The gods never die.
They merely change their skin.
The caravan carried them to the northern mountains.
There, in a cleft between two cliffs, stood the ruins of the Sanctuary of the First Creed: a collapsed cathedral, overgrown with roots and dust, where—according to legend—the gods had spoken to men for the last time.
The air smelled of rust and something ancient, older than faith itself.
The Brothers of the Last Creed were silent monks; their faces were wrapped in bandages and their eyes sealed with wax.
They did not speak—they sang.
Kael and the child were led to the central altar.
There, a figure awaited them: an old woman dressed in priestly robes, her gaze cutting through the shadows.
—Inquisitor Dren —she said firmly—. You have been expected.
—Expected? —he repeated—. I am a fugitive.
—All the chosen are, before they know they've been chosen.
Kael frowned.
—What do you know about the child?
The old woman studied him.
—He is the answer to the oldest prayer.
—What prayer?
—The one that asks for a god to remember his name.
The child stood silent, eyes fixed on the altar.
There, carved into the stone, were words in a forgotten tongue.
His lips moved, reciting them without hesitation.
And the temple trembled.
The roots began to writhe.
The ground split open.
From the walls poured a red light, like spilled blood.
Kael drew his sword.
But the old woman raised a hand.
—Do not fear. This is not death… it is memory.
From the center of the sanctuary rose a colossal figure:
a faceless god, carved from living stone, with broken wings and a hollow heart.
From within it came an echo—the cry of a child, the same sound Kael had heard the day he found him.
He understood then: the child had not been born.
He had been awakened.
A fragment of the god, torn from its prison.
The old woman spoke again:
—The fire that burns within you, inquisitor, is not punishment.
It is the echo of the god you killed.
Kael staggered back.
—I… I only obeyed orders.
—And those who obey are often the first to be damned.
The child turned to him.
—What did you do, Kael?
—I don't know… —he whispered—. I can't remember.
—Then remember.
And in that instant, the world went black.