The first omen came at dawn.
The river that ran through Eldoria turned silver—not with light, but with the reflection of two suns that rose on opposite horizons.
One burned gold.
The other bled black.
The world itself could no longer decide which king it belonged to.
---
1. The Return of the Crowned One
The Kael who returned to Eldoria looked the same—his posture regal, his voice calm, his eyes steady—but something in his presence made the air tremble.
When he sat upon the throne, the flames in the great hall bent toward him, as if bowing to an unseen storm.
Eir knelt. "Majesty, the council awaits your command."
Kael nodded slowly. "Tell them the war is over. The northern fortress has fallen."
The court erupted in cheers, but Eir's feathers stiffened.
> "And the shadow, my king? Was it destroyed?"
Kael smiled faintly. "It bowed before me."
A lie.
Or perhaps not.
For when he turned his head, for just an instant, his shadow did not move with him.
---
2. The Second King
Far beyond the palace walls, in the frost-bitten wastes, another Kael walked among beasts. His crown was broken, his hands bare, his face scarred from fire.
He looked up at the blackened moon and whispered,
> "He took my name. My crown. My people."
A wolf with silver eyes padded to his side—the same creature that had once hunted him in dreams.
> "Names can be reclaimed," it said in a voice like rustling leaves. "But the curse must be faced. Alone."
Kael looked to the stars, only to see them dimming, one by one.
> "Then I will return," he swore, "and take back my kingdom—even if I must face myself."
The wolf bowed. "Then you must learn what your ancestors never dared. The curse is not what turns you into a beast—it's what happens when you refuse to be one."
---
3. The Whispering Court
In Eldoria, the queen mother grew frail.
Her attendants found her standing before the mirror at dawn, eyes hollow, whispering to her reflection.
> "He's not my son," she said. "The voice behind his smile—it's older than our blood."
Eir begged her to rest, but the queen would not.
She summoned every relic from the royal vault—old grimoires, the bones of prophets, the sigil seals that had guarded the first king.
That night, she painted a mark upon her chest and lit a circle of fire around her bed.
If the curse had stolen her son, she would call upon the first light to find the true one.
But when the flames flared, the reflection in the mirror smiled back.
> "You're too late," it whispered. "The light made its choice."
The queen screamed—and the fire went out.
---
4. The Golden Lie
The Kael who ruled from the throne of Eldoria brought prosperity.
The famine ended. The fields bloomed. The beasts that once terrorized the borders now guarded the roads.
Yet the people began to change.
Their eyes shimmered faintly gold in the night.
Their tempers burned too quickly.
And when the moon rose full, every mirror in the palace fogged as if breathing.
Eir knew then—the peace was only a cage made of illusion.
One evening, she confronted the king.
> "Majesty, I have served you since your birth. But I must ask—who are you now?"
Kael stood at the balcony, watching the sun set over his shining kingdom.
He turned to her slowly, eyes glowing faintly.
> "I am what Eldoria needed. A king unafraid of the dark."
Eir's voice trembled. "And what of the man you were?"
Kael smiled.
> "He is learning what it means to be free."
---
5. The March of the True King
In the wastelands, the real Kael gathered the forgotten—those untouched by the curse's glow.
Farmers, nomads, exiled beasts.
They followed him not because of his crown, but because of his eyes—human, weary, alive.
He carried no throne, no army of shadows, only a single vow.
> "When the twin moons rise," he said, "Eldoria will see truth again."
And on that night, when the wind turned red and the stars fell silent, both kings began their march—
One from the palace of light.
One from the frozen dark.
The world trembled.
Because soon, Eldoria would have to choose which Kael to follow—
and which one to destroy.