Chapter 34 — Shadows in the Bell Tower

The echoes of the cathedral’s bell were wrong.
They weren’t ringing to announce prayer time—they were signaling something else. Something only the old factions remembered.

Kael’s boots pounded the stone spiral of the bell tower, each step shaking dust from the ancient walls. The narrow space smelled of rusted metal and candle soot.

Below, in the cathedral’s courtyard, soldiers clashed with robed figures. From above, Kael could see crimson magic arcs tearing through the ranks—magic that shouldn’t exist anymore.

He climbed faster.
If this is what I think it is, they’ve broken the Pact.

Halfway up, a deep vibration rattled the tower. The bell above him groaned, chains straining. Then, a voice—not human—slithered through the stone.
“You should not have come here, Kael of the Forgotten Thread.”

The air shimmered.
A figure formed from shadow and molten gold stepped out of the wall, its face concealed under an executioner’s hood, its voice like ringing iron.

Kael’s hand tightened around his weapon. “You’re from the Council’s hidden arm… the ones who vanished after the War.”

The thing chuckled, stepping closer. “The Council did not vanish. It simply… outgrew your kind.”

A glimmer of silver light surged from Kael’s blade, but the figure caught it with one palm. The magic warped—twisted—and shattered into black shards mid-air.

Pain split Kael’s vision. Not physical—deeper. Like the shadow was peeling at the edges of his soul.
“You carry Erosion marks,” the figure whispered. “You’re not supposed to be alive… and yet here you are, disrupting the balance.”

Kael lunged. His sword slashed through the figure’s form, dispersing it like smoke. But the voice remained, whispering from every corner.
“This bell is not meant for mortal ears. When it tolls the ninth time… you’ll see the truth.”

Somewhere above, the bell began to swing.
Seven tolls left.

Kael sprinted the last steps toward the top, heart hammering—not just from the climb, but from the knowledge that whatever waited there would change everything.