The morning following the Wraith attack, Astren appeared completely normal.
Too normal, in fact.
The sunlight was gentle, children were playing, and farmers tended to their fields.
Yet beneath this tranquil exterior lay a peculiar tension in the air—like the world was pausing.
Stellan sensed it first.
A subtle hum lingered in his thoughts.
A vibration resonated from the ground.
A whisper emerged from a distant place beyond the stars, yet closer than his own skin.
The whisper of the Black Hole.
He massaged his temples.
"Not now…"
Despite his wishes, it continued to pulse, as if something deep within him was recalling an unfamiliar song.
---
The Seeker's Investigation
The Seeker knelt among the ashes of the deceased Hollow Wraith.
He pressed his fingers into the ground.
A faint, cold afterglow pulsed—dark and unnatural.
He narrowed his gaze.
"Nyxara's influence… already so near."
He stood up.
He needed to inform Stellan soon.
He must also conceal Ren even more urgently.
---
Nyxara Sends Her First Emissary
High above the village, hidden from human sight, the sky quivered.
It wasn't lightning.
It wasn't a storm.
It was a ripple.
A blink.
Something shifted between realms.
Nyxara observed from her shattered throne of dying galaxies, tapping her chin.
"He summoned a burst powerful enough to incinerate a Wraith," she murmured.
"Promising."
She raised her hand.
A swirling circle of darkness opened before her.
A creature emerged—
taller than a human,
as thin as bone,
wrapped in swirling ink.
Its face was a blank mask devoid of features.
Nyxara's voice pierced through the void.
"Go."
The creature bowed with a creaking sound.
"Seek the child who burns."
---
Ren's Crossroads
Ren sat behind the shrine, knees drawn up, gasping for breath.
He hadn't had any sleep.
Power rattled within him—untamed and formless.
He tried to control it.
He failed.
"Tch…"
His shadow deepened.
Then he heard a familiar voice emerge from it.
"You are angry."
Ren didn't look up.
"Yes."
"You are falling behind."
"I know."
"You wish to surpass him."
"More than anything."
"Then stop resisting the darkness," Corvax whispered.
"It belongs to you."
Ren's breath caught.
For a brief moment…
he almost surrendered.
Almost.
But he forced himself to stand.
"No. Not yet. I don't understand what you want."
The shadow coiled closer.
"Very well," Corvax murmured. "But be warned—Nyxara's emissaries are approaching."
Ren froze.
"Nyxara?"
"You will soon find out," the voice whispered.
"And when you do… you will make a choice."
---
Lyra Sees What Others Miss
As Lyra carried a basket of fruit toward the village square, she sensed something.
Something was amiss.
The air grew tense.
The birds scattered.
The wind came to a halt.
She looked up.
The sky…
It blinked.
Not as a metaphor.
But literally.
A vast, circular distortion opened for a fleeting moment—like an eye flickering so quickly no one else noticed.
But she did.
She always did.
Her breath caught.
"…Stellan."
She dropped her basket and ran toward his home.
---
Stellan and the Whisper
Stellan sat alone by the riverbank.
The whisper grew louder—
pulling, calling, humming in patterns he barely comprehended.
He grasped his head.
"Stop… please stop…"
Do not fear.
He halted.
That wasn't a whisper.
That was a voice.
A calm, deep voice resonating through the hollows of creation.
"Who… who are you?" Stellan murmured.
You will understand when you awaken completely.
His heart raced.
"What do you want from me?"
Silence.
Then—
To prepare you.
"For what?"
For what is soon to come.
A chill crept down his spine.
"Is this… the Black Hole?"
The voice remained silent.
Which was answer enough.
---
The Emissary Finds Astren
At the very moment Stellan spoke, a tear in the sky rippled open above the village.
Quiet.
Clean.
Precise.
The emissary emerged.
Its mask shimmered.
No eyes.
No mouth.
Only hunger.
The villagers were oblivious.
But the animals were not.
Dogs howled.
Chickens scattered.
The livestock panicked.
The emissary directed its featureless mask toward Stellan.
Every shadow leaned toward it.
Every light recoiled.
---
Lyra Arrives First
Lyra raced onto the riverbank, breathless.
"Stellan!"
He lifted his head.
"Lyra? What—"
She halted.
Her eyes widened.
"Behind you."
Stellan turned slowly.
And saw it.
The emissary hovered just above the ground, its form blurring, reality warping around it.
"Wh… what is that?"
Lyra stepped back. "Stellan, run—"
The emissary lunged.
Faster than a blink.
Straight toward Stellan.
---
And Ren Arrives Second
Ren burst through the trees, driven by instinct and something darker.
He didn't hesitate.
He didn't calculate.
He acted.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
His shout split the air.
Power erupted from him—
raw, violent, shadow-white.
The emissary stopped mid-lunge.
Shuddered.
Turned its mask toward Ren instead.
Lyra gasped.
Stellan froze.
The emissary whispered, its voice like scraping stone—
"Two."
Ren's eyes widened at the word.
Two what?
Two hunted?
Two chosen?
Two… ascendants?
---
The Seeker Appears Too Late
Light erupted behind the emissary.
The Seeker appeared, his golden blade partially drawn.
"NO—!"
But before he could reach them…
Before Ren or Stellan could respond…
Before Lyra could scream…
The emissary's torso split open.
A void spiraled within.
A miniature eclipse.
And from it…
A voice spoke:
"Nyxara sees you."