The night after the council meeting was restless. The city of Zorenthia lay shrouded in mist — an uncommon thing in a desert kingdom. The moon hung high and bright, yet the streets below were silent. Even the guards spoke in hushed tones, their armor glinting faintly beneath the silver light.
In the royal chambers, King Heidra could not sleep. The weight of his crown pressed heavily upon him. The moonlight streamed through the open balcony, painting his face pale as marble. He turned his gaze toward it, and for a fleeting moment, it seemed the light shimmered strangely — like something alive.
Then he heard it.
A voice. Soft at first, like the echo of distant music.
> "Why do you chase what cannot be owned, King of Fire?"
Heidra froze. The voice came not from outside, but from within his mind.
He stood and looked around, but the chamber was empty. The torches flickered though there was no wind.
> "Who speaks?" he demanded.
The voice laughed — low, melodic, haunting.
> "You burn with hunger, yet you do not know what you consume."
Heidra's anger rose. "Show yourself, witch!"
The moonlight gathered in the air before him, taking shape — a faint outline of a woman cloaked in silver mist. Her hair flowed like rivers of light, and her eyes were calm yet unyielding.
> "Erdriel," Heidra hissed.
> "So you know my name," she said, her voice echoing like wind through crystal. "I am the guardian of the Orb, the light you seek to claim."
Heidra stepped forward, fists clenched. "The orb belongs to no one. It is a gift of the gods — and I, their chosen, will take it."
Erdriel's form flickered, but her tone remained steady. "You call it a gift. I call it a burden. It destroyed the first king who touched it, and it will destroy you."
"Then let it try," Heidra said coldly. "For I am not a man of ash."
The figure of Erdriel began to fade.
> "The moon will not fight the fire," she said softly. "It will simply outlast it."
And with that, the vision vanished.
Heidra staggered back, gripping the edge of his throne. His heart pounded. Was it a dream? Or had the witch truly entered his mind?
Outside his chamber, Prince Adi stood quietly, having overheard his father's voice through the door. He waited until silence fell, then returned to his room, troubled.
That night, Adi dreamed.
He stood in a barren field of ashes. The sky above was black and cracked, as though the stars themselves had fallen. In the distance, he saw a woman in silver robes standing beneath a pale tree. The wind carried her whisper:
> "When fire seeks the light, only darkness remains."
Adi tried to move toward her, but the ground split open — a river of molten gold flowing between them. From its depths rose his father's voice, roaring with fury and pain.
He awoke drenched in sweat. Siegel's name was the first that came to his mind. She had once told him she saw things before they happened. Perhaps she could make sense of this.
By dawn, he rode quietly to the eastern gardens where Siegel often prayed. The garden was lush and peaceful, the air filled with the scent of night-blooming lilies. She was kneeling beside the fountain, her hands cupped in the water, watching her reflection.
"Siegel," Adi said softly.
She turned, smiling faintly. "You look troubled, my prince."
"I dreamed of the moon," he said. "And of my father's fire consuming everything. I saw her — the woman they call Erdriel."
Siegel's face paled. "You saw her too?"
Adi blinked. "What do you mean?"
Siegel looked away, the ripples of the fountain distorting her reflection. "Last night, I dreamed of the same woman. She stood upon the clouds, whispering words I could not understand. When I awoke, the moonlight still lingered on my hands."
They exchanged a silent glance — the kind that spoke more than words. Something greater than either of them was moving through the kingdom.
Meanwhile, in the royal archives below the palace, Denku and Martins studied ancient scrolls by candlelight. The inked symbols glowed faintly as if alive.
Denku muttered, "The Orb of Eternity is not just a source of life… it is the heart of balance. The sun gave it warmth, and the moon gave it wisdom. It must remain untouched, or chaos will awaken."
Martins traced a finger over a passage in the scroll. "There's more. It says, When the flame rises too high, the moon will cast her shadow to cool the world."
Denku looked up sharply. "That can only mean one thing — Erdriel's return was foretold. She has awakened because of the king's ambition."
Martins sighed. "Then may the gods help us all."
---
In the days that followed, strange omens spread across Zorenthia. Rivers began to run slower. Fires burned colder. The moon hung in the sky even at midday. Farmers whispered that their crops bowed toward the east at night, as if listening to something unseen.
The people grew afraid, and rumors spread through the streets — tales of a silver ghost walking through the deserts, of animals kneeling at her passing.
In the throne room, Heidra grew more impatient. "Enough of these superstitions!" he thundered. "We march at dawn. I will bring that witch to her knees and show the gods that fire bows to no light!"
His words echoed through the palace, but even the walls seemed to tremble.
That night, as Heidra gazed once more upon the moon, Erdriel's voice whispered in the wind — faint but clear:
> "The path you walk leads not to glory, but to your reflection. When you see it, you will no longer know if it is the crown you wear… or the curse you bear."
The king turned away, but the words stayed with him, echoing in his heart long after the night had passed.
Far across the mountains, Erdriel stood before the Orb of Eternity — a glowing sphere of light, pulsing with both warmth and sorrow. She placed her hands upon it and whispered:
> "He comes."
And the orb answered with a single tremor — one that reached all the way to the halls of Zorent