Seti was finally before him.
Caspian focused his every sense on the man. Despite the warmth of the orange firelight, Seti's presence was harsh, intimidating.
It was confounding how he and Titi looked exactly alike, and yet so different.
Seti's dark skin gleamed like polished mahogany, in the light. His most striking feature, was his eyes or rather, his eye.
The right one gleamed gold in the firelight, though Caspian knew it was darker in daylight.
The left… well, he had tried not to stare at it before. At first, he had curbed his curiosity, avoiding it altogether. But now, those hesitations were gone.
He studied Seti, searching his external form for any clue to the mystery of the man himself.
Most infuriatingly, Seti gave nothing away. Only more questions.
His left eye would have been normal except there was no eye at all. Instead, an empty void shaped like an eye, a window to pure darkness. It unsettled him.
Apart from that, Seti was not conventionally attractive like the usual androgynous figures worshipped and adored. He was too masculine, His features were too severe high cheekbones, a sharp jawline, and a perpetual frown that made him look unapproachable.
"I ask your forgiveness," Seti said at last, voice measured. "I am not good at this. To explain something of this magnitude"
"Just do it," Caspian snapped. His own voice came out harsher than intended.
The energy inside him twisted, roiling suddenly like a storm rising. He inhaled sharply.
He was just stressed. That was all.
Seti exhaled. "Two years ago, I felt something stir. An urging. I followed it to the boundaries. I kept searching, not knowing what I sought only that I must find it."
His gaze met Caspian's, steady, unreadable.
"And then you appeared," Seti continued. "And it all clicked. The prophecy is true."
A beat of silence.
"A god long ago blessed our bloodline," Seti said. "Cultivated us. Left us with instructions. Gave us everything that has allowed us to thrive in perilous times such as these."
His voice was unwavering now, heavy with meaning.
"And he bid us wait for his successor."
His eyes one gold, one abyss bore into Caspian's.
"For you."
I do not know the details. My rank in the clan does not grant me that knowledge. But I sensed your magic in the inn, and I knew..."
"Lies."
Caspian's voice was sharp, cutting through Seti's words. "Have you spun fables and legends to fool me? Speaking of gods and destiny? Do you think me foolish? Gullible, perhaps?"
He was working himself into a fuming anger, his mind scrambling to make sense of it all. There was truth in Seti's words he could feel it, like a thread pulling at something deep within him. But it couldn't be true. It couldn't be.
"Lies?" Seti's voice hardened. "I have told no lies. Does the energy of Heka, Lord of Chaos and Ends, not run in your veins like blood? Do not lie to me. I can feel it because it calls to me."
For the first time, Seti's unshakable composure cracked. A sharp edge crept into his voice, and Caspian absently filed away the fact that Seti did not take kindly to being called a liar.
Silence hung between them, heavy, suffocating.
"The words you speak are unfamiliar to me," Caspian muttered. The defiance in his voice wavered. He sounded… petulant.
Seti extended his left hand.
A flame flared to life in his palm.
Caspian felt it immediately a tug. It was familiar. An extension of himself. If he just reached for it...
The flame surged. It stretched outward, flaring violently as though doused in oil.
Caspian flinched.
Seti flicked his wrist, extinguishing it in an instant. His gaze bore into Caspian's, unreadable.
"That was not me," he said.
And Caspian knew he was right.
"I know you have no reason to trust us," Seti began, his voice surprisingly soft. "But we mean you no harm. Truly."
Silence followed.
Caspian couldn't think. It was as if plucking a single thought from the storm in his mind would be painful.
"I'm tired," he said finally.
Seti studied him, something unspoken lingering in his gaze. But he only nodded.
Caspian was relieved he had no energy left for conversation.
Seti rose. "Follow me."
Caspian hesitated. Lately, it felt like everything was leading him somewhere everything except himself.
Still, he stood.
Alone in the room, he clutched his shirt, feeling the unnatural heat seeping through the fabric.
Too tired to confront it.
He lay down. The bed was the most comfort he'd felt in a long time. The tension melted from his body, and he sank into the cool, fresh-scented sheets a welcome contrast to his recent days.
Sleep took him quickly.
He dreamt of fire.
Of madness.
Of missing eyes.
≈≈≈≈≈≈
"There is a disruption in the world.
The balance has shifted. The air is heavier. All the pieces are in place.
It approaches fast. These moments that will define our world.
Destruction is the path I see.
Our current trajectory.
But to see is to know.
And to know is to change.
Even that which is written in stone… written in the stars.
Silence.
"What should we do?"
He looked down at the three kneeling before him. Their loyalty. Their trust.
And most importantly
Their faith.
Weaving. Condensing.
He inhaled, drawing them in, filling himself with their devotion. A heady strength.
"Kill him."
The one with the old power in his veins
Power that should not exist, not in this world"
"Your wish shall command our every step."
"Then go."
They left.
And yet, even as they did, he saw their failure.
As if fate could be so easily deterred.
But every step...every misstep was necessary.