THE LAST HEIR OF THE VOID KINGDOM

CHAPTER 7

The Last Heir of the Void Kingdom

Chapter 7: The Eye Beneath the World

The mountain moved.

Not trembled.

Not shook.

Moved.

As if something beneath it had shifted in its sleep.

The gigantic eye staring at Arin glowed deep blue in the darkness below.

Its pupil narrowed.

Studying him.

Judging him.

Waiting.

Even Lord Malakar's smile faded.

"Impossible," he muttered.

The dragon's wings tensed.

Ash's daggers lowered slightly.

"What is it?" Arin whispered.

The dragon answered in a voice unlike any Arin had heard before.

Not powerful.

Not wise.

Afraid.

"The World Titan."

Silence consumed the cavern.

Even Malakar's masked warriors exchanged uneasy glances.

Arin looked from the eye to the dragon.

"You mean there's another Titan?"

The dragon slowly nodded.

"Not another."

The eye brightened.

Ancient symbols lit up across the cavern walls.

"The first."

A chill ran down Arin's spine.

The Void Titan attacking the kingdom was powerful enough to destroy cities.

But if this creature was older...

Then it might be stronger than everything else combined.

Ash took a slow step backwards.

"I thought it was dead."

"It cannot die."

The dragon's answer came immediately.

"It was sleeping when the world was born."

The eye continued watching Arin.

Then a voice echoed inside his mind.

Not through the air.

Directly into his thoughts.

HEIR OF ASTRA.

Arin staggered.

Nobody else seemed to hear it.

WHY DO YOU WEAR THE CROWN?

His heartbeat quickened.

"I..."

The eye brightened.

ANSWER.

Arin clenched his fists.

For a moment he thought about giving some grand heroic speech.

About destiny.

About prophecy.

About saving the kingdom.

But none of it felt true.

So he answered honestly.

"I don't know."

Silence.

Then, unexpectedly...

The voice laughed.

A deep, ancient laugh.

GOOD.

Malakar suddenly stepped forward.

"The crown belongs to me."

Darkness exploded from his blade.

Shadow energy surged towards Arin.

Faster than lightning.

Ash moved instantly.

Her daggers crossed.

A wall of black-and-silver energy appeared.

The blast struck it and shattered the cavern floor.

BOOM!

Stone erupted everywhere.

The battle had begun.

All three masked warriors attacked at once.

Lyra drew fragments of her broken sword.

The pieces floated around her like silver stars.

With a sharp gesture, she sent them flying.

One warrior leapt aside.

Another blocked.

The third wasn't fast enough.

The silver shards pierced his mask.

It cracked.

Arin caught a glimpse of the face beneath.

His breath stopped.

The warrior was barely older than him.

Not a monster.

Not a demon.

Just a frightened young man.

The warrior quickly covered the broken mask.

But Arin had already seen.

Malakar wasn't raising an army.

He was recruiting people.

Meanwhile, Ash danced through the battlefield.

She seemed almost impossible to hit.

Every strike passed through shadows.

Every attack missed by inches.

Yet she never landed a fatal blow.

Only defensive ones.

Only delays.

As if she were buying time.

The dragon noticed.

"So did Arin.

"Ash!" he shouted.

"What are you doing?"

Her expression hardened.

"We can't win."

"What?!"

"We're outnumbered, outmatched, and standing above an awakening Titan."

She kicked one warrior into a pillar.

"We need to leave."

Malakar laughed.

"Wise girl."

Dark power erupted around him.

The cavern ceiling cracked open.

Miles above, the Void Titan roared.

The sound shook the entire kingdom.

Then something responded.

The eye beneath the mountain widened.

For the first time in thousands of years...

The World Titan was waking up.

Cracks spread across the cavern floor.

The mountain began collapsing.

Chunks of stone larger than houses crashed from above.

The dragon roared.

"EVERYONE RUN!"

Nobody argued.

Not even Malakar.

If the World Titan awakened completely, nobody knew what would happen.

Heroes.

Villains.

Guardians.

All could die.

The group sprinted through the tunnels.

Arin ran beside Lyra and Ash.

Behind them, the dragon held back falling debris with walls of starlight.

Ahead, sunlight appeared.

The castle exit.

They burst onto the surface.

And immediately froze.

Castle Noctis was gone.

Or at least most of it.

Its towers were shattered.

Its walls broken.

And standing beyond the ruins was the Void Titan.

A giant of black crystal.

Its crimson eye blazing.

Every step crushed stone into dust.

Villages burned in the distance.

Smoke covered the horizon.

Arin stared in horror.

The war had begun.

Suddenly the sky darkened.

Clouds spiralled above the mountain.

The ground split apart.

A hand emerged.

Not black crystal.

Stone and starlight.

Larger than the Void Titan itself.

The World Titan was rising.

The dragon looked genuinely terrified.

Malakar, standing on a distant cliff, smiled.

Everything had gone according to his plan.

He raised his sword toward the heavens.

"The age of kings is over."

Lightning exploded across the sky.

Arin tightened his grip on the crown.

The World Titan rose further from the earth.

And upon its chest, glowing like a star...

Arin saw a symbol.

The royal crest of the Void Kingdom.

To be continued...