Darkness.
Not silence — no, far worse. It was a hum, a whispering, maddening symphony that pulsed through the marrow of his being. Time no longer passed here. Stars didn't shine here. Even death forgot this place.
Rael Evernight opened his eyes.
Or maybe he created them.
He couldn't remember. Not clearly. Only flashes — fire raining from the skies, a hand reaching out for him in the final moment… betrayal. The taste of it still burned on his tongue like poisoned wine.
He was dead.
But the gods had denied him even that mercy.
---
Somewhere in the distance, a voice echoed. It wasn't sound, not truly — it was thought, wrapped in pain.
> "You shouldn't exist."
A light flickered across the chasm. Pale, cold, and writhing — like a heartbeat caught between worlds. Rael stumbled toward it, limbs not his own. Skin like cracked obsidian, eyes dull with forgotten fire.
He reached the center.
There it was.
A crown, suspended mid-air — jagged, shattered, and weeping black mist like it bled sorrow itself. Around it, whispers clawed at reality, screaming truths that had no tongue.
> The Empty Crown.
The relic of a forgotten god — erased not by time, but by fear.
Rael stood before it, trembling.
And he remembered.
The gods had feared him. Not for what he was… but for what he might become.
---
> "Take it," the whisper came again. This time, it was inside him.
> "Wear it, Rael Evernight. Become what they tried to erase."
---
He reached.
Agony lanced through his veins. Memories poured in — not all his. A thousand lives, a thousand thrones falling. The screams of gods. The silence after.
The crown sank into his skull like a brand.
He fell to his knees.
And rose... as something new.
---
🌌 Elsewhere...
In the Realm of Silverlight, above the mortal world, a seer dropped her bowl of water. Shards clattered across marble as divine mist hissed away.
"He's awakened," she whispered, blood trickling from her nose.
Across the table, Sevrien Thorne narrowed his golden eyes.
> "Then the game begins again."
---
🌑 Back in the Abyss...
Rael stood alone.
Yet... not alone.
Beside him, from the shadows, a faint laugh echoed. A small voice.
> "Took you long enough, Crown-boy."
A tiny black spider skittered into view — with gold eyes and a twisted grin etched onto its back.
Rael blinked. "What... the hell?"
The spider bowed.
> "Name's Thimble. I'm your only friend here. Also your worst mistake."
> "And if you want revenge... I know exactly where to start."