(Page 4) Chapter 1 – The Celestial Thread | Echoes of Light

Northridge Province – The Borderlands of Varrador

The mountain winds howled across the crags of Varrador, tugging at Myla’s cloak as she stood at the cliff’s edge. Below, a sea of shifting fog crawled between broken ridges, hiding what once was the great city of Astrenval.

"How much do you remember from before the fall?" she asked, her voice barely above the wind.

Kieran, behind her, hesitated. "Enough to know it wasn’t just war that destroyed this place. Something ancient woke up down there... and it wasn’t mortal."

Myla nodded. Her pendant pulsed again — this time not in warning, but in recognition. As if the land itself remembered her.

A quiet voice joined them. Elira had arrived, her hood lowered and her golden braid trailing like a banner.

"We should not linger here," Elira said. "The wind carries more than chill tonight. I can feel them watching."

Kieran stepped forward. “Them?”

Elira’s eyes, glowing faintly now, narrowed. “The shades that dwell beneath the ash. The ones my grandmother wrote about — before the Sundering.”

Back in Elarion — Council Chamber Ruins

Far from the Borderlands, a shadowy figure knelt before an altar of scorched stone. Black vines wrapped around his arms, veins pulsing with crimson light.

“The Thread stirs,” he whispered, voice like gravel. “She’s returned.”

From the darkness, a voice answered — ancient, guttural, cruel:

“Then begin the Hunt.”