Morning arrived with clear skies over the ancient city. The tension left behind by the warning in the Book Never Written lingered in everyone’s minds, but life around them continued as normal. Merchants opened their shops. Children hurried through the streets. Craftsmen repaired old buildings that had stood for thousands of years.Kael stood near the bridge overlooking the valley below. He had spent most of the night thinking about the observers from other worlds; someone was watching, and someone was waiting.The only question was why.Footsteps approached from behind. Keeper Mira smiled as she joined him. “I thought you would be here.”Kael returned the smile. “I could not sleep.”“You have been carrying many questions," Keeper Mira said.“I have,” Kael replied.Mira rested her hands on the stone railing. “I believe I know someone who may answer a few of them.”Kael looked at her. “Who?”“Visitors.” She replied.He frowned. “From another world?”“Yes.” She nodded toward the bridge.

Morning sunlight spread across the valley outside the capital. The old military training grounds no longer echoed with the sounds of armies preparing for war. The broken towers had been repaired, the scorched earth had been replaced with green fields, and new buildings stood where barracks had once been.A large wooden sign welcomed every visitor.Academy of the New DawnChildren and teenagers from every race entered through the gates together. Humans. Demons. Beastfolk. Elves. Dwarves. Even a few races that had remained hidden during the long war. There were no separate entrances, no separate classrooms. Queen Seraphine had insisted that if the world truly wanted peace, it had to begin with its children.Kael stood near the entrance with Eron. Neither wore royal clothing, they wanted to observe without drawing attention. Eron smiled as he watched two boys argue over who could run faster. One had small demon horns, the other was completely human. Neither seemed to care about the diffe

The voice echoed through the underground chamber. “So… Has the age of the gods finally ended?”No one answered immediately. Kael stood motionless, listening. The voice carried no anger, it carried no pride, and it sounded like someone who had slept for a very long time and wanted to understand the world before taking another step. The heavy chains rattled once more beneath the stone floor, then everything became quiet.Eron rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. “Show yourself.”The voice answered calmly. “Not yet, I have no wish to frighten those who stand above me.”Keeper Mira looked around the chamber. “Who are you?”A pause followed.“I have been called many names.” The voice said.“None of them matter anymore.” Keeper Mira muttered. “What matters is your answer.”The unseen speaker repeated the question. “Has the age of the gods truly ended?”Kael looked toward the darkness beyond the chamber. “Yes, the gods have withdrawn, the heavens have been sealed.”The silence that follow

Eron did not sleep that night. The document sat on the table in front of him; he had read it at least ten times. The offer was simple. Become High King. Receive authority over the kingdoms. Command the armies. Settle disputes. Control the newly established agreements between humans, demons, and the other races.The document described it as an honour. Eron saw something else. A cage made to look like a throne, he picked it up again and walked toward the window. The city was quiet; people slept in homes rebuilt after years of war. Children were being born who had never seen a battlefield. Merchants were reopening roads that had once been too dangerous to travel. Demons and humans were beginning to trade. The world was changing.Eron wondered whether putting one man above everyone else would destroy everything they had worked to build. A knock came at the door, and he turned.Kael stood outside. “You are awake."“So are you,” Eron said.Kael walked inside. “I wanted to make sure you were

The field had once been a battlefield.Twenty years earlier, no farmer would have dared to walk across it. The ground had been burned during the final years of the divine war. The soil had been poisoned by magic, and nothing grew there. Even after the gods withdrew, the land remained barren. People had called it the Dead Fields. Now, a group of farmers stood in the middle of it, arguing about potatoes.“Put them deeper.” “They will rot if I do.”“They will not.”“You said that last time.”“And I was right.”“You lost half the crop.”The two men stared at each other, and a woman nearby laughed.“You both lost half the crop.” The woman said.The men looked at her.She smiled.“Which means neither of you knows what you are doing.”The farmers laughed. There was no fear in their voices. No soldiers guarded them, and no priest stood nearby telling them which seeds were blessed. They were simply farmers trying to make a piece of damaged land produce food.Kael watched them from the edge of