Scene 2: The First Disturbance

The Tide Bell rings three times.

On the third ring, Greyhaven changes.

A nearby building shifts several feet to the left without making a sound. A shop sign changes from MILLER’S SUPPLIES to THE HOUSE OF LAST GOODBYES. A woman standing beside Kael suddenly screams that her husband has vanished.

A child points at Kael and says:

“That’s the storm man.”

The child’s mother immediately covers his mouth.

At the same time, a violent burst of blue lightning erupts from the harbor. It strikes the old lighthouse, causing its dead lantern to flare with unnatural light.

The lighthouse beam sweeps across the town.

Wherever the light passes, people briefly remember different lives.

A fisherman drops his net and begins speaking in a noble accent. A merchant insists she has been dead for twenty years. Two guards embrace as brothers, then draw weapons when they realize neither remembers the other.

Kael feels the storm inside him respond.

His horns spark. His eyes flash with another vision:

A woman in a silver mask stands beneath the town, placing a glowing crystal into a machine. She turns toward Kael and says:

“The bloodline has returned.”

Behind her, etched into the machine’s copper housing, is the same broken-bell symbol worn by Bram.

The vision ends with a burst of thunder.

A nearby wall cracks open, revealing a narrow stairway descending beneath the street. The opening was not there moments before.

Bram sees it and goes pale.

“That passage was sealed.”

From below comes the sound of someone whispering Kael’s name.

Then another voice answers from the darkness:

“Not yet. The heir has not chosen a memory