Not every power in The Last Patriot belongs to men or nations. Some forces lie deeper—older than crowns, older than empires, older even than memory itself. Among these, none is more feared or revered than the Eye.
What Is the Eye?
At first glance, the Eye seems a mark—a strange sigil burned into Elias Mercer’s flesh after Saratoga. But the Eye is more than a brand. It sees through shadow, binds its bearer to forces beyond mortal reckoning, and grants glimpses of truths no soldier should endure. To bear it is to walk a path between light and void, power and ruin.
The Eye is not given. It chooses. And once chosen, a man’s fate is forever entangled with it.
The Lore Behind the Eye
Legends say the Eye is as old as the Veil itself—the barrier between worlds that keeps chaos from flooding creation. The Wardens of the Veil teach that the Eye was forged in the first war between shadow and flesh, a symbol meant to protect men from the Hollowing. But like all symbols, it carries weight beyond its design: it is both key and chain, weapon and wound.
Whispered tales say only one can bear the Eye in each age. Some were kings who built empires with its power, others nameless martyrs who vanished into shadow, consumed by what they carried. The Seer remembers them all, their faces etched in stone within her cavern, each a warning to the next.
How Did It Come to Be?
Here the lore grows darker. Some say the Eye was not a gift, but a consequence—born from blood spilled in the earliest wars, when man first reached for fire that was not his to wield. Others claim it was crafted, not discovered—that hands both mortal and divine shaped it as a weapon, then hid it when they realized the cost.
No one agrees on who first bore it. Some call him a king, others a priest, still others a heretic whose name is forbidden. But all agree on this: wherever the Eye appears, upheaval follows. Wars begin. Kingdoms fall. The Hollowing stirs.
Why It Matters Now
For Elias Mercer, the Eye is not myth or speculation—it is etched into his flesh, a curse he never asked for. Each day it reveals more of its nature, binding him closer to the Veil and drawing the gaze of enemies who would claim it for themselves.
And yet, its full truth remains hidden. To understand the Eye fully, Elias must walk deeper into the storm—back to where it was first born. And when he does, he will learn that its origins are far more terrible, and far more necessary, than he ever imagined.
✨ Stay tuned for the next spotlight, where we’ll explore not a person, but a people—the Wardens of the Veil, the ancient order sworn to guard against what the Eye unleashes.