NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
Thanks for reading my novel. I came here with one intention, entertain everyone with my works. I hope you like this story. This story is a lot to me, it's not the first one I'm writing but it is close to my heart. If you have any suggestions or anything else; I'm eager to hear them through the comments.
Once again, Thank you.
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1. THE SILENCE OF THE SUMMIT :
[ Asa ]: "Did you speak with your brother? What did he say?"
[ Rishi ]: "I did, but he's keeping his guard up. He wouldn't tell me anything beyond that nightmare. But Mother... I can feel it. His mind is in chaos. It's behaving as if it's no longer his own."
[ Asa ]: "I saw it too. His eyes... the blue is gone, replaced by something far more violent. And those veiny scars beneath them... I don't know what is happening to my son, but I intend to find out. I'm going to talk to your uncle."
[ Rishi ]: "Be careful, Mom..."
I heard every word through my link with Rishi, their concern buzzing in the back of my mind like a hive of hornets. While I tried to comfort Illya—who looked genuinely terrified by the alien traditions of a land she had never visited—my mother was confronting Astvana in the shadows of the Divine Tree.
[ Asa ]: "What the hell happened here, Astvana? Why did he do it? Why didn't you stop him?!"
[ Astvana ]: "I wasn't in the room when it happened, Asa. He drank the blood of his own volition. The priests are saying that the prophecy—"
[ Asa ]: "Shut up! I don't care about your ancient scrolls or your prophecies! What matters is my son!"
[ Astvana ]: "Calm down, Sister. Raya is strong. He will endure this."
[ Asa ]: "He had better. Because if something happens to him—if he loses himself to that 'Divine Water'—I won't hesitate to take that head of yours, brother. Prophecy or not."
While my mother's fury echoed in the distant halls, I focused on Illya. I could feel her trembling, her eyes darting to the violent shimmer in my own.
[ Illya ]: "You look... different, Raya. Like a completely different man. Your eyes, those dark tracks beneath them... they make you look brutal. Dangerous."
[ Raya ]: "I may look different, Illya, but I am still the same man who loves you. That hasn't changed."
I pulled her into a tight embrace, kissing her forehead as if I could shield her from the strangeness taking root in my body. She clung to me, her voice a small whisper against my chest.
[ Illya ]: "Promise me... promise me you won't do anything like that again. No more rituals. No more strange blood."
[ Raya ]: "I promise. I won't."
But as the words left my lips, the world dissolved. My physical body remained in the room, but my consciousness was snatched away to a desolate, endless desert under a sky without stars. The sand beneath my feet was like ground obsidian—jet black and cold.
When I turned, the horror revealed itself. A circle of chairs sat in the middle of the wasteland, occupied by a row of silent, slumped corpses. In the center sat my father, his eyes vacant, his life extinguished.
I was jolted back to reality by Illya's frantic voice. I hadn't realized I was shaking.
[ Illya ]: "Raya?! What happened? Why are you crying?!"
I wiped the cold tears from my face, my breath coming in jagged hitches. I lied to her, telling her it was just another lingering nightmare, and eventually, we drifted into a restless sleep.
But I stayed awake in the dark, the image of the black sand burned into my mind. I knew Rishi could feel my disturbance through the link, but for the first time, she stayed silent, waiting for the morning to confront the truth.
While Thiyak endured a sleepless night of mourning, the atmosphere on Planet Bellucia was one of cold, calculated ambition. Aryna Kalyan stood before her stepmother, Joy-Tila Halpman. Joy-Tila was more than just the Emperor's wife; she was his most trusted aide and the wielder of Spyatox—a terrifying power that allowed her to peel back the layers of a person's mind and sift through their most guarded memories.
[ Joy-Tila ]: "The 'Council of Yoriyochis' still believes they rule the Bellugians. What is your plan for them, Aryna?"
[ Aryna ]: "I will erase them," Aryna replied, her voice devoid of emotion. "A single whisper of my power is all it takes. I will command them to end their own lives, and once the council is gone, the Bellugians will have no choice but to bow to me."
[ Joy-Tila ]: "Decisive. But what of the Jaegers? Their influence grows louder in the Council of Clans with every passing day."
[ Aryna ]: "They will be silenced forever. I have already authorized a nuclear strike on the Cassendrian home world. The summit will be vaporized, and with it, Havoc Cassendra and Thaya Jaeger. The Jaeger legacy ends in ash."
Joy-Tila nodded, but her expression shifted, her eyes clouding as she focused on a distant, psychic resonance.
[ Joy-Tila ]: "Brilliant. However, I sensed something just now... a ripple across the stars. A presence. Someone has awakened the Paradox."
Aryna's composure broke for a fraction of a second. The Paradox—the ultimate weapon. The only power among the Seven capable of bending reality and fracturing the laws of time and space.
[ Aryna ]: "The most dangerous power in existence. Who wields it?"
[ Joy-Tila ]: "I cannot see their face yet, but they are young. Whoever they are, they must be found and brought under our thumb. If the Paradox is left unchecked, it is not just a threat to our clan—it is a threat to the universe itself."
[ Aryna ]: "I understand, Mother. They will be found."
The morning sun of Hariya felt cold, its light doing nothing to dispel the shadows in my mind. I found Iris waiting for me outside my quarters. He looked like a ghost; his skin was a sickly pale, his eyes were bloodshot and dry, and his hands were trembling so violently he had to tuck them into his belt.
[ Raya ]: "Iris? What is it? You look terrified..."
He tried to speak, but his voice broke. He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing as he forced the words out.
[ Iris ]: "There has been an attack... a nuclear strike on the Cassendrian palace. Multiple detonations recorded."
The world seemed to go silent. I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at him.
[ Iris ]: "The fate of King Havoc Cassendra and my father, Commander Elvis
... is currently unclear. But, My Lord..."
His voice trailed off into a ragged sob. He fell to his knees, unable to hold the weight of the report any longer.
[ Iris ]: "I am so terribly sorry... The King is dead. Your father is gone."