----Page 14-----
"Lysera… Lysera…"
Someone was calling my name. The voice was a distant echo of a life I could never reclaim.
For a moment, I couldn't tell where I was. The voice echoed faintly, soft as snow falling on stone.
Then I saw them, my parents' faces, blurred and fading, smiling through the white haze. A cruel mockery of the warmth I had lost.
The night was unnaturally still.
Fog crawled through the narrow alleyways of Maren City, clinging to the cracked stone walls and curling over the cobblestones like smoke from an unseen flame.
The moonlight fractured through the mist, faint and cold, touching everything with silver. The city slept, but this place felt cut off from the rest of the world.
And there he was.
Kael.
He stood at the far end of the alley, half-shrouded by the fog. His fur, once silvery white, now carried streaks of black, and his crimson eyes burned faintly in the dark.
His presence pressed against the air, heavy and wrong, the aura of someone who had severed his ties to everything good, to everyone he once cared for.
"Lysera," he said, voice low and sharp.
"Still loyal to your master, I see."
I stepped forward, my hand resting on my rapier's hilt.
"Kael. What did they do to you?"
He tilted his head, a small, cruel smile forming.
"They freed me."
"No." I shook my head slowly.
"They enslaved you again, only this time, you call it freedom."
He chuckled. The sound was rough, hollow.
"Better a weapon by choice than a slave by leash."
My grip tightened. "You sound just like them."
His eyes glowed brighter.
"That kid… what was his name? The dreamer? How can a tiny human like him save anyone? It's pathetic."
The words struck deep. For a heartbeat, my breath froze in my chest. Then anger rose, sharp and biting.
"How dare you," I whispered.
He smirked.
"You still cling to that 'master' of yours. How pitiful."
"You don't know how much he cared about you,"
I said, voice trembling with rage.
"How much he cared for you and Seraphine."
He turned slightly, the crimson glow in his eyes flickering.
"Seraphine? That girl cried too much. Always weak."
My aura flared, frost crawling from under my boots, spreading like veins through the stone.
"She cried every night thinking about your safety. Wondering if you were alive."
I stepped closer, the mist following me.
"And this is how you repay her?"
Kael's expression twisted, his voice cold.
"I don't care anymore. I won't go back to being a slave. Never."
"You think you know what freedom means?" My chest tightened. My voice came out cold. "You don't know what it means to be trapped."
I remembered now.
It was a memory I had buried deep, one I swore never to recall.
I was born in a village buried in eternal snow, where the wind howled like a living beast.
The Frostborn tribe, high on the frozen peak of Isene. They called it the mountain of gods, but it was just a cage of ice.
Born with the power of cold and ice, I was worshipped, feared. The villagers said I carried the blessing of the Glaciam Guardian. To them, I was not a child. I was a relic.
They locked me inside a chamber of crystal walls, where only the glow of my own magic kept me company.
The other children played in the snow while I watched from behind frost-covered glass. They said my power could protect the village, but I knew the truth. They feared me.
At twelve, I could not take it anymore. I wanted to breathe the outside air, to feel the snow beneath my feet instead of the cold stone of my prison.
So I escaped.
That night, I walked barefoot through the snow, the moonlight painting the world in white.
The first breath of cold air burned my lungs.
The first step into the open felt like freedom.
Then I saw it. A shrine, ancient and silent, standing beyond the village.
Curiosity led me closer.
Inside was a crystal, massive, carved with runes that pulsed faintly blue. And within it, frozen in perfect stillness, was a person. Or what was left of one.
What is this?
Then came the voices. The villagers. My parents among them.
"What are you doing here?" my mother cried, running toward me.
"Stay back!" I said, my heart pounding.
An old woman stepped forward, her voice steady.
"Lysera. Your fate has been foretold. The Glaciam Guardian chose you. You must take its place as the new pillar."
"No," I said, trembling.
I don't want to.
"You have no choice."
I looked at my parents. They couldn't meet my eyes.
Pain seared through my chest as if something had pierced it. My body trembled. The villagers knelt and began chanting. The air turned white.
What's happening to me?
Then everything froze.
Their voices silenced. The cold burst outward like a storm. In a single moment, the village turned to ice. Even my parents stood frozen in place, their faces locked in horror.
I ran. I ran until my feet bled, until I could no longer feel my body.
Snow fell quietly. My vision blurred. I collapsed, the cold gnawing at me.
Then I saw it, a faint golden light hovering above the snow. A book, floating, glowing softly.
The Codex.
I reached for it, fingers trembling, blood mixing with the snow.
When my hand touched its page, warmth spread through my body for the first time in my life.
That was the night I became Pageborn.
And the night I stopped being human.
The memory shattered. The world returned, the alley, the cold mist, Kael's hateful eyes. My fury burned like ice in my veins.
"I'll make you remember what real strength is," I said.
Frost began to gather in the air. My rapier shimmered, its blade glowing with crystalline light.
"Frost Domain: Veil of Stillness."
The mist thickened instantly. Ice spread along the walls and ground, freezing everything in its path.
The cobblestones cracked under the pressure of my magic. Kael snarled and leapt forward, claws slashing through the fog.
His movements blurred. His body swelled with muscle, veins darkened beneath his fur. His face twisted into something feral, monstrous. His aura exploded outward.
"Blood Hunger," he growled, voice guttural.
"Let's see if your ice can stop me now."
He lunged.
His claws grazed the wall beside me, cracking stone. I stepped aside, frost blooming under my feet in sharp petals. The air screamed as we clashed.
The sound of steel meeting bone echoed through the alley. He was fast, faster than before. Each swing carried brutal weight.
I parried, slid back, and slashed, shards of ice bursting from my blade.
In the midst of the chaos, a familiar voice brushed against my mind.
Lysera, darling, if you don't stop now and end up killing him, Master Kinon will be so sad.
Nivarra's voice was smooth and teasing, almost melodic.
But maybe it's for the best, hmm? If you disobey him, Master Kinon might only have eyes for me.
My jaw clenched.
"What did you just say?" I hissed aloud.
A soft laugh echoed in my mind. Oh, nothing, darling. Just a thought.
"Stay out of this, Nivarra!"
Another rumble of laughter followed. Tauren's voice, deep and amused.
Heh, just don't kill him, will ya? Gahaha.
"Both of you, quiet!" I snapped, raising my rapier.
Kael sneered.
"Talking to ghosts now?"
I didn't answer. I stepped forward, the frost tightening around us.
"Frozen Edge: Shatter Waltz."
The air erupted in a storm of ice. Shards spun around me, slicing through his aura. Kael roared, blocking with his forearms, the frost crawling up his fur. His strikes grew frantic, blood dripping from his arms where the ice cut deep.
He charged again, but I met him halfway, my rapier thrusting straight through his guard. Frost burst outward, encasing his shoulder and chest in thick ice.
He staggered, panting, eyes wide with disbelief.
"You've improved."
"You've fallen," I said.
I raised my blade high.
"Cry of the Winter!"
A surge of white light engulfed the alley. The air screamed, and Kael's body was thrown backward, frozen mid-motion. Frost sealed around him, crystal clear, his expression caught between rage and shock.
Silence fell.
My breath came in heavy clouds, the world dim and quiet. I lowered my sword, staring at his frozen form.
Then the ice cracked.
Kael's claws twitched. He slammed both hands on the cobblestones, shattering the frost around him. Blood ran down his arm.
"Why?" he gasped, voice shaking.
"Why can't I beat you? I'm stronger now!"
I walked forward, the mist swirling around me. My rapier shimmered like glass under the moonlight.
"Because you've lost what truly made you strong,"
I said softly.
"Damn it… damn it all!" Kael snarled. He forced himself up, every movement heavy with pain.
He glared at me, his crimson eyes blazing.
"You'll pay for this…"
Then, with a final growl, he leapt onto the rooftops, leaving trails of blood behind him.
"This isn't over," he shouted from above.
"I'll come back for Kinon's head and the Chronicle! Remember that!"
He vanished into the fog.
I took a step forward, but my knees gave out. The frost on my armor melted into mist, my transformation fading. My breath hitched as the exhaustion set in.
The world tilted.
I fell to my knees, the cold stone biting through my gloves. My vision blurred, but I forced a smile.
Master… I kept my promise.
The fog swallowed the alley.
The frost dimmed.
And I collapsed into the silence.