CHAPTER 7: THE SLEEPING GUARDIAN

THE SLEEPING GUARDIAN

The library was completely still.

Kevin didn't move. The Codex hung in the air in front of him, the strange symbol on its page still glowing. His wrist burned. His palm burned worse.

"Okay..." He took a careful step back. "Whatever you're doing... stop."

The Codex shook. The pages began turning again, faster and faster. Wind tore through the room and books flew off the shelves. Kevin threw up his arms.

"What is happening?!"

BOOM!

A wave of crimson energy exploded outward and threw him across the floor. He landed hard.

For a few seconds he couldn't move. Then he heard a voice. Deep. Annoyed. Very annoyed.

"Who... dared... wake me?"

Kevin lifted his head.

Something small was climbing out of the light. It dropped onto the table. It was no bigger than a house cat, with black scales, two small horns, sharp claws, and tiny wings folded against its back. Crimson markings ran along its neck and tail. Its eyes glowed red.

Kevin stared. It stared back.

"...What are you?"

"That is your first question?"

"You can talk."

"Unfortunately."

Kevin stood slowly. The creature stretched its wings.

"I was sleeping."

"Inside my Codex?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"Long enough that I don't remember."

"I didn't know you were in there!"

"You touched the seal." It pointed a claw at Kevin's palm. "The mark."

Kevin looked at the faint glow. "So this mark..."

"Is connected to me."

"How?"

"That is something you will learn."

The creature's annoyance faded as it turned to the Codex. It walked closer and set one tiny claw on the cover. A crimson light flared, and it pulled back at once.

"...Interesting."

"What?"

"You really don't know anything about your Codex."

"Then tell me!"

The creature crossed its arms. "I could."

Kevin waited.

"But I won't."

"You're joking."

"You are not ready."

Kevin's jaw tightened. "I've been called weak my whole life. I don't need another creature telling me I'm not ready."

"You think this is about strength?" The creature hopped down to the floor and walked a slow circle around him. "You think every problem is solved by getting stronger. Training teaches your body what to do. Understanding teaches you when to do it. Your Codex is not something to use blindly."

Kevin looked at the book. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Learn."

"Learn what?"

"Everything."

Kevin sighed. "This is going to be hard."

"Very."

"Do you have a name?"

The creature looked almost offended. "You wake me from centuries of sleep and now you ask my name?"

"It seemed reasonable."

A long sigh.

"Veyr."

"Okay, Veyr."

"Good."

"So you're my guardian?"

Veyr looked away. "I suppose. Our souls are connected. The mark binds us."

"Souls?"

"If something happens to me, something happens to you."

"And if something happens to me?"

Veyr met his eyes.

"Then I disappear."

Kevin's expression softened. Veyr wasn't just a creature that had been sleeping in his Codex. There was something between them, something deeper that neither of them fully understood.

He crouched down. "So we're stuck with each other?"

"Apparently."

"I can live with that."

"I haven't decided if I can."

Kevin laughed. For the first time since the Codex Ceremony, he really laughed.

Then he remembered the forest.

"Back there, the Codex answered when I was about to die. Can I call you whenever I want?"

"Call me?" Veyr snorted. "You don't summon me into a fight. The bond pulls me out only when you face something you cannot handle alone."

"So only when things get bad."

"Bad enough that you might die."

Kevin said nothing.

Veyr turned away. "Until then, learn to stand on your own. I'll be around. Complaining."

Kevin nodded. "I will."

The glow faded. The mark on his palm dimmed, and the Codex floated gently down onto the table. Kevin picked it up. For the first time, it didn't feel like a strange book that had suddenly chosen him. It felt like something with a history. Something ancient, that had been waiting.

"Veyr."

"Yes?"

"Why did the Codex choose me?"

Veyr looked at him for a long moment.

Then he smiled. "You'll have to find that out yourself."

"Of course."

Veyr hopped onto the windowsill. Outside, sunlight covered Valeris Capital. Mages trained, nobles attended meetings, and Magical Knights patrolled the streets. Nobody knew what had just happened inside the Riven family's library.

Nobody knew that Kevin had woken something hidden in his Codex, or what the five points really meant.

Kevin didn't either. Not yet.

But he had a Codex, a strange mark, and a guardian who refused to give him easy answers.

He smiled. "Then I guess I'll figure it out."

Veyr glanced back at him. "That's the spirit."

And for the first time in his life, Kevin Riven wasn't walking toward his future alone.