Chapter 22– Crimson Feathers and Broken Oaths
Scene One: The Beast Trials Begin
The dawn sky blushed red—a bad omen, according to the old beast tamers.
Today marked the Opening of the Divine Trials, a sacred tradition where elite students from all academies bonded with rare, uncontracted beasts chosen by the Imperial Guard.
Held within the Sanctum of Echoes, a floating island suspended above Aflety, the trials drew not just nobles, but kings, scholars, and even hidden gods in disguise.
Evan stood at the edge of the summoning circle, surrounded by high-tier beasts roaring behind divine-sealed gates.
One creature stood out: a Crimson Zephyrlis—a Divine-ranked bird beast said to be born from the breath of the Wind Mother.
It stared directly at Evan.
Nex growled deep in his core. "That one has tasted death. Be wary."
Scene Two: Vanished
The first trial began.
Students stepped forward, attempting to bond. Most failed—some rejected outright, others barely escaping with their lives.
Then—
A sudden quake shook the sanctum.
Crystals dimmed.
A blinding crimson flare lit the sky—and when the smoke cleared…
The Crimson Zephyrlis was gone.
Stolen.
The barrier had been bypassed, the divine seal unraveled from within.
Gasps spread. Panic erupted.
Headmaster Veylan appeared in a flash of teleportation, his robe flaring with suppression magic.
"This beast was under Imperial Seal. This is no ordinary theft. This… is a declaration."
Then came the voice.
Cold. Royal. Accusing.
"It was him."
Prince Sirus Valen stepped forward, eyes glowing with ethereal white as his beast hovered behind him—a dream serpent with golden fangs.
He pointed at Evan.
"Evan Rochel. You were the only one close enough to touch the seal. And your beast has a history of breaking them."
Silence fell.
Evan didn't flinch.
He met the prince's glare. "That seal was ancient. And it cracked from the inside. You know what that means."
Sirus stepped forward. "It means you have allies among the corrupted."
Scene Three: The Council of Accusation
Evan stood alone before the Council of Six—elite representatives from each allied nation.
They reviewed memories, magical traces, and even beast aura residue.
Rena, Lilith, and Caelith defended him with conviction—but politics ran deep.
Some wanted a scapegoat.
Some feared the implications of a Divine-ranked beast going rogue.
And one voice in the dark whispered into the minds of the council:
"Let the boy burn. He is not one of us."
Evan clenched his fists.
Then the door to the chamber burst open.
Professor Veylan himself entered, throwing a crystal onto the floor.
A memory recording.
It showed a cloaked figure bypassing the seal—not Evan, but someone else.
A flicker of a beast mark appeared in the flash—not from any academy.
But from The Black Nest.
Scene Four: Broken Oaths
Though cleared officially, the damage was done.
Whispers spread.
Some students refused to spar with Evan. Foreign royals distanced themselves. Even his allies began training harder—as if preparing to face him, not stand beside him.
That night, Evan sat atop the highest spire of Aflety.
Lilith joined him, silent for a long time.
"You saved us more times than I can count," she said. "But power like yours… always comes with fear."
He didn't respond.
In the distance, the sky flickered crimson again—like the wings of the stolen Zephyrlis.
Scene Five: An Oath of His Own
Evan stood in the moonlight, eyes on the horizon.
He placed a blood-touched crystal onto the ground.
"If no one else will find you," he whispered, "then I will."
Nex materialized beside him.
"I don't care if you're corrupted," Evan said. "I just want to know why. Why flee? Why now?"
The wind answered with silence.
But somewhere deep in the cursed mountains, where forbidden beasts stirred in slumber…
Crimson feathers drifted in the dark—burning with power and memory.
___
Scene One: Tracks in the Sky
It took two days.
Two days of silence, tension, and hidden glares in the Academy's halls. Even after being cleared, Evan could feel the walls closing in. Nobles whispered. Foreign students avoided eye contact. Some accused him with their silence alone.
But he wasn't waiting for anyone's permission.
With Nex in spirit form gliding through the wind currents, Evan flew toward the Stormshard Peaks, a jagged range at the edge of the known map. The only clue: residual divine aura pulled westward by ancient sky winds—winds only one kind of beast could command.
The Crimson Zephyrlis had gone willingly.
Or had been summoned.
Scene Two: A Nest of Echoes
At the heart of the Stormshard Peaks lay a ruined temple—a nest of shattered crystals and broken divine stones. Old inscriptions littered the ground, speaking of a long-forgotten cult.
"The Feathered Eclipse."
Evan crouched near the central altar. Runes glowed faintly. The pattern matched the ones seen on the corrupted scroll back in Aflety. Circular. Jagged. Unstable.
Nex's voice pulsed in his mind.
"This place… reeks of God Beast interference."
Suddenly, a sound. A flap.
A feather fell.
It glowed bright red, then blackened in the wind. Evan snatched it just in time.
A hidden inscription appeared on it:
"The seal is not broken. It was unbound. And the beast did not flee—it remembered."
"What does that mean?" Evan muttered.
A second whisper followed:
"They're waking the ones who forgot what they are. Starting with the Divine-ranked."
Scene Three: Flames That Walk
Suddenly, the air thickened.
Three cloaked figures stepped from the shadows. Beastmarks visible on their hands—serpentine, birdlike, feline—but all twisted, bleeding corruption.
Black Nest operatives.
"You weren't supposed to find this place yet," one hissed.
Evan's stance dropped low. Nex surged behind him in partial form, eyes blazing.
"You stole the Zephyrlis," Evan said coldly.
"We freed it," another corrected. "You think these Divine beasts were born to be leashed? You think bonding is anything but a gilded chain?"
"They chose us."
"No. You forced them to forget."
Lightning cracked through the air as Nex launched forward.
The battle was fierce. The operatives moved like phantoms, weaving corrupted beast techniques with dark resonance. But Evan's mind was focused, sharpened by truth:
These enemies weren't taming beasts—they were releasing something ancient within them.
With a final roar, Nex pierced the last operative's barrier. Evan pinned the remaining one to the rock, breath ragged.
"Where is the Zephyrlis?"
The operative smiled through blood. "You don't find it. It finds the one who broke the oath."
Then his body turned to black mist—scattered to the wind.
Scene Four: Memory of the Flame
Later that night, Evan studied the feather again.
Lilith joined him at the mountain edge, silent for a time. Then:
"You know what this means, right?" she whispered.
Evan nodded. "Someone's unlocking their memories. Beasts that were meant to sleep. Some are waking angry. Some… don't want to be bonded anymore."
Lilith looked away. "If the Crimson Zephyrlis finds one of them… what happens?"
Evan clenched the feather.
"Then it becomes a messenger. Or worse… a herald."
Scene Five: The Wing's Message
Back at Aflety, Evan returned to the Vault.
This time, the feather activated the corrupted scroll. New words formed:
"The third seal broke when blood touched wind. The fourth will break with flame.
When Crimson meets Gold, the sky will scream.
Prepare the heirs. Prepare the beasts.
Or let the world drown beneath remembered wrath.**"
Lilith read it with him. "This… isn't just prophecy. It's a countdown."
Behind them, Professor Caelith appeared—expression unreadable.
"I feared this would happen," he said. "The Beast God Sepntis wasn't the only one sealed away. The Divine-ranked beasts were placed under control for a reason. Some weren't meant to be tamed… because they were never beasts to begin with."
Evan turned to him.
"Then what were they?"
Caelith whispered:
"Sentinels. Guardians of the old gates. Beasts forged to protect reality. And someone is breaking the locks."
[End of Chapter 22]