Dawn broke, casting faint rays of sunlight through Kael's room window, but he remained in a deep coma. Lyra sat beside him, not having slept a wink. Her face was haggard with worry, but her eyes remained fixed on Kael. She knew she couldn't just sit there and wait. Kael needed help, and she had to find a way.
She remembered Kael's plea: "Don't tell anyone." But this situation was beyond her capabilities. Lyra clenched her fists. If she called Headmaster Eldrin, he would ask about the Primordial Energy, about the relic. Would Kael be in greater danger then?
She looked at the silver ring on Kael's finger. This ring could conceal the Primordial Energy, but could it hide the curse? Lyra closed her eyes, trying to think. There was only one person who might have knowledge of such ancient and dangerous secrets without revealing Kael's Primordial Energy.
That was the Ancient Library.
Lyra gently placed Kael's hand down and stood up. She had to go there, find any records about "curses" or "plagues" related to the Primordial Era.
As Lyra left the room, Kael groaned softly. In his hazy state, he found himself in a dark, cold place. Black, inky tendrils, bearing ancient runes, wrapped tightly around him, draining his strength. This was the curse. It ceaselessly absorbed his Primordial Energy, turning it into a potent venom. He felt a strong urge to resist it, but his body was too weak.
Meanwhile, in the Ancient Library, Lyra was diligently searching. She skimmed through hundreds of books and scrolls, devouring every page. Sweat beaded on her forehead, her eyes red from lack of sleep, but she didn't give up. She searched for keywords like "Primordial Energy toxin," "ancient plague," "Bloodshadow curse."
After many hours of fruitless searching, as the sun climbed high, she suddenly found a small book, tucked away among records of ancient herbs. Its cover was thin, bearing only a strange symbol. She opened it, and her eyes landed on a descriptive passage:
"...When Primordial Energy is infused into an impure host, or through an artifact tainted by the darkness of the Era of Destruction, a curse will be sown. This curse cannot be removed by conventional magic; it will absorb the Primordial Energy itself, turning it into a toxin and slowly consuming the host's life force, until the host becomes an empty shell, leaving behind only madness and a craving for energy..."
Lyra reread the passage repeatedly, her heart tightening. "Era of Destruction"... "Tainted artifact"... This perfectly matched Kael's story! She knew that after the Great Cataclysm, the world had changed, and relics from the Primordial Era could be affected by the remnants of destructive forces.
She continued reading, searching for a glimmer of hope. The book described how the curse operated; it would lie dormant until the Primordial Energy within the host reached a certain threshold, then it would erupt. And the only way to "delay" it was to provide a large amount of external energy, forcing the curse to "digest" that energy instead of the host's Primordial Energy.
But the only way to cure it lay in a vague passage: "...only the harmony of all things, or the transformative ability of Primordial Energy itself, can purify the deepest stain..."
Lyra closed the book, cold sweat breaking out. "Harmony of all things"... "transformative ability of Primordial Energy"... She didn't fully understand what that meant, but she knew that Kael was in mortal danger. And she was the only one who knew it.
She rushed back to Kael's room. When she arrived, Kael had woken up, but he was still weak, his lips cracked. He looked at Lyra with tired eyes.
"Lyra... I... I'm fine..." Kael struggled to say, trying to reassure her.
Lyra knelt beside him, clutching his hand. "You're not fine, Kael. But I found something..."
She told him about the book, about the curse absorbing Primordial Energy and turning it into a toxin. Kael listened, his face gradually turning pale. He knew Lyra was telling the truth, because he had felt those black tendrils wrapping around him in his hazy dreams.
"So... so I'm going to die?" Kael asked, his voice trembling.
Lyra shook her head. "No! The book says there's a way to delay it. We need to feed the curse an external energy source. Like... you absorbed my energy just now, right?"
Kael remembered the sensation of Lyra's energy flowing into him, and how his Primordial Energy had reacted. "Maybe... but your energy is too weak. It won't be enough."
"Then we'll have to find other energy sources!" Lyra said, her eyes resolute. "And we'll have to figure out what that 'harmony of all things' or 'transformative ability of Primordial Energy' means to truly cure this curse!"
Kael looked at Lyra, seeing the determination in her eyes. He wasn't alone. He had a friend willing to face death with him.
"Thank you, Lyra," Kael whispered.
Lyra squeezed his hand. "Don't mention it, Kael. We're friends. Now, the most important thing is that no one else can know about this. Not even Headmaster Eldrin. If they know you have this curse, you'll be considered a danger. We have to find a way to solve this ourselves."
Kael nodded. The secret of Primordial Energy was dangerous enough. The secret of the curse was exponentially more terrifying. Their journey was now not just about seeking power, but a race against death.