The summons came at dusk.
Kaelen had just finished another round of solitary practice when a junior disciple approached the small courtyard where he trained. The boy bowed deeply, his expression stiff."Senior Kaelen… Elder Hesh requests your presence in the Inner Hall."
Kaelen's fingers stilled on his sword hilt. "Now?"
"Yes, Senior. Immediately."
The boy bowed again and left, eager to be gone — as though standing too long near Kaelen might invite trouble.
Kaelen sighed softly. He sheathed his blade and wiped the thin sheen of sweat from his forehead. In the fading light, the shadows of the training pines stretched long across the path, reaching like dark fingers toward the hall ahead.
He walked alone. The murmurs followed him — quiet, fractured voices echoing from courtyards and corridors as disciples watched from a distance."He burned her clothes in one strike.""They said his spirit energy changed color.""Elder Hesh must've felt it through the array..."
Kaelen ignored them. His steps were slow, measured. He could still feel the ember's faint pulse in his chest — a soft, rhythmic warmth that wasn't quite his own heartbeat.
They're afraid of what they don't understand.
The whisper had returned, low and velvety.
You don't owe them explanations. You could walk away from this place and none of them could stop you.
He didn't answer. Not here. Not where the walls might listen.
The Inner Hall was quiet when he entered. Oil lamps burned low, filling the chamber with golden light that shimmered across the polished floor. Elder Hesh sat cross-legged near the far end — tall, narrow-faced, his hair streaked with white but his spirit still sharp as tempered steel.
"Kaelen." His voice carried the calm weight of someone who'd seen more storms than most could survive. "Sit."
Kaelen bowed and obeyed.
"You were observed today during practice," Hesh said. "Your energy fluctuated in a way not consistent with shadow cultivation. There was… fire."
Kaelen kept his gaze lowered. "It was unintentional, Elder. I was refining new breathing patterns, and something slipped."
"Something," Hesh echoed, a faint smile touching his lips. "That 'something' was a scarlet burst powerful enough to scorch a disciple's aura."
Silence hung heavy for a moment. Kaelen's heart thudded once — then steadied.
"I've studied the archives," he said carefully. "There are references to hybrid energies — fluctuations between cold and heat, light and shadow. Perhaps—"
Hesh raised a hand, stopping him. "Perhaps. Or perhaps you're playing with forces you don't yet understand."
The elder leaned forward, eyes glinting with quiet curiosity. "Your talent is… strange, Kaelen. You read things others can't, see threads others miss. That much I know. But power has texture, and the kind I sensed from you today doesn't belong in our sect."
Kaelen's jaw tightened. "Are you accusing me of heresy?"
Hesh's gaze softened, not cruel but knowing. "Not yet."
The ember pulsed again, hotter now — a spark curling up his spine like a warning.
He knows too much. End this before he digs deeper.
Kaelen clenched his fists beneath his sleeves. Not now.
After a long silence, Hesh spoke again. "You'll refrain from solo training for the next seven days. Report to the East Courtyard for monitored drills. And Kaelen—"
"Yes, Elder?"
"Whatever it is you're hiding," Hesh said quietly, "don't let it master you. The line between strength and ruin is thinner than you think."
Kaelen bowed again. "Understood."
He left the hall with his head lowered, the ember simmering like coals in his chest. The whispers didn't stop this time. They followed him down the corridor, seeping through the cracks of his mind.
He doesn't fear you. He pities you. They all do.Show them what pity costs.
Outside, the night had deepened. The moon hung sharp and cold above the pines. Disciples passed him in pairs — none meeting his eyes. By the time Kaelen reached his quarters again, his pulse had settled into a steady rhythm with the ember's glow.
He sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed. The silence inside him wasn't peaceful — it was expectant. The ember was no longer a seed of warmth. It was breathing, alive.
He reached inward cautiously, spirit energy coiling around it like a leash. For a moment, he felt control — smooth, firm, absolute. Then, a flicker.
A faint voice — quieter than breath.
Control?
The ember pulsed once. His energy surged wildly.
Flames licked up his arm, invisible but searing, burning through his spiritual channels. Kaelen bit back a sound and focused, forcing the energy to compress, to coil back into the ember's heart.
Minutes felt like hours before the heat subsided.
When he opened his eyes again, sweat dripped down his temple. His sleeves were singed at the edge. The faint smell of smoke lingered in the air.
He exhaled shakily."That was too close."
Outside, the temple bells tolled the hour — slow and solemn.
Kaelen leaned back against the wall, staring at the thin cracks in the ceiling wood. For the first time since his rebirth, he felt it clearly — the ember wasn't just a power within him.
It was watching him.Waiting.
And in the dark corners of the sect, where secrets whispered louder than prayers, Elder Hesh wasn't the only one who'd noticed the flicker of something foreign burning inside the quiet disciple from the outer ranks.