. The past had haunted him for years, but for the first time, it felt like it no longer defined him.

As they left the ruined hall and continued deeper into Everglen, Kaelin couldn’t help but wonder what new tests awaited—and whether he was truly ready for them.

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