The Sanctum breathed.
Not with lungs, but with memory. Each wall hummed with threads — dormant, waiting. Aiden could feel them now… in the way the air shimmered when he passed, in the way his fingers tingled when they brushed old stone.
Torian led him to a high chamber lit by spiraling orbs of blue and gold thread.
In its center floated a single weapon:
A blade without metal, forged of pure light and pain.
"A Thread-bound relic," Torian said.
> "Not created… remembered."
---
✦ The Memory of Steel
Torian circled the blade. "Thread-Bonding is the art of binding something to your soul. A memory. A moment. A vow."
He placed his hand on the hilt.
Images exploded around them — a battlefield, burning skies, a girl screaming, a sword cutting through a world that was already lost.
Torian let go.
The vision vanished.
"That blade remembers my greatest failure. I can't unsummon it — not until I make peace with it."
Aiden stepped closer.
"So Thread-Bonding is like enchantment?"
Torian shook his head.
> "No. It is emotion made eternal.
Once bonded, it feeds on your truth.
If that truth breaks… the bond will turn on you."
---
✦ Aiden's Attempt
Torian guided Aiden through the process.
> Step 1: Choose a memory.
Step 2: Choose what form it will take.
Step 3: Pour yourself into it — without holding back.
Aiden closed his eyes.
He thought of Earth.
Of the rain on broken rooftops.
Of the stars he used to stare at, alone.
He thought of the moment he left.
Of the world letting go of him — and no one noticing.
That ache coiled in his chest.
That thread pulled tight.
He opened his eyes.
Before him hovered a flickering shape — a dagger of starlight, faint but real.
---
Torian stepped back, startled.
"You did it on the first try…"
Aiden reached for the dagger — but it pulsed, and in its pulse he heard something:
> "You are not meant to be forgotten."
He dropped it, breathing hard.
"It's not just a weapon," he said. "It's alive."
Torian nodded.
"That's the truth of Thread-Bonding. It's not about making. It's about remembering something the world tried to erase."
---
✦ Bond Rules Unlocked:
Thread-Bonding:
Threads can be bonded to objects, weapons, locations, or even people.
Bonding draws power from intense emotion or memory.
A broken bond causes mental or magical backlash — sometimes even death.
The more powerful the bond, the harder it is to control.
Aiden's Bond:
Name (to be revealed later)
Current form: Dagger of Starlight
Thread Type: Spirit + Time
Trait: Returns to him when lost — but whispers memories he's not ready to face.
---
Ending Scene:
That night, Aiden stood alone with the dagger, watching it hover in the air.
"I don't want to forget who I was," he whispered.
"But I don't want to stay broken, either."
The dagger pulsed once — as if it understood.
Far below the Sanctum, something stirred — a deeper chamber, a sealed door… and behind it, something that had not been bonded… but imprisoned.
---