Book One: Rise of the Demonborn
Chapter 18: The Quiet Before Collapse
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The sky over Solmar was unnaturally still.
No clouds.
No wind.
Birdsong had vanished.
Inside the castle, even the servants moved quieter than usual—as if they sensed it too. Something had changed.
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*Seren* stood on a high balcony, watching the sun refuse to rise.
It was morning—but the sky stayed a dim, colorless gray.
She gripped the edge of the railing.
"We're too late, aren't we?" she said aloud.
Behind her, *Mirion* stepped into view.
"I think we passed 'too late' the moment he escaped Therrow."
They stood in silence.
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In the war chamber below, *King Alric* met with the surviving Council. His eyes were hollow from nights without sleep.
"The Relic Chamber has been opened," he said flatly.
A hush fell.
Vara's voice broke. "You've awakened them?"
The king didn't answer.
Aren stepped forward, voice shaking. "You told us that pact would *never* be broken. That the Forged would never rise again—"
"They're not risen," Alric snapped. "They're *called.* One will answer."
"Which one?" Seren asked coldly.
"…The First."
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Far beneath the city, sealed behind three divine locks, a tremor pulsed through the *Vault of Origin*.
A heartbeat.
Then another.
A hand slowly curled inside the coffin of obsidian and steel.
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Meanwhile, outside the capital in the village of Urel, people gathered for market day.
And then froze.
Every single animal in the village dropped dead at once.
Not violently. Just… lifeless. As though something had *emptied them*.
And from the nearby well rose a whisper:
"Do you believe you're safe?"
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Back in Solmar, the *Black Knights* trained harder than ever—but rumors spread among them.
Some spoke of *Kael's voice* in their dreams.
Others *saw him watching* from mirrors.
One knight, pale and shaking, tried to gouge his own eyes out. Said he saw "truth" in the shadows.
Commander Vyrell silenced it all… but not even he could sleep anymore.
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*Later that night*, Seren was summoned to the Royal Chapel.
A man in red robes knelt at the altar.
One of the *Crimson Circle* mages.
"You shouldn't be here," she warned.
"I brought you something," he whispered.
From his sleeve, he revealed a crystal vial.
It glowed with swirling silver mist.
Seren stepped back. "Is that…?"
He smiled.
"The soul of a seer. Trapped before the war of the gods. She knew *how* the Demonborn would fall."
Seren stared at it.
"What's the cost?"
The mage chuckled. "Only your peace of mind."
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*Meanwhile*, far from Solmar, deep in a forgotten cave at the edge of the world, something *ancient* stirred.
A figure cloaked in bones stood at the edge of a dark pool.
From it, *Kael's voice* echoed:
"Prepare the altar."
The figure bowed.
"Yes, my king."
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