THE LAST HEIR OF THE VOID KINGDOM

Chapter 1

The Boy Everyone Hated

The villagers often said that misfortune followed Aiden Ashborn.

If a crop failed, they blamed him.

If a child became sick, they blamed him.

If a storm destroyed a roof, they whispered his name before the rain had even stopped.

Aiden had long ago stopped caring.

Or at least he pretended to.

The seventeen-year-old swung his axe into a fallen tree trunk, sending wood chips flying across the forest floor.

"One more load," he muttered.

The sun was setting behind the mountains, bathing the forest in orange light.

Most people had already returned home for dinner.

Aiden had no home waiting for him.

Only a small wooden cabin at the edge of the village.

A place where silence was his only companion.

A sudden scream shattered the evening calm.

"Help!"

Aiden froze.

Another scream echoed through the trees.

Without hesitation, he dropped his axe and ran.

Branches slapped against his face as he sprinted through the forest.

The screams led him to a narrow clearing.

His eyes widened.

A young girl lay on the ground.

Standing over her was a massive silver wolf.

The beast was easily twice the size of a normal wolf.

Its glowing blue eyes burned with intelligence.

A magical beast.

Aiden's blood ran cold.

Magical beasts were supposed to stay beyond the Northern Mountains.

What was one doing here?

The wolf growled.

The girl couldn't even move.

"Aiden..." she whispered weakly.

He recognised her.

Mira.

The baker's daughter.

The same girl who barely spoke to him in public because her parents hated him.

Yet fear had erased all such things.

Aiden grabbed a broken branch.

It was a ridiculous weapon.

But it was all he had.

"Hey!" he shouted.

The wolf turned.

Its glowing eyes fixed on him.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then the beast charged.

Aiden's heart hammered.

Too fast.

The creature was far too fast.

Death rushed toward him.

Instinctively, he raised the branch.

The wolf leaped.

And time seemed to stop.

A strange heat exploded inside Aiden's chest.

Pain shot through every bone in his body.

A black symbol appeared beneath his skin.

Glowing.

Burning.

Awakening.

The air trembled.

Dark shadows burst from the ground.

The wolf let out a terrified howl.

Aiden stared in shock as black chains erupted from the earth and wrapped around the magical beast.

"What...?"

The chains tightened.

The wolf struggled.

Roared.

Then the shadows swallowed it whole.

Silence.

The beast vanished as if it had never existed.

Aiden's eyes widened.

The black symbol on his chest glowed brighter.

A voice echoed within his mind.

Ancient.

Cold.

Powerful.

"At last... the heir has awakened."

Aiden stumbled backwards.

The world spun.

Darkness swallowed his vision.

And he collapsed.

Unaware that, hundreds of miles away, seven ancient crowns had just begun to shine.

And the kings who guarded them were already preparing for war.

End of Chapter 1

Chapter 2

The Man in the Black Cloak

Cold.

That was the first thing Aiden felt.

Cold darkness surrounded him.

He opened his eyes and immediately froze.

He wasn't in the forest anymore.

He stood beneath a black sky filled with crimson stars.

The ground beneath his feet looked like shattered glass stretching endlessly into the distance.

"What is this place?"

His voice echoed strangely.

Then someone laughed.

A low, ancient laugh.

Aiden spun around.

A man sat upon a massive throne carved from black crystal.

His face was hidden beneath a hood.

Yet Aiden could somehow feel the man's eyes staring directly into his soul.

"Who are you?" Aiden demanded.

The stranger tilted his head.

"After a thousand years, the heir finally asks a question."

Aiden's stomach tightened.

The same voice.

The one he had heard before losing consciousness.

The hooded man slowly rose from his throne.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the entire world trembled.

Aiden instinctively stepped back.

Fear flooded his chest.

Not because the man attacked him.

Because every instinct in his body screamed the same warning.

Run.

Now.

"Who are you?" Aiden repeated.

The stranger smiled beneath the darkness of his hood.

"I was once called many things."

His voice echoed across the endless void.

"King."

Aiden felt his heartbeat quicken.

"Conqueror."

The crimson stars flickered.

"Tyrant."

The ground cracked.

"And the last ruler of the Void Kingdom."

Aiden's blood turned cold.

The Void Kingdom.

The legendary empire that every child learned about.

The kingdom destroyed by all seven nations.

The kingdom erased from history.

Aiden swallowed hard.

"That's impossible."

The hooded king laughed.

"Impossible?"

Suddenly, thousands of shadows erupted around them.

Aiden gasped.

Figures emerged from the darkness.

Soldiers.

Entire armies.

Millions of them.

Frozen like statues.

Their armour black as midnight.

Their eyes glowing silver.

Every single one knelt before the throne.

The king spread his arms.

"This was my empire."

Aiden stared in horror.

The army stretched beyond the horizon.

Countless warriors locked in eternal silence.

Dead.

Yet somehow still present.

"What do you want from me?"

The king became silent.

For the first time, the amusement vanished from his voice.

Then he pointed directly at Aiden.

"You belong to me."

Aiden's chest suddenly exploded with pain.

The black symbol burned hotter than fire.

He screamed.

Dark energy poured from the mark like smoke.

The kneeling army slowly lifted their heads.

One after another.

Thousands.

Millions.

Their glowing eyes locked onto Aiden.

A terrifying chant echoed through the void.

"HEIR."

"HEIR."

"HEIR."

"HEIR."

Aiden stumbled backwards.

"No..."

The voices grew louder.

"HEIR."

"HEIR."

"HEIR."

The king stepped forward.

"Wake up, Aiden Ashborn."

His voice became sharp.

Urgent.

"Because they have already found you."

Before Aiden could ask what he meant, the world shattered.

CRACK!

Aiden's eyes flew open.

He was back in the village.

Inside his cabin.

Sweat soaked his clothes.

His heart pounded violently.

It was only a dream.

Right?

Then a loud knock echoed from the door.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Aiden jumped.

Nobody visited him.

Ever.

The knocking came again.

Harder this time.

"Aiden Ashborn."

The voice outside was unfamiliar.

Cold.

Authoritative.

"We know you're inside."

Aiden's blood froze.

Slowly, he approached the window.

Careful not to make a sound.

Peeking through the curtain, he looked outside.

And immediately wished he hadn't.

Five men stood before his cabin.

Each wore silver armour engraved with glowing runes.

At their cloaks was a symbol Aiden recognised from old history books.

A golden crown.

The royal crest of the Kingdom of Valoria.

The strongest kingdom on the continent.

One of the soldiers slowly looked toward the window.

Directly at him.

As if he knew Aiden was watching.

Then he smiled.

Aiden's breath caught.

The soldier raised his hand.

A black wolf's severed head dropped to the ground.

The same magical beast that had disappeared in the forest.

Impossible.

The shadows had swallowed it.

So how did they have its head?

The soldier's smile widened.

"We'll ask one final time."

The man's voice carried through the night.

"Open the door."

A pause.

Then his eyes glowed bright gold.

"Or we'll burn the village to the ground."

End of Chapter 2