***
When the clock struck midnight, the shadows whispered. North of Vrott, in the heart of the Alivio palace, silence heavy, unnatural and pressing.
The grand hall stood draped in black cloth and carved dark obsidian stone, glowing purple, the halls once golden chandeliers flickered like dying embers, casting shadows that twisted across the walls. The king, Jack the Third, sat alone on his throne, hunched, fist clenched tight around the arms of the seat. The air shimmered faintly as if alive, watching, as if the palace itself held its breath.
Then behind the throne a figure emerged, dark, twisted and disfigured, its presence a shadow over the king.
Then came a voice, a whisper that held so much weight.
"The time has come… Find the boy."
It didn't echo through the room, it echoed through his bones. Deep, ancient, and laced with hunger.
The king's head twitched. His eyes, once black, now glowed a deep red, matching the figure behind him.
"He will destroy you and everything you have built. Find him and kill him," the voice whispered.
The king rose slowly, his shadow stretching unnaturally far behind him. He stepped down the dais, each footfall pulsing with quiet menace.
"The kingdoms are still blind," the voice hissed, "and while the fire still burns, the ash still remains unseen."
Suddenly, the heavy doors of the throne room creaked open. The majesty's royal advisor hurried in, pale and breathless. "Your Majesty… the Royal council awaits."
The king turned, a long, cruel grin stretching across his face. "Then let them wait," he said
He swept past the trembling man, his dark cape trailing like smoke. Tonight, the court would hear this warning. And no one would leave unchanged.
The royal court stood in uneasy as the king entered and his cape dragged on the floor, his steps were slow, deliberate, each one echoing through the room. The room, once a palace of law and order, now felt heavy under his presence.
Nobles lowered their gazes. Soldiers straightened but dared not meet his eyes. At the great round table sat the kings of the Great seven kingdoms, gathered to discuss pressing matters between their kingdoms. But what Jack the Third had no interest in discussion, he had come to deliver a warning soaked in fire and ash.
Silence crept through the air as Jack the Third addressed the remaining six kings. The room remained quiet as he stepped forward. His voice calm, yet carrying a strange echo to it, as though something ancient hidden beneath his words.
He speaks of a boy born of fire and ash, a threat to every kingdom present. He warns them that unless the child was found and eliminated, their empires will crumble.
Some kings scoffed, Others glanced at each other, murmuring. Only the youngest, King Gideon of Solarae, known for its holy and radiant background, ruled by a divine bloodline.
He spoke. "And if the boy is not our enemy?" Gideon questioned, his voice steady but laced with doubt.
Jack's eyes flamed a faint red. The shadow behind him flickered like living fire. The entire hall froze in terror, no one could move or speak, as though held by something far older and far darker.
Jack decided to make a point. He raised a single hand and one of the guards at the entrance was engulfed in dark purple flames, and in the blink of an eye, he disintegrated.
Everyone remained frozen, confused, nervous, but above all, afraid. Gideon swallowed hard. No one dared speak again.
Jack lowered his hand slowly, standing up, a cruel smile tugging at his lips. "Let this be a warning and surely your last. Do as I have told you. If you find the boy, kill him," he said.
Jack laughed cruelly, he turned without another word. The doors closed behind him like a tomb sealing shut, trapping the hall in silence
Silence lingered long after Jack's departure, thick and choking and unbroken. No one moved.
Finally, King Gideon spoke. "We can't just kill a child based on a prophecy whispered in the dark."
An older king scoffed. "You saw what he did. Whatever he has become… it is beyond us."
Another voice, quiet but frail, rose from Queen Elira of Vrott. "We should find the boy not to kill him. We need to understand who or what he is."
Tension split the room; Some swayed with fear, others with reason.
Yet none noticed the eerie shadow that lurked near the great doors, the one which that did not follow Jack out. The figure vanished like thick smoke in the air.
That night, the royals scattered, each ruler returned to their quarters under heavy guard and heavier thoughts.
East of Alivio Kingdom, Vrott seemed to be too dark,there were no stars in the sky, a sign that something wrong was about to happen. Queen Elira paced in her chambers thinking of what had happened… and what might still come.
A knock sounded at her door. She ordered, "Enter"
"My queen, I bring news,", the messenger said. "A boy caused trouble at the market. He fits the description of the one you ordered us to find when you returned from the royal meeting."
"Then what are you waiting for?" she said coldly. "Find him. Bring him alive."
My Queen, "her advisor said carefully, "the boy lives with a former great knight… Derek," he added carefully,
"I do not care. Kill him. Get the boy," She replied without remorse.
That night, a man lay dead on his stony courtyard, and a boy, broken fled into the night like snow.
As Jack's shadow lingered, a heavy whisper filled the air
"The boy has fled… but the knight is dead."
A cruel smile tugged at Jack's lips. "None shall escape what is to come."
By morning, the report reached Queen Elira. "The boy fled… and Derek is dead," her advisor said cautiously.
Her eyes glinted coldly, almost haunting. "Then hunt him. I want the boy found dead or alive, he should not leave the borders of this kingdom," she ordered.
By the time the sun rose over the kingdom, Zodac had vanished, gone without a trace. He ran broken, but alive, and the weight of what happened pressed heavy on him.