When Eleanor arrived at the east wing, she let out a heart-wrenching scream. She saw her father lying on the ground; his entire body was covered in blood, and one of his arms was missing. She knew instantly: her father was dead.
The attack ended as quickly as it began. When calm returned, the mansion was no longer a home.
The bodies of our loved ones lay among the rubble; that night, our childhood died along with them.
After everyone had calmed down, we learned that Eleanor's mother, Aunt Kate, was seriously wounded in the battle and that the death of her husband, Eleanor's father, was caused by restoring the seal that contained the Mirror Dimension, where the Kartnod family and their entire army remain imprisoned.
Both of them had poured all their life force into the seal. It was only a matter of hours before Kate would die.
After everything had settled down, a person asked with a worried and very distressed tone:
—Doctor Patrick! How are they? Are their injuries very serious?
Doctor Patrick looked at her; his eyes showed absolute seriousness.
—I'm sorry, Mrs. Ciara, but Mr. Konor and Mr. Vladimir were already dead when I arrived.
Mrs. Kate is very badly injured; everything will depend on whether she manages to survive the night. I will be taking care of her along with my two best assistants.
Grandmother Ciara, who at that moment was the head of the ÓBroin family, upon hearing that her son Konor and her daughter's husband were dead, and that her daughter was in danger, wore a look of desolation. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she knew she couldn't show weakness; she was Ciara Milesnova of ÓBroin.
She was the current head of the family. With a calm but very serious tone, she said to the doctor:
—Do everything in your power, but please...
ÓBROIN FAMILY RECORDS
At four seventeen in the morning on the third day of September in the year 3042.
The bearer, Kate ÓBroin, died from injuries sustained while fighting off a Claimoor attack; the fight took place while defending the mansion.
Mr. Konor ÓBroin, the bearer's guardian and future leader of the family, along with Mr. Vladimir Sevianko, died on the second day of September in the year 3042.
They were also wounded in the same battle as Mrs. Kate.
Mrs. Kate suffered such severe injuries that Doctor Patrick (the family's personal physician), after suturing her wounds, could only administer sedatives so that she could pass away without pain.
Ten guards who were protecting the mansion also died on the second day of September in the year 3042; the exact time of their deaths is unknown.
Days later, it was discovered that one of the servants was an infiltrator from another family. He had used a spell to partially break the seal and allow some Claimoor to escape.
Once freed, their objective was to completely destroy the mansion, which also served as the container for the Mirror Dimension, where all the members of the Kartnod family and their subjects were confined.
After the funerals of Eleonor's parents, the fallen servants, and my father were held, the remaining members of the family were completely devastated.
Grandmother Ciara, as head of the family, called a meeting to use the family's supreme relic; this would reveal who the next bearer of the mark would be and who their guardian would be.
But during the meeting to determine the next bearer… the unthinkable happened…
The mark awakened… but not in the person they expected…
To find out who would be chosen as the bearer, the last direct descendants of the ÓBroin family had to touch the relic and imbue it with some magic; in this way, the relic would choose the next bearer and their respective guardian.
Everyone expected Eleonor to be the chosen one. She was the strongest, the most prepared, the most worthy in everyone's eyes... even mine.
She stood at the front of the group, her head held high, containing her pain as only she knew how.
The first to step forward was Daniel. He touched the relic and, with his flames, enveloped it. Then his sister Orla stepped forward and, with a combination of her ice and protection magic, formed a kind of barrier around the relic.
Next was me. I walked with my head bowed, looking at the ground; when I reached where the relic was, I raised my gaze and saw it for the first time: a black bracelet with our family crest. I touched it and, using my power, created cold air and returned to my place.
Immediately, without even being called, Eleonor walked forward with quick, firm steps. Tears welled in her eyes, although her face remained serious.
She clasped her hands together, interlaced her fingers, and began to form a whirlwind where flames, ice, and a golden light could be seen. She unleashed a small beam of light, and the relic, after a few seconds, changed to a golden bronze color.
Eleonor returned to where we all were. She stood perfectly straight, with that seriousness that always characterized her. The silence was so profound that you could almost hear the beating of our hearts. Suddenly, Eleonor's left arm began to glow.
But the mark that appeared on her arm was not the one everyone expected.
The one that appeared was that of a tiger, the symbol of the guardian.
Everyone was confused. They wondered how it was possible that Eleonor was the guardian and not the bearer, when suddenly the unexpected happened. My back began to glow. I felt an intense burning sensation before the mark formed on my skin.
The pain was deep; it felt as if something was entering me.
The relic reacted immediately.
And a sword-shaped mark formed on my back.
The silence was absolute.
Eleanor looked at me with disbelief in her eyes.
Her expression wasn't just surprise... it was anger, pain, and frustration.
"You?" she whispered. "Why you?"
I didn't know what to say.
All the family members present wondered what had happened.
Even though I wasn't completely useless, compared to Eleanor I was insignificant, and for that reason, no one could understand why I had been chosen to bear the mark.
Later, I found Eleanor in the armory.
The relic rested in front of her.
Eleanor was there, her fists clenched on the table and her eyes red-rimmed.
"My parents died," she said without looking at me. "Your father died. We all lost something we loved very much..."
"But, but why did the relic choose you?"
"I didn't ask for it," I replied, my voice breaking.
"But it chose you!" she shouted. "You, the weakest, the most useless, the one who always lagged behind."
"Do you know what that means?"
"It means I don't have a choice either," I replied.
Eleanor laughed. She looked at me; her gaze was piercing.
And she said to me with a tone of anger and frustration:
"Noah, you don't understand. I trained since I was five years old to be my mother's successor."
"Eleanor..." I tried to say something, but...
She interrupted me, saying:
"Don't try to comfort me.
Every time I see this bracelet, I'll remember that my parents died, that it chose you, and that it was a mistake... You were always useless!"
Her words hurt me more than any blow she had ever given me during training.
That night I understood that we hadn't only lost our parents.
We had begun to lose trust in each other.
The relic hadn't just chosen me... it had erected an invisible wall between Eleanor and me.