Hector's Arc

Chapter 2 of 6

Hector failed the recruitment. The king's men saw his glowing hands and turned him away, calling it witchcraft. He walked back to the cottage in the dark, ashamed. He lay down on his old cot and closed his eyes. Sleep took him fast. But sleep did not bring rest. In the dream, Hector stood in a room he did not know. A tall mirror leaned against the wall, its frame worked in gold. He looked into the glass. The face staring back was not his own. It was a man with blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in old armor from a forgotten age. The man stepped out of the mirror and stood before him. "You are the boy with my blood," the man said. His voice was flat and slow. "My name is Arcemis. I held the Light before you." Hector's chest tightened. He knew the name. Gaia had spoken it. His ancestor. The first Guardian. "They turned me away today," Hector said. "They saw the light and feared it. I am no hero. I clean pots." Arcemis studied him a long moment. "I was a slave too, in my way. Chains come in more than iron." He almost smiled. "The light does not care who your father was. It only asks if you will stand." Behind Arcemis, the mirror darkened. A black shape spread across the glass like ink in water. Arcemis turned. His hand went to his sword. "He is not dead," Arcemis said. "I wounded him. I sealed him. But a piece of him crawled back into the world." A face pushed through the glass. Handsome, pale, with eyes that burned red. He smiled at Hector with real warmth, and that made it worse. "The heir," the demon said softly. "So small. So afraid. I am Vaphos. I remember your grandfather. I will enjoy meeting you." Arcemis stepped between them. "He comes for you because you carry the Light. Hide it, and he takes the world. Wield it, and he comes for you first." He looked back at Hector, and his flat voice went hard. "Do not run. Learn to hold it. That is all I have to give you." The mirror cracked. Vaphos reached through. Arcemis shoved Hector back with one hand. Hector woke. He sat up, gasping. Gold light poured from both his hands, brighter than ever before. It lit the whole cottage. He did not hide it this time. He held his hands up and stared at them. The recruitment did not matter now. A greater enemy was already awake and hunting him. He could no longer wait for the king's men to accept him. He had to find someone who could teach him to control the Light before Vaphos found him first. Hector rose from the cot and reached for his boots. He knew who to ask. Cade.