Chapter 1: Born with Shadow
The sky was cloaked in a night of three moons. Alera, the palest, hung low in the west, stained in blood-red, while Zeril, the brightest, had just risen in the east. This rare celestial alignment occurred only once every seven hundred years. And it marked something mentioned only in ancient texts: The Awakening.
On the edge of the Zuhan Valley, among crooked, half-collapsed shacks, a child was born. No one knew why the stars had gone silent that night. But the wind whispered with the mother's final scream:
"If the light that falls into blackness does not choke the dark, the world will be shattered once again."
The child's eyes were pure white—no brown, no blue, no trace of black. Empty, some would say. But anyone who looked into them swore something stared back. Something... ancient.
They named him Kael. His mother died during birth. His father? Unknown. Thus, Kael was raised by the Eyan Priestesses.
Years passed. Kael was unlike the others. He survived lightning strikes more times than anyone could count. He heard a woman's voice in his dreams. And sometimes, with his eyes closed, he claimed he could see the other side of the world.
The villagers feared him. They called him "Cursed."
But the Priestesses believed otherwise. To them, Kael was blessed—because the night he was born, the Fire Star fell from the sky and pierced the peak of a distant mountain.
From that day, the mountain was known as Riftpeak.
On Kael's sixteenth birthday, someone arrived—someone the valley had never seen before. Clad in armor black as night, with a cloak darker than a starless sky. No horse. But with each step, the earth beneath his feet scorched. No one saw his face.
He asked only one thing:
> "Where is the Son of Ash?"
And in that moment, Kael's life was torn apart.
The Priestesses smuggled him away through a hidden passage. They gave him an old sword—rusted, forgotten. Yet the moment Kael touched it, flames ignited along its blade.
The high priestess, Thira, blind and ancient, gave him one last warning:
> "Your fate lies between three worlds: spirit, ash, and star. Whichever you choose... the other two will seek your end. Trust not your eyes, Kael. They will lie to you."
Kael set out on a path from which he could never return.
But the thing chasing him... was not human.
And at the journey's end, only one truth awaited.
When Kael stepped beyond the valley for the first time, the sky was still heavy with mist. Trees bent in the wind, whispering sounds too deliberate to be random. It felt as if the forest itself knew his name… and spoke it.
The sword he carried looked like nothing more than scrap metal. But every time his fingers brushed its hilt, warmth stirred inside him.
Thira had told him, "That sword does not belong to you, Kael. It belonged to those who came before."
He didn't understand.
But he felt it—something inside the blade, slowly waking up.
Kael's first destination was Rin Forest, known among the locals as "The Land of Swallowing Trees." Few who entered ever returned. The trunks stank of decay, the branches watched like eyes. Yet Kael wasn't afraid. He'd seen this forest in his dreams, over and over again.
And someone was waiting for him there.
On the second night, Kael was awakened by a voice.
> "You have stirred the heart of night, child…"
The voice belonged to a creature hanging from a tree's trunk—clawed hands black as pitch, eyeless face twisted like dried bark. Its skin flaked like dead leaves. But it spoke.
And Kael didn't flinch.
> "Did you call for me?" Kael asked.
"I was not born of your call. But the void in your eyes… it reminds me of my old master."
It was a Forest Watcher, an ancient being from before time was measured. It obeyed only those born with the Empty Eyes.
Kael didn't fully grasp what it meant, but the creature bowed and whispered:
> "I will show you what must be seen. But are you ready to see it, Kael?"
The Watcher led him to the forest's heart, where roots buried a massive stone door. Carvings covered its face—in a language Kael had never seen… yet somehow understood.
> "Here is where the fall of shadows began."
When Kael touched the door, his spirit tore free from his body.
He saw the past.
Long before humans, there were Three Lights: Spirit, Ash, and Star. Each bore its own order. Each shaped its own servants. But one—Ash—grew jealous and sought to destroy the others.
And so war began.
A war so fierce, even the stars fell.
Kael understood then:
He was not just a boy.
He was a broken fragment of an ancient balance.
And he wasn't chosen—he was awakening.
That night, Kael's eyes changed for the first time.
They turned crimson.
And without knowing why, he whispered a word:
> "Vel Akirath."
The Forest Watcher recoiled.
It was a curse, in a dead language: "The word that silenced the stars."
Kael's journey had truly begun.
But someone was watching.
The armored figure stood in the mountain's shadow, tracking Kael's every step.
And from his lips, a single word slipped:
> "Found…"
After escaping the darkness of Rin Forest, Kael found himself in a corridor paved with gray stone. This place wasn't on any map. In fact, Kael had only seen it once—in a dream.
Torches lined the walls, yet none held flame. Still, they glowed—as if lit by the memory of a world long lost.
As Kael walked, the stones beneath his feet seemed to whisper. Not in words, but in emotions: warning, sorrow, longing. Every step carried a scream from the past.
And then he saw her.
At the end of the passage knelt a girl. She looked younger than Kael, but her face bore an expression older than centuries—like loneliness carved into her bones. Her hair was the color of moonlight. Her eyes were closed. And in her hands, she held fire—fire that didn't burn. It coiled and shifted like a living thing, dancing between her fingers.
As Kael approached, the girl opened her eyes.
For the first time, the silence inside Kael shattered.
She spoke—not aloud, but directly into his mind.
> "Kael… you've finally come. I've been waiting."
> "You know me?"
> "I was born from the dream. From your mind. I'm like a memory you forgot... or an echo of a moment you haven't lived yet."
Kael didn't understand.
But he trusted her.
Her voice drowned out the last scream of his mother. Silenced the whisper of the woman in his dreams.
What was her name?
> "My name is Arenya," the girl said.
"And you, Kael... are the one who will rename the fire."
Arenya reached out and touched his sword.
The blade burst into flame. But this time, within the fire, a form emerged: winged, horned, immense—a dragon.
Kael felt it was not alive, but bound. A sealed spirit.
Arenya closed her eyes and whispered an ancient phrase:
> "When the name of fire is forgotten, the ones who forget... burn. Your task is to remember it."
> "Why me?" Kael asked.
> "Because your eyes are empty. And only the empty can see what truly is."
The ground trembled.
The passage walls shivered.
Shadows twisted.
And the first enemy appeared.
A Shadowform.
It looked human, but was made entirely of darkness. It had no eyes—but it saw straight into Kael's soul.
Arenya stepped back.
> "This creature... it's the first. A test. They'll keep sending more. This is only the beginning."
For the first time, Kael raised his sword.
The flame trembled.
When the shadows lunged, Kael shouted:
> "Vel Theryon!"
The blade blazed.
The shadows screamed.
And Kael unleashed the first spark of the power within him.
---
As Kael's sword tore through the shadows, the fire inside him silenced everything for a heartbeat.
Arenya, standing to the side, closed her eyes. The flickering light warmed her face.
The shadows scattered—but did not vanish.
Because they hadn't come to kill Kael.
They came to measure him.
Arenya stood slowly.
> "Now they know you. They've written your name. There's no going back."
> "Who are they?" Kael asked.
> "They are the Name-Takers. They steal the names of others to preserve their own. And your name… is powerful. Because you don't know it yet."
Kael froze.
> "My name is Kael."
Arenya shook her head.
> "No. That's the name you were given. But your true name—the one whispered at your birth—is different. And they're hunting for it."
Kael's mind began to hum. Something stirred in his blood. Echoes of the past touched his soul.
In that moment, he made a decision:
He had to find the truth.
His real name.
The reason for the war.
He and Arenya began their journey toward Riftpeak.
The path would take three days. But as they neared the mountain, the air grew heavy. Birds had gone silent. Even the wind refused to speak.
At the mountain's base stood an ancient, crumbling temple. Its name was Thamarin.
And inside, someone was waiting.
As Kael stepped into the temple, he heard a familiar voice.
> "You've grown."
The voice belonged to an old man wrapped in a torn cloak. His beard was ash-gray, his eyes sharp like a hunter's. He held a cane, but his presence was steady. Strong.
Kael didn't know him.
But the man knew Kael.
> "My name is Serav. And I… was there the night you were born."
Kael's heart quickened. Arenya had gone quiet, almost vanished into shadow.
> "My mother… died. Everyone says so."
Serav nodded.
> "Yes. But she wasn't your mother."
Kael's world tilted.
> "Your real mother... was a Starwarden.
And you, Kael, were born at the intersection of three realms: Spirit, Ash, and Star.
That's why some want to protect you... and others want you dead."
Kael staggered.
> "Why has no one told me this before?"
Serav sighed.
> "Because knowing wouldn't protect you.
But now that the shadows have awakened, the time has come to choose."
> "Choose?"
> "Yes.
Join the Name-Takers… rule over the darkness that consumes you.
Or find your true name… and walk toward the Throne of Ash.
But that throne only allows one to live.
The rest… turn to ash."
Kael remained silent.
But the temple stones began to crack.
Shadows reemerged.
This time, they weren't alone.
The Armored Figure had returned.
Kael turned.
And for the first time—he saw its face.
His own.
Older.
Eyes pitch-black.
The armored figure walked with echoing steps across the stone floor.
Kael couldn't look away.
His face… but twisted.
Eyes that reflected no light. No emotion.
Not emptiness.
Resolution.
Arenya whispered:
> "This… is the broken version of you."
Kael stepped forward.
Lifted his sword slowly.
> "What are you?"
The figure spoke, voice like a chasm echoing forever:
> "I am you.
The version that chose.
I chose shadow. And shadow completed me.
Whatever you choose… you'll become me."
Kael wanted to say no.
But a voice inside stilled him.
This man wasn't lying.
He was Kael.
A Kael who erased his past.
Forgot his name.
Now, he offered Kael a choice.
> "Come with me.
You don't need your true name.
True names hurt.
But the forgotten… are free."
Kael's mind cracked.
Visions. Voices. Echoes from his past—
Thira's warning:
> "Your eyes will lie to you."
Serav's truth:
> "Your choice will either make you… or destroy you."
Arenya took his hand.
> "Kael… forgetting is easy.
But remembering will set you on fire.
Will you burn? Or disappear?"
Kael's eyes welled up.
But not from fear.
From decision.
He raised his sword.
Faced himself.
And whispered:
> "I am not you.
Not yet.
And maybe… I never will be."
The armored figure drew his blade.
Two Kaels.
Two fates.
Clashed in the heart of the temple.
Flame and shadow met.
Stone shattered.
The temple collapsed.
Serav pulled Kael out.
At the last moment, Arenya whispered:
> "Riftpeak awaits.
The answers lie there.
And your name… is there."
---
When Kael lost consciousness, he dreamed of a woman.
She had no face. But her voice… was familiar.
His mother.
> "They wanted you to forget your name.
But I am calling you, my son.
Wake up…
because the stars… are falling again."