The night is still.
Too still.
The fire flickers—but throws no heat.
Evan sleeps upright, hand resting on his blade.
Naia guards the perimeter.
But Kael?
Kael doesn't sleep.
He stares at Iskra.
At her wide, blinking eyes.
And wonders how much of her is still herself.
She speaks again.
"Do you want to know it?"
Kael says nothing.
Iskra tilts her head.
"The name they took from you."
"The one Evan buried."
He glances toward Evan—his brother in blood, in memory, in pain.
But not always in truth.
And suddenly… Kael remembers something.
Not a full memory.
Just a sound.
A cry.
A word echoing across fire and steel:
"Run, Kaelith."
His heart stutters.
Kaelith.
Not Kael.
A longer name.A different one.
And with it comes the taste of ash in his mouth.
He stares at Iskra.
"Say it again."
She smiles softly.
"Kaelith Evenhart."
"First Warden of the Seven Doors."
"Breaker of the Eighth Lock."
"The one who—"
She freezes mid-sentence.
Eyes go wide.
And her mouth clamps shut.
Kael rushes to her, shaking her shoulders.
"Iskra!"
But she won't move.
Won't speak.
Her eyes dart, panic flooding them.
Then a line of glowing text scrolls across her pupil:
"ACCESS REVOKED. ARCHIVIST PROTOCOL 18."
Evan jolts awake.
Sees the text.
His face goes pale.
"No… no, no, no…"
Kael rounds on him.
"What did you do to me?"
Evan doesn't lie.
Not this time.
"I locked it."
"I locked your name. Your history. Your powers. Everything."
"Because you asked me to."
Kael reels.
"What do you mean I asked you to?"
Evan walks forward slowly, eyes shining with regret.
"Because you were becoming something the world couldn't contain."
"Because you were trying to open the Ninth Door."
"And it was killing you."
The air trembles.
Even the fire flickers away from Kael.
He grips the hilt of his blade.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Evan looks him dead in the eye.
"Because the moment you remembered… you'd never be just Kael again."
Iskra falls limp.
Breathing, but unconscious.
Kael lifts her gently, holding her like a father would.
Naia returns from the trees, sensing something has shifted.
"What happened?"
Kael's voice is low.
"I remembered part of my name."
Naia looks at Evan.
"What does that mean?"
Evan answers for him.
"It means Kael was never the boy who spoke to the Door."
"He was the Door."
The revelation slams into Kael like thunder.
Images flash:
A circle of robed figures chanting his name.
Doors—hundreds of them—spinning around him like stars.
And a hand reaching out from the Ninth Door, clawed and familiar.
A voice whispers through the ash:
"Kaelith. Come back."
"We're not done yet."
He drops to one knee.
Not from pain.
From awakening.
His skin glows with faint golden sigils.
The ground beneath him hums.
Evan steps back.
"It's happening."
"The seal is unraveling."
Naia stares at Kael, terrified.
"Can you stop it?"
Kael lifts his head.
Eyes burning like twin suns.
"No."
"But maybe… I can finish what I started."
Chapter 35 End