The twin moons of Elvaria glowed over the marble spires of Aetheron Academy, sending chilling shadows across the courtyard. Somewhere in the northern wing, where few ventured, a boy was being tried not with magic, but with destiny.
"Again," Master Veylor commanded.
The boy barely sixteen, with eyes that glowed like smoldering coal extended his hand. The air around him rippled, and for an instant, the temperature cooled.
No," Veylor spat, advancing. "You're holding it back again. Release the Umbra."
"But you said-" the boy gasped, breathing hard, "it's banned."
"Exactly," Veylor replied with a nasty grin. "And that's why you need to master it.
The boy, Kael Draven, had grown up in the shadow of the academy-literally. No parents, no history, not even a birth sigil in the Archive of the kingdom. In the eyes of the world, Kael didn't exist.
And that was precisely the way the Council wanted it.
He shut his eyes. Umbraflame, shadow-fire of myth, writhed in his veins like a captive snake. Legends said it was the god's weapon, lost in the Second Sundering. Here it was, dormant within a boy brought up by specters.
With a sigh, Kael released control.
The world undulated.
Black fire spat from his palm, lapping at the walls without scorching them, leaving twisted shadows that hissed like living things. Veylor winced-but smiled. The stone beneath Kael's feet started to shatter.
"That's enough," the Master snapped.
But Kael couldn't hold back.
The shadows poured over the room like wolves off a hunt. Shrieks of pain came—not from Kael or Veylor, but from the fire itself. It recalled.
The last heir.. has woken..
Kael fell. Smoke wisped from his fingertips. His breathing was in short gasps.
Veylor knelt, mouthing a binding incantation, locking the Umbra once more within the boy's soul. For now.
"We don't have a lot of time," the master growled. "The Prophecy unfolds."
Outside, high above the spires, the twin moons converged-a celestial portent not witnessed in more than a thousand years.
Far off, an ancient bell tolled.
The. seal on the Vault of Shadows had started to crack.
And Kael Draven-the boy who shouldn't be alive-was the key.