The Sun Cathedral loomed above the capital like a second rising sun — its spires forged from gold-aged stone, its windows burning with molten-glass depictions of divine judgment. Inside, the air smelled of incense and heat. Every breath felt scorched, as if simply breathing required obedience.
Hundreds of candles flickered in rows, stolen sunlight trapped in wax. Their flames never wavered, never dimmed, never disobeyed.
Not like shadows.
Lightkeeper Hwalin stood before the altar of the Holy Radiance, head bowed, fists pressed to his chest. His voice was low, but heavy with conviction.
"We have allowed darkness to grow."
The choir of overseers responded as one, their voices layered in eerie unison.
"We failed the covenant."
Golden chains rattled beneath the altar. The Sun Prison stirred — a sphere of blazing runes housing a captured Eclipsed fragment, still alive, eternally burning. The air around it shimmered with agony.
Hwalin's eyes remained fixed on the struggling mass of darkness sealed inside the sphere.
"We should have purged every shadow-born before maturation. We showed mercy. And mercy, brothers…"
His eyes hardened.
"…is corruption."
The overseers bowed lower, light halos circling above their foreheads like weapons waiting to be swung.
"The newborn Eclipsed," an elder rasped, "is still incomplete. His shadow obeys him. He is not lost yet."
Hwalin's jaw clenched.
"That is exactly why he must be executed. Before he becomes a false hope. Before light is questioned."
He stepped forward and placed his palm upon the Sun Prison. The burned whispers of the trapped shadow-wraith seeped through his skin, hissing with rot and pain.
"Newborns are the most dangerous. They believe they can choose their fate."
The overseers recited:
"No fate exists for the Eclipsed. Only erasure."
The sphere dimmed, weakened by the chorus of judgment.
The Radiant Scripture
Hwalin lifted his gaze toward the mural towering above them — an ancient Sunwarden engraving. Gold and obsidian locks intertwined around a throne, binding a monstrous shadow beneath a radiant blade.
A scripture carved beneath it read:
"Light must not heal the dark. Light must not follow the dark.Light must end what refuses to bow."
He whispered the last line with reverence.
"It is divine execution, not hatred."
The choir replied:
"Judgment is not cruelty. It is purity."
The Revelation
A robed figure entered from the upper balcony, descending with steps so measured each sounded like ritual. The candles bowed inward as if in prayer. It was the High Beacon herself — Lady Sungyeon — draped in robes embroidered with sun spirals and meteor tails.
Her presence heated the air, yet her expression remained cold as frigid dawn.
"Keeper Hwalin," she said softly, "you stood before the Eclipsed boy. You witnessed his submission to his hunger. Tell us — was it willing?"
Hwalin did not hesitate.
"He chose shadow as equal, not slave. He formed a covenant with it."
A ripple of disgust passed through the room like wind over a corpse.
Lady Sungyeon's fingers tightened around her staff — carved from sunstone, crowned with a crystal burning like a chained star.
"That is forbidden."
"The Covenant is ours alone," one overseer spat.
"To bind power," another added.
"To command obedience," a third concluded.
Hwalin bowed his head deeper.
"He has sinned against the Radiant Law without even knowing its name."
The Threat of False Salvation
Lady Sungyeon descended the final step and gazed into the Sun Prison, watching the surviving shadow writhe.
"If the people learn that an Eclipsed can control their hunger, can choose, can coexist…"
She turned to face the council.
"…they will no longer fear us."
Silence became suffocating.
"Our authority is sustained through inevitability," she continued. "We do not kill shadows because we hate them. We kill them so no one believes there is another path."
A whisper passed through the choir.
"So the light stays unquestioned."
Lady Sungyeon nodded once.
"Control is not cruelty. It is divine order."
The flames bowed again.
The Oath of Radiant Hunt
Lady Sungyeon spread her arms wide.
"Kneel, and swear the Covenant of Culling."
Every Lightkeeper dropped to their knees, foreheads pressed against the scorching floor.
Hwalin's voice rose first.
"I swear to destroy false hope."
The choir echoed:
"We swear to destroy false hope."
Hwalin continued:
"To extinguish shadows before they speak."
The choir thundered:
"To extinguish shadows before they speak."
Lady Sungyeon raised her blazing staff.
"To kill the boy who believes he can choose."
The final vow roared through the cathedral like a storm of gold.
"To kill the boy who believes he can choose!"
Light burst upward in a pillar of burning radiance. The Sun Prison cracked — not broken, but awakened. The captured shadow screamed.
The Consecration Ceremony
Lady Sungyeon moved to the center altar, placing her staff into a tall flame bowl. Gold fire surged upward, twisting into the shape of a sword with wings.
"Keeper Hwalin."
He approached, chest steady, eyes shining with fanatic devotion.
"Step forward and receive the Radiance of Execution."
The flame-sword lowered toward him. He opened his hand. The fire settled into his skin. The agony was unbearable — but he did not scream. That was his sacrifice.
His palm fused with light.
A brand etched itself across his flesh:
☀≠🌑
Light does not equal shadow.
Lady Sungyeon spoke:
"You will lead the hunt."
Hwalin bowed.
"I will burn him before he tests his limits."
The choir thundered:
"Burn the Eclipsed! Burn the heretic covenant!"
Hwalin raised his branded hand.
"His bond with a Sunwarden will not save him. Light is not kin. Light is judgment."
Lady Sungyeon turned away.
"And judgment arrives with the dawn. Assemble the Purge Battalion."
Final Blessing
The High Beacon stopped at the great doors. Without turning back, she gave her parting command.
"Do not kill the Sunwarden girl. Bring her alive."
Whispers slithered through the choir.
"As an example?"
"As punishment?"
"As sacrifice?"
Lady Sungyeon's voice cut through like a blade.
"As proof."
She pushed the doors open. Light flooded the cathedral, bright and blinding.
"No Sunwarden shall ever love shadow and remain pure."
The doors slammed shut behind her.
Hwalin slowly rose, brand still glowing.
He whispered one last oath to the altar of light:
"He will die.
She will kneel.
The covenant will remain ours."
Outside, the dawn began to rise.
And somewhere beneath the city, in the hidden dark, two souls slept unaware of the holy fire coming for them.
To be continued…