Rael's expression hardened slightly. "This isn't about control, Karel. It's about responsibility. The power you manifested today is beyond anything we've seen in recorded history. You repelled an army of Child of Silence single-handedly, something that should have required dozens of skilled practitioners working in concert."
"I didn't do it consciously," Karel pointed out. "It just... happened. I followed the Dome's guidance."
"Exactly," Rael said, leaning forward intently. "You have a direct connection to the Dome that no one else possesses. Do you understand how significant that is? How potentially dangerous?"
Karel wanted to argue, to assert that he could handle whatever was happening to him. But the truth was, he didn't know. The events of the day had shown him just how unprepared he was for the power he now possessed.
"What happens now?" he asked instead.
"You'll return to Olkaris with me," Rael replied. "There, in the safety of the royal compound, Tharolis and other skilled mentors will help you learn to control and understand your gifts. The Council will continue to investigate the increase in Dead Zone activity and the unprecedented behavior of the Child of Silence."
It all sounded so reasonable, so carefully planned. Yet Karel couldn't shake the feeling that something was being left unsaid.
"And my father?" he asked abruptly. "Does this change anything about his... diplomatic mission?"
A shadow passed over Rael's face. "Why do you ask that?"
"Because in my dream last night, I saw him," Karel said, deciding to be completely honest. "Or something wearing his form. It spoke to me about the Dome breaking, about a choice I would have to make. It mentioned 'the three' who would meet — the Bearer, the Word, and the Broken Bond."
Rael's expression became completely unreadable, his years of diplomatic training coming to the fore. "Dreams are often symbolic, Karel. Especially before significant events like the Awakening. I wouldn't read too much into — "
"Tharolis said the exact same words when I was losing consciousness," Karel interrupted. "'The three shall meet where shadows fall. The Bearer, the Word, the Broken Bond. Together, they will face the truth.' Those exact words, uncle. The same as in my dream."
For a moment, Rael seemed at a loss for words — something Karel had never witnessed before. Then the regent's expression settled into grim resignation.
"There are matters regarding your father that I've kept from you," he admitted. "For your own protection and his. But perhaps the time for such protection has passed."
Karel's heart raced. After eight years of evasions and half-truths, was he finally going to learn what had happened to his father?
"Aeris didn't leave on a diplomatic mission," Rael continued, his voice low as if afraid of being overheard even here. "At least, not in the conventional sense. He... discovered something. Something about the Dome, about its true nature and purpose. Something that contradicted everything we've been taught to believe."
"What?" Karel asked, barely breathing.
"I don't know the full extent of it," Rael said, and Karel believed him — the frustration in his voice seemed genuine. "He only shared fragments with me before he left. But it was enough to understand that if his discoveries became widely known, it could destabilize not just Olkhar society but all of Inhevaen."
"So where did he go?"
"To seek confirmation of his theories. To find proof that couldn't be dismissed or covered up." Rael's gaze dropped to his hands, which were clasped tightly in his lap. "He said he was going to the Mountains of Eternal Mist, beyond the known territories. That's the last I heard from him directly."
The Mountains of Eternal Mist — a place of legend, said to be where the Dome came closest to the world, where its barrier was most visible. Few expeditions had ever ventured there, and fewer still had returned.
"You think he's dead," Karel said, the realization hitting him like a physical blow.
"I don't know," Rael replied honestly. "There have been... rumors. Whispers from travelers and merchants who venture to the border territories. Some claim to have seen an Olkhar matching his description in the company of strange companions. But nothing concrete, nothing I could verify."
Karel absorbed this information slowly, trying to reconcile it with the years of being told his father was on an important diplomatic mission, too far away to communicate regularly.
"Why lie to me all these years?" he asked finally, unable to keep the hurt from his voice.
"To protect you," Rael said simply. "Aeris made me promise. He said that if his theories were correct, you would be... significant. Special. That forces might seek to use you or harm you if they knew of your potential connection to his discoveries."
"The Bearer," Karel murmured.
"Yes. Though neither of us understood exactly what that meant at the time." Rael sighed heavily. "I kept the truth from you because I believed it was in your best interest. Perhaps that was a mistake. Perhaps if you had been better prepared..."
"I might have been ready for what happened today," Karel finished for him.
A heavy silence fell between them, broken only by the distant sounds of the encampment being dismantled as the Awakening ceremonies concluded — or more likely, were being postponed in light of the attack.
"What about the Word and the Broken Bond?" Karel asked eventually. "Do you know who or what they are?"
Rael shook his head. "Those terms weren't part of what Aeris shared with me. But given today's events and Tharolis's words, I suspect they are individuals who will play crucial roles alongside you in whatever is coming."
"So I'm supposed to just wait in Olkaris, training with my new gifts, until these mysterious individuals appear?" Karel couldn't keep the skepticism from his voice.
"For now, yes," Rael said firmly. "You need to learn control, Karel. What you did today was miraculous but also dangerous — to yourself and potentially to others. Untrained power of that magnitude is like a wildfire, capable of tremendous destruction if not properly directed."
Karel wanted to argue further, but exhaustion was creeping back over him despite his brief rest. The events of the day, both physical and emotional, had taken a greater toll than he had realized.
Rael seemed to notice his fatigue. "Rest now. We'll depart for Olkaris at first light tomorrow. There will be time for more questions and answers on the journey home."
As his uncle rose to leave, Karel called after him: "The Dome is breaking. That's what the apparition of my father said in my dream. What do you think it means?"
Rael paused at the tent entrance, his silhouette framed against the late afternoon light. "I don't know, nephew. But I fear we'll all find out soon enough."
With that ominous statement, he departed, leaving Karel alone with his thoughts, the lingering presence of his seven awakened gifts, and the ever-present song of the Dome that seemed to be trying to tell him something just beyond his comprehension.
As he drifted back toward sleep, Karel couldn't shake the feeling that despite all he had learned today, he was still missing something crucial. Something about the Dome, about his father's discoveries, about his own role as the Bearer.
And somewhere out there, the Word and the Broken Bond were waiting — two individuals who would somehow be central to whatever was coming.
The three shall meet where shadows fall. Together, they will face the truth. But what truth? And at what cost?
With these questions swirling in his mind, Karel surrendered once more to exhaustion, falling into a deep, dreamless sleep — the last peaceful rest he would know for a very long time.