"Even the story is being watched."
---
It begins with silence—not the silence of emptiness, but the silence of aroom holding its breath.
Kael'ith descends deeper into the Archivum, past shelves that no longer resemble shelves. Ink drips from the ceiling in spiraling patterns. Books hum softly, as if whispering secrets they do not want to remember.
He comes to a chamber that wasn't there before.
There are no doors.
No hinges, no handles, no light.
Just a single floating orb—black as oblivion, turning slowly in the center of the space.
Its surface is not smooth, but etched with thousands of tiny eyes, blinking in and out of view like thoughts struggling to stay forgotten.
And then it speaks. Not aloud. But directly into the folds of his mind.
"We see the words that should not have been written."
Kael steps back.
His book—the one bound in skin and stitched with golden thread—vibrates against his chest.
"What are you?" he whispers.
"The Eye of Edict. The watcher of drafts. The censor of forbidden authors. The first recorder… and the final eraser."
---
Kael sees his reflection inside it.
But it's not him.
Not exactly.
It is a version of him with silver hair and no eyes—his face cracked down the center like a broken statue. The reflection lifts a quill. And begins to write.
On his side of the glass, Kael's breath shortens. His vision blurs. Something is being pulled from him. Thoughts, maybe. Or time.
"You have written without permission," the Eye intones.
"Therefore, you must be read."
The chamber shudders. The floating orb spins faster. Pages begin to manifest mid-air, ink burning into them—not from his hand, but from his past.
---
He sees:
A cathedral collapsing into ink
A man screaming as a pen rips his name from his flesh
Himself, standing before a god made of parchment and blood
But none of these memories are his.
Are they?
He falls to his knees. The Eye stops.
In front of him appears a line of red text, freshly inked into the air.
"This is not your first manuscript."
Kael looks up. "Then… who wrote me?"
The Eye doesn't answer. Instead, it blinks—and vanishes.
---
Silence again. The chamber is gone.
He's back in the main corridor of the Archivum.
But something follows him now.
A faint hum. A line of ink that crawls behind him with every step, like a shadow being written in real time.
---
The next time Kael looks into a mirror…
it blinks first.
---