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CHAPTER ONE: THE VISION
"When the light dreams of shadow, and shadow remembers the light... something ancient awakens."
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1. The Silence Before
Aetherion slept beneath a pale silver sky, stars scattered like shards across velvet night. The temple spires stood still, like ancient sentinels carved from moonlight. The wind, soft and chilled, carried the breath of prophecies long buried in starlight.
Inside the Temple of Echoing Light, a girl trembled in her sleep.
Liora's hands clenched in the silk of her sheets as her breath turned shallow. Her brow beaded with sweat, her body twisted in unease. She was dreaming—but not truly.
She stood in a dreamspace not of her own making.
A mountain ridge swallowed in mist.
A man, tall and silent, cloaked in black and shadow.
Silver eyes—so cold they should have frozen her soul, yet they held a strange ache.
A blade in his hand. Blood dripping from its edge.
Lightblood. Oracle blood. Her blood.
Then… he looked up. Straight at her.
And he whispered her name.
"...Liora."
She woke with a gasp.
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2. The Weight of the Vision
Liora sat up, heart pounding like a war drum in her chest. The vision clung to her like mist, cold and cloying. She reached for the charm of starlight glass hanging around her neck and held it tightly, grounding herself.
Her room was still. The soft blue glow of moon-crystals lit the domed ceiling. Outside, the twin moons of Velmora drifted across the sky like watching eyes.
She had seen the shadow-man before—but never like this.
Never speaking.
Never bleeding.
Never knowing her name.
Throwing her legs over the bed, Liora stood. She pulled on a cloak over her white sleeping gown and slipped her bare feet into quiet sandals. Moving like a ghost, she opened her door and slipped into the silent corridor of the temple.
She did not need light to guide her. She knew exactly where she was going.
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3. The Mirror of Fate
The Chamber of Mirrors was forbidden after dusk.
Especially to seers still in training.
But Liora no longer cared. She had stopped caring the moment she started seeing him in her visions. The shadow-man who defied prophecy. The one High Oracle Maevira swore didn't exist.
She stepped into the sacred circle, the air thick with power. A shallow pool rested in the center, rimmed with crystal and starlight runes. The mirror-water was dark—waiting.
Liora knelt.
She pressed her fingers to the surface and whispered, "Reveal what lies between light and shadow. Show me what the stars fear."
The pool trembled.
Mist coiled upward.
And then—
Him.
The man stood atop a cliff, wind tugging at his cloak. His face was half-shadowed, his eyes unreadable. A blade gleamed at his side. Lightblood stained the rock beneath him.
Liora gasped. He turned his head—toward her.
He could see her.
The air in the room dropped ten degrees.
Then he moved toward her.
She stumbled backward, nearly falling into the water.
"Liora…"
He said her name again. Louder. Real.
She scrambled to her feet, heart thundering. Her fingers tingled with cold. She looked down—and nearly screamed.
Her fingertips were smoking.
Not with light.
With shadow.
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4. The Assassin in the Fog
Far from Aetherion, Kael stood at the edge of a dark cliff overlooking a glowing city nestled between golden mountains.
The Temple of Echoing Light.
The last place he wanted to be.
His orders had been precise: Find the seer. End the prophecy. Do not be seen.
He was good at following orders. Born in Noctherin. Trained by Varic. Forged in shadow. Made for one thing—to kill threats before they bloomed.
But something was different this time.
He had seen her—in dreams.
A girl bathed in moonlight. Whispering his name. Reaching for him, even when he wore blood and shadow.
Kael clenched his jaw and turned his face away from the city. This wasn't real. Emotions were distractions. Weakness.
Still… he whispered, "Liora."
The mist curled around him.
And in the stillness, something whispered back.
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5. Secrets in the Silence
Back in Aetherion, Liora wrapped her burning fingers in cloth and fled the chamber. Her footsteps echoed as she passed the murals of ancient oracles.
She didn't see the shadow step out from the corner as she passed.
Priestess Nyelle watched silently, her eyes narrowing.
"She's seen him again," Nyelle murmured. "It's starting."
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6. Eyes in the Dark
In the Riftlands, across the corrupted border, a figure cloaked in velvet smoke knelt before a burning pool.
Seraxa smiled.
"The bond awakens," she whispered. "Light and shadow dare to dance."
She stood, stroking the skull of a dead oracle like a pet. "Soon, Kael will have to choose. And when he does…"
Her smile widened.
"…he'll be mine."
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End of Chapter One
Prophecy Fragment - Spoken by Ithra, the Blind Witch of the Gate:
> "One shall walk with light in her veins,
One with blood on his blade and stars in his eyes.
If they walk toward each other—
The world shall tremble, and the gods shall weep."
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