Elara stood in the heart of the Aetheris Academy's training hall, her breath sharp and quick, sweat beading along her brow. The air shimmered faintly around her, humming with the charge of raw mana. A soft, dangerous glow pulsed from her palms as she channeled energy toward the practice dummy.
It should have been a simple exercise, basic energy manipulation but something inside her felt… different. Wilder. Hungrier.
"Focus, Elara," barked Master Kael from the sidelines. His voice was like stone striking steel, unyielding. "Control the flow. Don't let it control you."
She tried. She really did. Drawing a deep breath, she steadied her stance, reaching inward for the calm center of her power. But the energy surged like a living thing, slipping from her grasp.
A flash of blinding light burst from her hands, crackling through the air before slamming into the dummy with a thunderous crack. Wood splintered. Pieces scattered across the polished stone floor.
The hall fell utterly silent. Elara's heartbeat thundered in her ears as she stared at her hands, chest heaving.
Tha... that wasn't supposed to happen.
Master Kael strode toward her, his expression unreadable, but his eyes carried a strange mix of concern and calculation.
"That was… remarkable," he said slowly. "And dangerous. Power without discipline will destroy you."
"I don't know what happened," Elara admitted, her voice trembling. "It felt alive. Like it wanted out."
Before he could reply, the sharp, keening wail of the academy's alarm split the air, loud, piercing, urgent. Every head in the hall snapped toward the source.
"That's the portal alarm," Kael muttered, his face darkening.
Elara's stomach twisted. The portals were the arteries of Aetheris; gateways to other realms, conduits for trade, travel, and magic. If something had gone wrong with them… it could mean disaster.
"Stay here," Kael ordered, already turning toward the corridor.
Stay? As if she could.
Curiosity and dread tangled in her chest as she slipped after him, keeping to the shadows. The corridors buzzed with confusion, students whispering, instructors hurrying in tight, clipped steps.
By the time they reached the central hall, the air was heavy with tension. The main portal loomed at the center, swirling violently. Guards stood in a tight ring around it, weapons drawn. A cluster of academy elders stood nearby, their faces grim.
Elara pressed herself behind a stone pillar and listened.
"The portals are destabilizing," one elder said, voice low but urgent. "We've detected a surge of dark energy from the Shadow Realm. It's corrupting the flow."
Another elder's voice wavered. "Could it be the prophecy?"
Her breath caught. The prophecy, always whispered, never spoken aloud in full, spoke of a calamity that would tear the realms apart. Most dismissed it as a story to scare apprentices. But the weight in their voices said otherwise.
Kael stepped forward. "Secure the portals. Send scouts to the outer realms. We need answers before this spreads."
As they dispersed, Elara's gaze snagged on the pedestal at the far end of the chamber. Upon it rested a crystal orb, swirling faintly with inner light.
The Relic of the First Age.
Her pulse quickened. She had always felt drawn to it, as though some invisible thread connected them. Almost without realizing it, she stepped forward and touched the glassy surface.
The orb blazed to life.
Light engulfed her. Images crashed into her mind - realms collapsing into void, portals tearing apart in cascades of fire and shadow, a figure cloaked in darkness standing at the heart of the chaos, its eyes burning with cold hunger.
"Elara!" Kael's voice snapped her back. She stumbled away from the pedestal, the vision shattering. The orb's glow faded, but the main portal behind them bucked and twisted, colors bleeding into one another.
"What have you done?" Kael demanded.
"I... I didn't mean to... "
A ripple tore through the portal. And then.... something stepped out.
A shape clothed in shadow, taller than any man, its presence suffocating. Eyes like molten gold locked on Elara.
"You," it hissed, its voice a serrated whisper that clawed at her mind. "The one who awakens the chaos."
Fear gripped her, raw and instinctive. She turned and ran. Kael shouted after her, but she didn't look back.
The streets of Aetheris blurred around her as she fled. Somewhere behind, the shadow pursued. Somewhere ahead, something else, something unseen pulled at her, a whisper threading through her thoughts.
Trust your instinct. Follow the flow.
Her feet carried her toward the outskirts, to the wild mana springs where the air sang with power. In their center shimmered an ancient portal, older than the academy itself, half-forgotten by history.
She didn't hesitate.
The portal swallowed her in a rush of light and color.
When she emerged, the air was cool and damp, thick with mist. Trees loomed overhead, their leaves whispering in an unfamiliar wind. Strange scents curled through the air. She had no idea which realm she had entered only that she was far from home.
And that whatever had begun in Aetheris… was only the beginning.