The sun over Eldoria had always felt eternal.
But that night, it didn't rise.
It was choked by black clouds, thick as ash, and the air felt heavy too heavy to breathe.
It began with distant screams.
Then fire.
Then something far worse.
The palace shook as if the earth itself was trying to escape. Zen, only five, jolted awake. His tiny hands clutched the edge of his bed. The night air was filled with screams and the thunder of collapsing stone.
He called for his mother.
Before the echo left his lips, the door slammed open. Queen Elara stumbled in, her dress stained with soot, eyes wild with terror.
"Zen!" she cried, rushing to him. She scooped him into her arms, holding him tight too tight. "It's alright, my little light. I've got you. I've got you…"
But it wasn't alright.
From beyond the window, Zen saw fire swallowing the edges of the kingdom. Not like a forest fire, but alive. Shadows moved through it not human, not animal. Creatures with glowing red eyes and twisted limbs that crawled and shrieked and tore through soldiers like cloth.
Demons.
They were real.
King Arian burst into the room, armor cracked, face streaked with blood. He was limping, sword in hand, still burning with the need to protect.
"We're out of time," he said, voice hoarse. "They've reached the palace. They're inside."
Elara pressed Zen's face to her shoulder, shielding him from the truth.
Zen didn't understand what was happening. The walls, once golden and warm, now trembled like they might fall in at any moment. He could hear the cries of guards being slaughtered outside sharp, quick, final.
His parents didn't cry. They couldn't.
But their eyes said everything.
Arian knelt beside Elara and pulled something from a hidden pouch a silver chain with a strange charm: a round crystal pendant glowing faintly with gold and blue. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
"This is the Aegis Tear," Arian said, voice thick. "It was forged from the last Lightshard when the first demons fell. It won't save a kingdom. But it'll protect you."
He pressed it into Zen's tiny palm.
Elara held Zen's trembling fingers around it. "When you're scared, hold it close. When you feel alone, remember us. Remember this moment."
Zen's eyes welled up. "Why can't you come with me?"
Elara froze. Her lips trembled. "Because… we have to stop them from following you."
A guard burst in, bleeding from the neck. "We have to move, Your Majesties! Now!"
Arian stood, pulling Elara with him. He looked once more at Zen and said, "You will live. You must."
Zen screamed when they tried to take him. Kicked. Clawed at the arms pulling him away. "Mama! Papa!"
Elara ran to the door, but didn't cross it. She couldn't.
If she did… she wouldn't turn back.
"I love you, Zen," she whispered, her voice breaking as she raised a trembling hand in farewell.
"We love you."
The doors slammed shut.
The last thing Zen heard before the passage collapsed behind him… was his mother's scream.
And the roar of something inhuman.