The Sovereign’s Shadow: Awakening the Primordial Void

The Prophecy of the Destroyer

The valley was quiet, but inside the new house, the air felt heavy and thick. Kaelen hadn't let Lyra leave as easily as he’d planned. He had caught her, but still could not shake the feeling in him, is she dense or just slow to think?

Now, he had her pinned against the wall of the main room. His hand wasn't on her throat, but it was pressed hard against the wood right next to her head. The black veins on his arm were pulsing, casting a faint light on her silver hair.

Kaelen’s head recoiled slightly as he looked at her, his eyes searching her violet depths for a lie. He opened his mouth to speak, but for a moment, the words wouldn't come. He felt a lump forming in his throat, a mix of the years of misery he had endured and the sudden horror of what she was saying.

"You followed me all the way here," Kaelen said. His voice sounded croaky and scratchy "Why? What is the exact reason your clan wants you to kill me?"

Lyra didn't struggle. She looked up at him with those piercing eyes. They weren't filled with the same terror as before, but they were wide with a kind of sad realization.

"No one sent me this time," she whispered, her voice soft and shaky. "I came because I had to know. I had to see if you were a man or just a hole in the world."

Kaelen's face morphed into a scowl. "I'm a man who wants to be left alone. Tell me about your clan. Tell me why you’re so afraid of a scumbag from the gutters, that prophecy what does it all mean."

Lyra took a deep breath and expelled it, trying to steady herself. "My clan, the Thorne Clan, has lived in the shadows for a thousand years. We don't tame beasts, Kaelen. We watch the stars. We watch the flow of mana. We have been guarding a single prophecy since the day the world split."

Kaelen moved his hand away from the wall, his limbs feeling a bit limp. He paced the small room, his boots making a dull thud on the floor. "I don't care about old stories."

"You should," Lyra said, her voice growing firmer as she watched him. "The prophecy spoke of a day when the spheres would no longer turn gold or blue. It spoke of a man who would touch the glass and bring nothing but the dark. They called it the Eternal Night."

Kaelen felt a rush of energy, a bitter laugh bubbling up. "I just broke a ball because I have a strong beast. That’s all it was."

Lyra shook her head slowly, her brows going up a little. "You don't understand. It didn't break because you were strong. It broke because your mana is... wrong."

"Wrong?" Kaelen's heart began racing.

"It’s Anti-Mana," Lyra explained. She leaned against the wall, her hands trembling slightly. "The world is built on mana. It’s what gives life. But what you carry... it eats it. You didn't fill that ball with light; you emptied it. You consumed the mana inside until the sphere had no choice but to shatter."

Kaelen's chin dipped slightly, a pensive look on his face. He looked at his hands, the skin tougher than it had ever been. He thought of the monsters in the dungeon—how they didn't just die, but seemed to wither away when he struck them.

"Is that what this is, Erebos?" Kaelen mused within him.

The beast didn't answer right away. When he finally spoke, his voice was unusually quiet. "She sees more than she should. But she is right. We are not builders, Kaelen. We are the hunger."

Lyra looked him straight in the eye, her violet eyes stinging with unshed tears. "You think you’re just a lucky survivor. You think you’re just Kaelen. But my grandmother saw your face in the stars before you were even born."

"That's impossible," Kaelen whispered, his voice cracking.

"She saw the catalyst," Lyra continued, her voice trembling now. "She saw the one who would open the gate that was meant to stay closed forever. You aren't just a mage, Kaelen. You are the key. There are people in the deep parts of the Empire—people who make Caspian look like an ant—and they are already coming for you."

Kaelen stumbled, his body feeling out of place in the quiet house. He turned away from her, his eyes watering as he fought the weight of her words. "I'm not opening any gates. I'm staying here. I'm going to find a cure for my sister and live my life."

"You can't," Lyra said, stepping toward him. "They won't let you. They don't want to kill you anymore. They want to use you. They need that Void in your blood. Because you are the only one in this world who can unlock the gate for him."

Kaelen's eyes went wide as he stared at her, his grin long gone. He felt the duffel bag of his old life slipping from his hands, hitting the floor with a soft thud.

"Him?" Kaelen asked, his voice barely a whisper over the silence of the room. "Who is him?"

“I can't say, you need to find out yourself, he is hungry for your powers, I assure you, his goons won't let you breath till they obtain you.” She said her voice cracking.

“And when that happens, the world would be no more.”

Kaelen looked at her, his voice morphing into pure rage.

“I'm not an asset to be used, tell me now who this man is!” Kaelen's voice carried so much power that Lyra's knees shook from fear.

“He is—” The words died in her throat immediately as a loud thud sounded at the doors.

“They are here.” Lyra whispered as Kaelen looked at the door, the door smashed open, a wide beast with three head roared at them.

“Fucking hell.”