The silence was broken only by the steady echo of his footsteps.
Caelmir walked slowly through the palace corridors, his gaze fixed ahead, his heart restless beneath his calm exterior. The ivory and gold walls caught the light of enchanted torches, scattering it into a thousand shimmering reflections. Every detail breathed grandeur: the frescoes told the legends of the kingdom, the ceilings seemed to touch the heavens, and the finely carved columns carried the weight of a thousand years of history.
Everything here was majestic.
Untouchable.
Eternal… or so it seemed.
As he moved forward, great doors opened before him one after another. Behind them stood a dense crowd. Nobles dressed in silk, armored soldiers, silent servants… all eyes were fixed on him.
But in those eyes, there was no fear. No doubt.
Only hope.
— "Prince Caelmir!" a voice called out.
Then another, louder.
— "You are the chosen one!"
— "You will succeed!"
— "Show us your strength!"
The encouragement rose like a wave, carried by unwavering confidence.
To them, this ceremony was not a threat.
It was a consecration.
Caelmir did not slow down. He walked through the sea of voices without a word, yet each one carved itself into him. An invisible pressure, heavy… yet strangely familiar.
At the end of the grand hall, the doors of the sanctuary stood tall, immense, forged from dark metal engraved with ancient symbols. Before them stood the priest, upright and unmoving.
— "You have finally arrived," he said calmly.
Caelmir stopped in front of him.
— "I am ready."
The priest studied him for a moment, as if weighing his words, then slowly nodded.
— "Then enter. And let the Matrix reveal what you are destined to become."
With a deep rumble, the doors opened.
The moment he stepped inside, the world changed.
The warmth, the voices, the light… all vanished.
In their place stood a vast circular chamber, cold and silent. The floor was smooth like a black mirror, and at the center rose a massive structure made of ancient metal and vibrating energy.
The Matrix.
It pulsed slowly, like a living heart.
The doors closed behind him.
A moment passed.
Then—
A light burst forth.
A beam enveloped him completely. Caelmir felt a force pierce into his mind, sifting through his memories, his emotions, his deepest thoughts. Nothing was hidden.
A voice echoed, everywhere at once.
— "Analysis in progress."
Fragments of his life appeared around him, floating like shards of memory.
— "Compatibility: validated."
— "Status: Chosen."
The light intensified.
Then—
Silence.
A brief moment, suspended in time.
And finally, the verdict:
— "Mission assigned: survive the imminent genocide."
Time froze
Caelmir did not move.
His eyes flickered slightly.
A… genocide?
His breath caught.
No one had ever spoken to him about this.
Nothing in everything he knew had prepared him for such a reality.
His thoughts collided violently.
Then slowly… very slowly… his fists clenched.
— "…Survive?"
The word echoed into the void.
Survive what?
Why survive?
L
Nothing made sense.
His heart began to race, a growing unease rising within him for no clear reason
BOOM.
The ground shook violently beneath his feet.
Then—
Screams.
Distant, muffled… but real.
Caelmir's breath stopped cold.
Another impact followed, even more violent. Something had just exploded.
The screams multiplied.
Panicked.
Pained.
Alive.
His eyes widened.
Confusion gave way to a brutal realization.
This was not a test.
It had already begun.
Before he could even understand what was happening, an invisible force seized him.
The world twisted.
In an instant, Caelmir was violently thrown out of the sanctuary. The massive doors burst open with a deafening crash, as if something had expelled him.
He hit the ground in the corridor, the air knocked out of his lungs.
A moment of blur.
Then chaos.
The once peaceful corridors were unrecognizable. Soldiers rushed in every direction, their armor clashing in a storm of noise.
— "Protect the east wing!"
— "Bring the wounded here! Quickly!"
— "We've lost control of the ramparts!"
Orders rang out, but many were swallowed by the panic.
Some soldiers ran forward, weapons in hand, eyes fixed toward the outside. Others knelt beside the wounded, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.
The air itself had changed.
Hotter.
Heavier.
Filled with the scent of burning.
Caelmir slowly lifted his head.
And he saw them.
Through the shattered arches of the palace, flames devoured everything in their path. But this was no ordinary fire.
No.
These flames shone with a pure golden glow… radiant, almost unreal.
Like molten gold.
They swallowed walls, consumed bodies, and turned even stone into smoldering ash. Each explosion hurled burning debris through the corridors, spreading destruction further.
A distant roar tore through the air.
Deep.
Powerful.
Inhuman.
Caelmir's heart stopped for a moment.
His eyes widened as he stared at the burning horizon.
There was no doubt
He understood.
Instantly.
— "…Dragons."
The word slipped from his lips, barely audible.
But the reality… was deafening.
Even the sky itself seemed to burn.
And his trial…
Had only just begun.