Kael stood still, breathing heavily, the whispers growing louder in his ears. The throne pulsed like a heart of bone and ash—ancient, hungry, alive.
"Claim me."
He took a step forward.
The shadows in the chamber shivered. The torchlight flickered, nearly extinguished. Selene watched from the edge of the circle, eyes narrowed—not stopping him, not helping.
Kael reached the base of the throne. Its surface was smooth and cold, etched with runes in a language that predated kings and gods.
He raised his hand. It shook.
"What happens if I sit?" he asked.
Selene's voice was flat. "You see what the last king saw. You feel what he felt. The throne will show you your truth."
"And if I resist it?"
"Then it breaks you."
Kael's cursed eye flared, the mark on his arm glowing dark crimson.
He had come this far. Fought monsters, buried his past, bled for a future he hadn't chosen. Maybe… it was time to see what the throne really wanted.
He sat.
Everything stopped.
The world dropped out from under him.
For a breath, there was nothing.
Then—
Flame. Ice. Shadow. Screams.
Visions tore through him. A king in golden armor, his face hollowed by madness. A city in ruin, drowned by blood. A war—not between kingdoms, but between realms.
And at the center—Kael.
His own face, eyes black as void, seated upon a throne of skulls. Entire armies bowed before him—some in fear, some in worship.
He tried to speak, to pull away—
But the throne pulled deeper.
It showed him his pain, his guilt, every sin he'd buried. The fire he lit when he was young, the screams he walked away from, the people he couldn't save.
"You are not a hero," the throne whispered. "You never were."
Kael screamed.
He felt himself unraveling. His name, his identity, his soul—all being stripped away.
Until—
Something within him fought back.
Not the curse.
Not the throne.
Him.
Kael Valtheris, the boy who crawled out of the slums. The man who refused to die. The one who, again and again, chose to live.
"I am not your puppet."
With a final roar, he wrenched himself free—
—
And his eyes flew open.
He was back in the chamber. Still seated. Still breathing.
Selene stared at him, stunned.
The throne had accepted him.
And it had not consumed him.
Kael stood slowly. The chains around him cracked, then shattered, falling to the stone floor in pieces.
Dark energy swirled around his frame—not chaotic, but controlled.
Balanced.
Selene stepped forward, cautious. "What did you see?"
Kael's voice was hoarse.
"The end." He looked up. "And how to stop it."
---
End of Chapter 12
Kael survived the Throne's test—but now he's seen the future. Should he try to prevent what's coming… or embrace it and rule before the world burns?