"Before the first war, before the stars had names,
there was a place where the gods whispered secrets into the bones of children.
That place was the Ring.
And those children… became legends."
— Chronicle of the Lightbound
---
[Scene: The Gates of Mist – Entrance to the Ring]
The journey to the Forgotten Ring was not marked by roads.
Instead, it was a path of memory — a trail only those blessed or cursed could walk.
Auren and Laziel stood before a thick curtain of swirling fog. No sound came from within. No wind moved through the veil.
Just silence. Heavy. Like a breath held for a thousand years.
Laziel knelt beside Auren, placing a hand on his chest.
"You sure you're ready for this?" he asked, his eyes flickering silver.
Auren nodded, the mark on his chest pulsing.
"I need to know who I am."
Laziel nodded once and drew a glowing blade from his side — not to strike, but to cut the fog.
The air hissed as a slit opened in the mist… and the Forgotten Ring welcomed them home.
---
[Scene: The Ring Revealed – Architecture of Time]
What lay beyond was not what Auren expected.
No temples. No golden halls.
Instead: a wide, perfect circle of ancient stones, suspended in a void of stars. Each stone bore a symbol — flame, wind, blood, shadow, thought, and light — glowing faintly in rhythm.
The Ring floated above nothing, yet it pulsed with the heartbeat of a world long dead.
> "This place exists outside of time," Laziel whispered.
"It was once a training ground for Lightbearers… and a prison for what they couldn't control."
Auren felt the pull of something familiar. His spiral mark began to spin slowly, aligning with the center of the Ring.
"It's reacting to you," Laziel said. "You're not just an Heir… You're a conduit."
---
[Scene: Training Begins – The Trials of the Ring]
The Ring did not teach through kindness.
It summoned echoes of your deepest fears — not illusions, but reflections of who you might become.
Auren's first test came quickly.
From the circle rose a version of himself — older, colder, with black eyes and a twisted smile.
"I'm what happens if you lose to her," the dark Auren said.
"If you let her teach you to kill first… and feel later."
They fought.
Not with weapons — with emotion.
Fear. Anger. Doubt.
Laziel watched from the edge, fists clenched, resisting the urge to intervene.
In the end, Auren didn't destroy his dark self. He embraced him.
"I'm not afraid of you," he said. "You're a part of me. But you're not all of me."
And the shadow vanished.
The first ring glowed.
---
[Scene Shift: Lunaris – Elara's Discovery]
While Auren trained in silence, Elara explored the ruins of an old Lunar archive — seeking answers.
Seris had once studied here, long before her fall.
She found a page torn from the Book of Twin Flames — the original prophecy.
The passage read:
> "When the Moon bears two hearts,
and the stars weep in fear,
one child will choose the sky…
The other, the flame."
Elara froze.
> "Two hearts."
Not one.
Could it be…?
She raced back to the palace, her heart pounding.
---
[Scene: The Second Marked Child]
In the city of Eldryn, far from Lunaris…
A little girl with white hair and gold-flecked eyes stared at the moon.
She drew spirals in the dirt, humming softly.
Her name was Myra.
And when the moonlight touched her skin, a familiar spiral mark shimmered faintly on her back.
Her guardian — a mysterious masked woman — approached.
"It's almost time, little one."
"Time for what?" Myra asked, eyes wide.
"For you to meet your brother."
---
[Scene: Back in the Ring – Secrets Unlocked]
Auren passed through more trials:
The Trial of Silence, where he fought without sound.
The Trial of Mirrors, where every friend he had accused him of betrayal.
The Trial of Light, where he had to step into blinding pain and emerge with memory intact.
Each trial unlocked more of his power — but also pieces of history lost to time.
In his final vision, he saw a moment:
> A woman — not Seris, not Elara — giving birth to twins under a blood moon.
The Council stood around her.
One child was taken.
The other… hidden.
> "Two hearts."
He's not the only one.
He fell to his knees.
Laziel caught him.
"What did you see?"
Auren looked up.
> "I have a sister."
---
[Scene: Seris Feels the Shift]
Far across the void, Seris opened her eyes.
Someone else had awakened.
She looked at the mirror — now cracked — and whispered:
> "The balance is broken."
"The twins have begun to remember."
---
✅ End of Chapter 9
Next Chapter: "Of Twins and Terrors"