THE QUEST FOR THE DIAMONDS
June 17, 3111 BCE
20 days until Resurgence Night
The first diamond vanished at moonset.
Seraphina's roar split the sky as the Mirage Diamond winked out of orbit—its absence sending a shockwave through Shambala. Trees melted into smoke and reformed upside down. Rivers ran backward. And in the chaos, five figures slipped through the fractured barrier.
The Shadow Circle
Led by Kai, the Hollow Crown, a man who wore his ambition like a second skin, they moved as one:
Kai – A scholar-king who had burned his own kingdom to ash for a hint of Shambala's location. His gift? He could not be remembered. Faces blurred around him; even dragons forgot his presence seconds after seeing him. Veyra the Severed – Her arms ended in stumps, but she wielded six phantom limbs forged from stolen souls. The Adamant Diamond had once shorn her real ones—she craved its edge. The Silent Apostle – A child of seven who spoke only in erased histories. Where he walked, people forgot their own names. The Eclipse Diamond writhed when he neared it. Rook of the Last Breath – His dagger was carved from a dying star. One scratch would make a dragon's heart forget to beat. The Empty Prophet – A hooded figure who carried a mirror that showed nothing. Not reflections—nothing. And the Blue Diamond's light bent away from it
The Dragons' Dilemma
Drakthar lunged, but Kai's curse made his claws slide off memory itself.
"They adapt," Seraphina hissed. The Mirage Diamond's absence left gaps in reality—holes the thieves exploited.
Himanchu, clutching the Zenith Diamond (its surface now cracked with possible futures), gasped. "They're not just stealing the diamonds… They're unmaking their rules."
Beyond the barrier, the first human village blinked out of existence. Then another.
The Empty Prophet's mirror flashed.
And the second diamond—the Echo—screamed into the void.