The rain ceased by dawn. A thin mist hung over the royal courtyard, wrapping the world in a hush that felt like the calm after a storm but beneath that calm, something had changed.
Arka stood atop the palace balcony, the silver mark on his arm faintly aglow beneath the pale morning light. It pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat, neither cold nor warm, but alive a symbol that no longer chained him, yet refused to leave him.
He could feel it the Abyss had quieted, not vanished.
Like a sleeping beast waiting for its master's command.
Behind him, Lysander approached. His armor gleamed faintly, though his eyes were weary. "You didn't rest at all, did you?"
Arka shook his head. "I couldn't. Every time I close my eyes, I feel it breathing inside me."
Lysander stepped beside him, gazing at the mist-shrouded city. "Shirra left at dawn. She said the seal is stable for now. But it's not permanent. You'll need to strengthen it and yourself before the Abyss tests you again."
Arka's fingers tightened around the railing. "Then I'll do whatever it takes."
Lysander gave a faint smile. "That's what worries me."
Before Arka could answer, a faint tremor rippled through the air soft, yet unmistakable. Both turned their heads toward the horizon.
From the far end of Aurion's borders, light flared golden and sharp, like a burning spear piercing the heavens. The faint echo of a roar followed, not beastly but divine, reverberating across the realm.
Lysander's expression hardened. "That came from the northern sanctum… The Celestial Gate."
Arka frowned. "Wasn't that place sealed after the War of Seven Stars?"
"It was." Lysander turned to him. "And the fact that it's awakening now means something has disturbed the balance. Perhaps your sealing ritual wasn't unnoticed."
Arka's pulse quickened. "You think something answered back?"
Before Lysander could reply, a guard burst through the balcony doors, panting. "Your Highness! The Royal Observatory reports a falling light no, a creature descending from the upper heavens. It's heading straight toward the capital!"
A rush of energy erupted in the distance visible even from miles away. The sky cracked open for a heartbeat, revealing a streak of blinding silver fire cutting through the clouds.
Lysander swore under his breath. "That's not a beast… that's a celestial descent."
Arka stepped forward, eyes reflecting the storm of light. The sigil on his arm burned, resonating with whatever was coming.
He could feel it calling him the same pull he once felt beneath the stars as a child.
"Then it's starting," he said quietly. "The Celestial Path…"
Lysander looked at him sharply. "You knew?"
"No," Arka murmured. "But the moment the Abyss went silent, the stars began to whisper."
The silver fire struck the outer plains beyond Aurion, shaking the ground beneath their feet. The shockwave shattered the clouds, revealing the morning sun burning crimson.
And within that explosion of light… a figure emerged.
Winged. Radiant. Beautiful yet with eyes that mirrored the same void that once whispered within Arka.
Shirra's words echoed in his mind: "The Abyss isn't gone. It sleeps… and it remembers."
Arka's hand tightened around his blade.
Whatever that being was it had come for him.