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Chapter 1 — When Two Worlds Collide
The sea of Etris was unusually quiet that night.
For a man who had sailed through storms that split masts and faced creatures whose names were better left unspoken, Silas Veylor found the silence unnerving. He stood on the wooden pier, cloak brushing against his boots, watching the restless shimmer of the moon-dappled waves.
This world was rarely still.
Stillness meant something was coming.
Or someone.
A soft hum of energy rippled across the air—like the world itself holding its breath. Silas reached for the worn hilt of his great axe, instincts sharpened by years of fighting for survival.
Then she appeared.
Not from a portal, nor from the sea. She simply was, standing behind him as though she had always been there.
A woman with bright red eyes, hair the color of dawn sunlight, and an aura that was unmistakably not of this world. She wore travel clothes, elegant but playful, and her smile carried the kind of mischief that made Silas feel like a novice explorer again.
"Pretty place," she said, looking over the water. "A little too quiet, though."
Her voice was warm. Confident. Alive.
Silas stiffened. "Who are you?"
She extended a hand. "Alice. Adventurer. Traveler. Enjoyer of unpredictable things."
Silas didn't take her hand—but he didn't look away, either.
"Where did you come from?" he asked.
"Oh, everywhere," Alice answered with a little laugh, as if shifting between worlds was as normal as crossing a street. "But tonight? I was looking for somewhere interesting, and I found…" She eyed him playfully. "You."
He should have questioned it. He should have demanded answers.
But Silas had faced beings of frost, flame, and shadow. None had ever felt like her.
There was power in her presence—power wrapped in warmth, curiosity, and danger.
That night was a blur of conversation, laughter, whispered confessions, and the reckless comfort of two wanderers who both knew what loneliness felt like. No promises. No future. Just a moment suspended outside their worlds.
And then—
Morning.
Silas woke on the sands beneath a pale sunrise, the waves brushing at his boots.
She was gone.
No footprints.
No traces of power.
No sign she had ever existed at all.
Except for the faint smell of sweet flowers lingering in the air… and a note carved into a piece of driftwood beside him:
"Thanks for the night, stranger.
I hope your world stays interesting.
—Alice"
Silas clenched the wood in his fist.
This world of loss—of fleeting lives and forgotten names. He knew that.
But this felt different.
She hadn't vanished like a memory.
She had vanished like a promise.
And Silas Veylor, who had survived horrors that devoured lesser souls, felt a single, dangerous spark ignite in his chest.
He wanted to find her.
Even if it meant crossing worlds.
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This wont be lore accurate but I will try my best to be more accurate.
