Chapter 1: The Exile’s Return
October, 1498 The wind shrieked through the jagged heights of Valtheris. Elders spoke of omens — of a sky split by lightning without a storm, of shadows flitting where there should be none. The King was dead, and the holy Crown of Aether lay fractured in three, its magic strewn across the lands.
Elias, a far-removed exile from the royal halls and bloodstained thrones, honed his blade under the sullen flicker of a dying fire. The past weighed on him like half-forgotten dreams, the burden of a name he had cast off emptying his spirit.
The silence was broken by a knock.
At the threshold was Nyx, a woman cloaked in twilight’s moving hues. Her violet eyes sparkled with a knowledge of things best left unspoken.
“It’s time,” she whispered, entering. “Valtheris needs its rightful heir.”
Elias scoffed. “Valtheris has long needed its true king. It received an executioner instead.”