The teleportation array flared with light older than starlight, humming with ancient sigils. With one final nod to the Moons, Zaxton stepped through—his dragon curled around him like a coil of thunder.
The next moment, he vanished from the Hall of Moons, and was cast into the unknown.
The wilds of the Third Realm greeted him not with splendor, but with chaos.
The Untamed Expanse
He emerged under a blood-orange sky, in a land ruled by raw power and forgotten oaths.
Civilized and savage tribes alike roamed this fractured land, scattered between mythic forests, barren stone deserts, and winding rivers that whispered the names of dead gods. Spirit beasts the size of warships clashed in the distance — some intelligent, others pure instinct. It was a place where only the strong shaped the law, and the skies answered to no one.
Zaxton smiled.
> "Perfect."
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The Birth of Mt. Fai
Days turned to weeks before he found it — a mountain so tall it broke the clouds, its peak forever veiled in divine mist.
The locals called it cursed, unreachable. Beasts circled it but never touched its summit. Tribes feared its energy.
To Zaxton, it was home.
He climbed the entire peak with bare hands, his dragon spiraling above like a celestial sentinel. For seven days and seven nights, Zaxton sculpted the land — not with tools, but with will. He uprooted gnarled trees, redirected streams into majestic waterfalls, and carved plateaus wide enough to host armies.
By the end, the wild mountain was no more.
In its place stood Mt. Fai — a radiant seat of power cloaked in celestial energy, a throne in nature where sky, wind, and beast bowed without words.
---
The Seven Trials of Selection
But a mountain alone is not a dominion.
Zaxton needed souls — not just followers, but pillars.
So he left Mt. Fai and journeyed through the savage lands, his dragon flying high to watch for threats. He walked among the tribes, faced beasts forgotten by time, and issued silent challenges to those who watched from shadow.
> Not all came to him willingly.
Some tried to kill him.
Others bowed the moment they met his gaze.
By the time a year had passed, he returned to Mt. Fai with seven chosen.
Each of them bore a different strength — one from a fire-worshipping war tribe, another a beast-tamer who once ruled a canyon alone. One was a quiet girl born of ice who could freeze time for a breath. Another, an elder seer exiled for knowing too much.
They knelt before him as stormclouds rolled in.
Zaxton, standing before his peak, said only:
> "You are the First Seven. Not servants. Not soldiers.
But Sovereigns of this rising storm."
Lightning struck behind him.
And the tribes of the wilds began to speak in whispers of a storm mountain where the world was being reshaped… one heartbeat at a time.
1. Kael of the Ember Veins
Title: Warden of Flame
Origin: From the Ashblood Clans, Kael was born during a volcanic eruption and believed to be a fire spirit in human form. He was thrown into the crater as a child in a ritual sacrifice — but emerged years later, alive, burning, and changed.
Powers: Kael can ignite his bloodstream, turning his veins into molten channels that erupt through his skin when fighting. He breathes fire and walks unharmed through magma. When enraged, he becomes a living inferno, radiating heat that melts weapons and warps air.
Personality: Stoic, disciplined, and bound by an internal honor code. Kael speaks rarely, but when he does, his words carry the weight of judgment. He follows Zaxton out of a belief that power must be tempered with order.
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2. Nyla of the Silent Vale
Title: The Stillblade
Origin: A girl raised in the Vale of Echoes, where sound dies and motion is punished. Trained in stillness and silence, Nyla mastered the rare art of Time Skimming — slowing or stopping local time for seconds at a time. She was once hunted as a heretic by the Time Monks for wielding what they called "forbidden stillness."
Powers: Can briefly halt time in her immediate radius, allowing her to move while the world remains frozen. Her strikes are silent and always fatal. She wears bells in her braid — if they ring, it's already too late.
Personality: Cold, graceful, observant. Has an almost spiritual connection to Zaxton's calm. She sees him not just as a leader, but as the stillness before a divine storm. Closest to Jin Sori, whom she trains.
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3. Varkun the Howling Claw
Title: Beast Lord of the Outer Wilds
Origin: A feral warrior raised by Dire Wolves, Varkun never spoke a word until his thirties. He ruled the beastlands through pure instinct and strength, taming dozens of wild spirit beasts. When Zaxton defeated him barehanded, Varkun knelt and called him "Alpha."
Powers: Communicates with spirit beasts, commanding packs in battle. His physical strength is monstrous — tearing trees from the earth, lifting boulders. Can shapeshift partially into the Dire Wolf lineage that raised him.
Personality: Animalistic loyalty, protective of his "pack" (the Seven). Rarely speaks, but his eyes show deep emotion. The wild beasts of Mt. Fai worship him like a king.
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4. Meira the Gloom Seer
Title: Oracle of the Forgotten Paths
Origin: Exiled from the Umbric Sect for seeing too far into the future. Meira lives with eyes that perceive not just what is, but what could be — infinite futures branching with every breath. She survived alone in the Caves of Whispering Roots until Zaxton approached and asked, simply, "Which future do you fear most?"
Powers: Precognition, dream-walking, and shadow-channeling. She can summon glimpses of alternate fates and use them as weapons or warnings. Her enemies often see their death in her eyes before it arrives.
Personality: Mysterious, cryptic, sometimes unsettling. Speaks in riddles but is completely loyal to Zaxton's vision. She believes he is the "Anchor" her dreams have long foretold.
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5. Dorn Ironveil
Title: The Earth-Sworn
Origin: Once a prince of a now-fallen Dwarven stronghold deep below the realm. Dorn survived the collapse of his city and emerged wielding the power of the Undermarch — the forgotten laws that govern stone and metal.
Powers: Commands metal and stone, reshaping terrain at will. His body is partially mineralized; attacks bounce off him. He can craft weapons in seconds from raw material. In combat, he becomes a walking fortress.
Personality: Boisterous, proud, fiercely loyal. Calls Zaxton "sky brother" and sees the Mountain as sacred. Often leads the defenses of Mt. Fai and constructs its outer walls and forges.
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6. Sayra of the Thousand Faces
Title: Mask Wielder
Origin: Sayra is a shape-shifter from the Mirror Clan, long thought extinct. Her village was wiped out when an Empire accused them of espionage. She survived by wearing the faces of her enemies — literally. Her masks each hold a different skill, memory, and identity.
Powers: Can shift between hundreds of combat forms by wearing different masks, each representing a slain foe. Some masks offer elemental abilities, others memories or knowledge. Her true face is never seen.
Personality: Witty, sharp-tongued, and chaotic. Enjoys mocking others but is deeply protective of her new "family." Often serves as an infiltration and intelligence officer under Zaxton.
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7. Thalen Voidbrand
Title: The Empty Flame
Origin: A young prodigy born without spirit veins — a condition thought to be a death sentence in cultivation. But Thalen discovered a forbidden flame that burns nothing, erasing matter, energy, even space. He carries this Voidfire within, but it scars him each time he uses it.
Powers: Wields Voidfire — an element that devours existence itself. Can't be blocked, dodged, or healed from. It's a last-resort weapon, and he must meditate for days after using it. His mere presence dims other energies nearby.
Personality: Quiet, solemn, deeply respectful of Zaxton. Follows him because he finally found someone not afraid of what he is. Often handles the harshest missions.
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Together, the Seven Sovereigns of Mt. Fai form a council as varied and terrifying as the mountain they serve.