The air hung heavy with dread. Ramona's breath came in short, shallow bursts. Her hands were bound, but she made no move to break free—not yet. The crowd's silence pressed against her, taut as a drawn bowstring, and tension coiled in the air like smoke.The executioner's blade gleamed behind her, cold and sharp. But it wasn't the blade that held her gaze—it was Ian Hambelbreg, her fiancé of five years, standing with a self-righteous sneer. His eyes, once warm with love, now glinted with the triumph of her downfall, as cold as they'd been for the past three months.
"Ramona Ellette Rhostein," he declared, voice dripping with certainty, "you stand accused of treason against the crown and conspiring with forces that threaten this kingdom. Your crimes are unforgivable. You were a fool to think you could escape."Ramona's eyes fixed on the cold stone beneath her knees. Her heart sank, heavy with betrayal. For five years, Ian had been her rock—his laughter filling their evenings, his gentle touch a constant reassurance.
Yet, in these last three months, he'd grown distant, his gaze averted, their meetings rare. This execution, so sudden and vicious, felt like a blade sharper than the one poised above her. This was it—the end of her life as Ramona.But then… something shifted.
A memory struck her, sharp and overwhelming, like lightning through a storm. She saw herself in a bustling lab, surrounded by her team, their screens aglow with code. They were pioneers, crafting electronic devices that revolutionized human work—each year, a new model, systems upgraded, features added to streamline tasks from farming to medicine. She'd led the charge, her mind alight with solutions, her "Knowledge" power letting her see patterns others missed. Her latest triumph, a device that automated crop yields, had earned her team's cheers and humanity's gratitude.
The realization hit her: this memory wasn't from this life.
It was from her past life.
In that instant, everything clicked. She had been a scientist, gifted with a power called Knowledge—a force that unraveled the universe's secrets, pushing technology beyond what anyone thought possible. She'd thrived on discovery, solving impossible problems, crafting innovations that eased lives. That passion, that fire, surged back in a flood.
Her body moved before her mind could catch up. The ropes snapped like brittle thread. Guards lunged, but she was already in motion, faster than they could track, stronger than she had any right to be. She wasn't just Ramona anymore. She was something far more dangerous—someone with the knowledge to unmake her enemies if she chose. And Ian? He would soon regret turning his love to ice and branding her a traitor. Ramona ran. Her bare feet scraped the stone halls as alarm bells thundered behind her.
Armored boots echoed through the corridors of the palace—her palace, now a prison. Crimson banners, once bearing her family's crest, fluttered like blood-soaked ghosts in the night wind. She didn't look back.Every breath seared her throat, the taste of iron sharp on her tongue. She'd lost track of time, but the palace guards, executioners, and betrayers were close—dogs of the noble court, hunting a princess they'd already condemned.
A shout rang out. "There she is! Don't let her escape!"Ramona gritted her teeth. Her white nightgown, once a symbol of silk and dignity, hung in tatters, soaked with rain and ash. Cuts stung her arms and legs from thorny hedges and shattered glass, but she pressed on. She couldn't stop—not when the truth remained buried, not when the fire in her mind burned brighter than their lies.She slipped through a forgotten servant's passage, a relic of her childhood. Dust choked the air, cobwebs brushing her face.
The tunnel spat her out beyond the palace walls, into the castle's shadowed outskirts.But the soldiers were relentless.Through courtyards, over ledges, across the misty river—they pursued like wolves. Her strength faltered. Her legs trembled. It was only a matter of time—Then the earth betrayed her.A fissure yawned open, as if summoned by her awakening power, pulling her into a wound in the world. Cold, sulfurous mist coiled around her, reeking of brimstone—a breath from the hellish depths where devils were born.
She plummeted into a maw beneath the palace grounds, toward a realm whispered in forbidden texts: the Shadowfen Threshold, the border between the upper and lower worlds— the Abyss. A place full of horror and mystical stories, and no one dares to approach it. No one really understands about this place. A place where no human would welcome here, or death will really take them.
She didn't scream. There was no time. The DescentSilence. No sky. No pain. Only falling. Gravity lost meaning. The world stretched and twisted, as if she'd torn through reality's seams. Flickers haunted her vision—pale faces, teeth gleaming in the dark, chains drifting in black waters. She reached for light, but found none.Then her body struck the ground.
Moss. Mud. Stillness.
Ramona lay dazed, coated in earth and strange ash. No stars. No moon. Only a crimson haze cloaking a forest so twisted, so unnatural, it didn't whisper—it watched. The air pulsed with a primal malice, as if the soil itself birthed the devils that ruled this hellish domain.She rose, heart pounding, fingers numb.
Old court texts, dismissed as myth by scholars, had warned of this place: the Shadowfen Threshold, a realm within hell where demons spawned and preyed. No human could survive its gaze.
Yet here she stood.She didn't know how she'd arrived, but one truth burned clear: This wasn't her end.
It was her beginning.