Chapter 2610: Story 2611: The Heir of the Dead

The underground city remained silent.

Thousands of infected stood motionless between ancient towers, their heads bowed toward Kael.

Lena floated several feet above the stone platform, surrounded by a red glow.

“Lena!” Kael shouted.

Her black eyes turned toward him.

For a moment, he saw the woman he knew.

Then the darkness returned.

“Kael,” she whispered.

He stepped forward.

“I’m here.”

Adrian grabbed his arm.

“Don’t get closer.”

Kael pulled free.

“She’s still in there.”

A deep voice echoed from the ancient city.

“THE VESSEL MUST AWAKEN.”

Lena suddenly screamed.

The red energy surrounding her exploded outward.

Kael raised his shield.

The masked creature stepped between them.

“Protect the heir,” it commanded.

Kael stared at it.

“Who are you?”

The creature lowered its head.

“I am the Warden.”

“Warden of what?”

“The First Kingdom.”

Kael looked across the underground city.

“This was a kingdom?”

“Before your world forgot it.”

Mara approached cautiously.

“Who built this place?”

The Warden looked at Kael.

“Your ancestors.”

Kael’s expression hardened.

“My ancestors?”

Adrian’s face changed.

“That would explain the genetic records.”

The Warden continued.

“The bloodline of the Origin was hidden among humans. Your family carried the blood for generations.”

Kael shook his head.

“My family were farmers.”

The Warden’s voice became deeper.

“That was the story you were given.”

A sudden scream echoed from the city.

One of the infected moved.

Then another.

Thousands of dead heads slowly lifted.

Ethan raised his rifle.

“They’re waking up.”

The Warden turned toward him.

“They are answering their king.”

Kael looked at the army.

“I am not their king.”

The Warden stepped closer.

“Then prove it.”

It pointed toward the city.

“Command them to sleep.”

Kael stared at the endless undead.

“I don’t know how.”

“Blood remembers.”

Kael closed his eyes.

He remembered Veyr’s laboratory.

The screaming children.

The injections.

Elias beside him.

Lena behind the glass.

Then something else appeared.

A voice from his childhood.

His mother’s voice.

“Never fear what sleeps beneath the mountain.”

Kael opened his eyes.

The red glow around Lena intensified.

Suddenly, every infected in the city began moving toward the platform.

Mara raised her crossbow.

“Kael!”

“Don’t shoot!”

Kael stepped forward.

The first infected reached him.

It dropped to its knees.

Then another.

Then hundreds.

Soon the entire city was kneeling.

Kael felt something moving inside his blood.

A strange pressure filled his chest.

He raised his hand.

“Sleep.”

The army stopped.

One by one, the infected lowered their heads.

Adrian stared in disbelief.

“It worked.”

Kael looked at Lena.

But she was no longer floating.

She fell.

Kael caught her before she struck the stone.

Her eyes were normal again.

“Kael,” she whispered.

He held her tightly.

“I’ve got you.”

Then a slow clap echoed from the darkness.

Everyone turned.

Marcus Veyr stood on a distant balcony.

“You finally remembered.”

Kael rose with Lena in his arms.

Veyr smiled.

“Now we can begin the final stage.”

Behind him, enormous doors opened.

Something inside began breathing.

And Kael realized Veyr had not come to control the dead.

He had come to awaken their true master.