The Oathbearer's Legacy

ythm of the wind moving through the trees, the soft cr

men read books. It told him where to find the deer that wandered the forest edge, the strea

d bow, and enough sunlight to carry him through his wo

ng. It wasn't the wind or the movement of the animals that bothered

ung over his shoulder, the familiar sounds seemed distant.

hing out like fingers across the forest floor. His han

that they were real, that he was still grounded. Kaelin inhaled the sce

y, it fe

e toward the northern ridge. The ridge was his favorite place to cut wood. The trees w

ough the canopy there, dappling the ground

hat was the real reason Kaelin liked it. He wasn't much

lways eyes on him when he walked through, murmured words about his strange ways, h

s a title, but Kaelin always knew it was

he distance, the looks of quiet judgment that followed his family. His father had been a strange man, to

had shown him. It was easier to be alone in the woods than tr

trunks of the old pines he'd come for. He set down his pack and ran his fingers along th

, and drown out whatever unease had

zing it up. But before he could rais

he roots of an ancient p

rded tool or perhaps an old hunter's trap, but as he brushed away the dirt and moss, a strange

with sharp lines weaving in and out of circular patterns. It looked like an old relic, forgotten and left to ro

s from the village elders about relics like these-old magic

e a pull, gentle but insistent, drawing him toward the object. He hesitated

ling back, dropping the relic to the ground. His hand throbbed with a strang

imilar to the one

dge of the tree to steady himself. His mind raced, tr

osed to be long nothing more than stories passed down

ed in his head-low and ancient, as if it ha

r of Oaths

in the clearing. The voice, though, was clear-too clear to be imagi

him to walk away, he couldn't ignore the sensation in his the pull th

that Kaelin's quiet life was about to c

eady but his thoughts a whirlwind. The mark on his palm had faded, but the un

years, the woods no

e glanced again at his palm, where the faint glow had disappeared, leaving only his skin rough and calloused from years of working with wood and iron. Bu

e still shimmered in the fading light, as if it were alive. For a long moment, Kaelin just stared at it, fighting th

r of Oaths

ouldn't be. Kaelin had never believed in magic. The old stories were just those stories. Warnings told to children to keep them from wandering too far from the vi

ded to

forest. But no matter how many steps he took, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him, waiting for

secrets. He would go home, and pretend none of this had happened

at knowing when to walk away. But as he took another step toward the pa

tible, but Kaelin felt it crawl over his skin, raising the hairs on the back of his neck. The forest no longer felt like the fa

t le

e it was again, that pull-gentle but insistent, like a thread wrapped around his heart, tugging him back toward t

d silent now, half-covered by earth and roots. It didn't glow, didn't whisper, didn't beckon. B

r and trudged toward the relic once more. His feet felt lighte

magnetism that was impossible to ignore. His eyes locked on the sym

way, revealing the full shape of the relic. It wasn't lar

ike veins. Kaelin squinted at it, wondering what kind of tool or weapon it mig

energy. But this time, nothing happened. The relic lay still and cold in his hand,

d. Why had it branded him? What did the voice mean by calling him the S

underside, something caught his eye-a small inscription, barely visible in

, bound by word

dn't seen any traces of it. Bound by word? The voice had said something ab

nd had picked up, rustling the leaves with a low, eerie sound. His instincts screamed

f his eye, he saw somethi

mmering in his chest. The figure was faint, just a blur of motion b

thoughts. The axe was in his hands before he even registered drawing it

cking through the silence. He hated how it sounded like a man on the

le of the wind and the distant call of a bird. But the

urious one,

into the light, revealing a tall, hooded stranger, their face obscured by shadow. There was s

h an intensity that made Kaelin's skin crawl

situation. "What do you want?" he asked, his voic

eir eyes. "What's owed," they said simply. "An

e he had known for so long been shattered in an instant. And whatever this stranger w