The moment Arden Evernight's bloodline awakened, the world didn't just shudder—it recoiled.
From the lowest of caves to the highest of astral sanctuaries, a tremor shot through the very fabric of reality. Time momentarily skipped. Light distorted. And in the silence that followed, every being that had even a flicker of power felt it:
Something ancient had returned.
Kingdom of Drayvale – Crystal Sky Spire
A meditating oracle opened her eyes and vomited blood. "The Nightborne... The Monarch returns..."
Her crystal sphere cracked violently in front of her. The king, seated at her side, stood as thunder clapped in a clear sky.
"Summon the High Council. The Evernight blood has stirred."
Celestial Peaks of Aetheron
Dragons awoke from centuries-long slumbers, their golden eyes snapping open in terror. Runes etched in their ancient bones shimmered as if remembering a nightmare.
"He is born anew," whispered a drake whose voice once cracked mountains.
The Obsidian Vault – Secret Order of Null
A shadowed cult leader felt their connection to the threads of fate rupture. His limbs spasmed.
"The quantum god-child... he's alive," he rasped. "We must change our timelines. Or be erased."
Inside the Royal Palace – Evernight Capital
A midnight aura unfurled from Arden's chamber, swallowing the moonlight above the capital and drowning the stars themselves. Shadows writhed like serpents, not from fear but from reverence.
Queen Althea sat upright in bed, her heart thundering. Her breath caught in her throat. "Arden..."
Across the corridor, Leon Evernight clutched his head, golden veins flickering beneath his skin. His eyes bled starlight.
And in the deepest layers of the palace, King Darius Evernight halted mid-stride. Ancient glyphs etched into his bones began to pulse—the ancestral warning of a full bloodline awakening.
He whispered, "No... it cannot be. Not now."
He sprinted.
The castle trembled, not from structural weakness, but from the throne's own ancient enchantments bowing to a superior legacy.
In Arden's nursery, the cradle floated inches above the floor. His small form was wrapped in threads of black and silver flame—his true aura.
The cradle cracked.
The runes on the walls, meant to protect him from external spiritual interference, shattered like glass.
And then... silence.
Darius burst in, sword in hand, but the moment his eyes met the figure floating in the air, all tension vanished.
The baby wasn't crying. He was sleeping peacefully, hands curled into tiny fists, mouth barely parted. And yet... every muscle in Darius' body told him he was standing before a primordial force.
Althea arrived next. Her knees gave out, not from fear but sheer awe.
"Is he... still our son?" she whispered.
Darius lowered his weapon. "No. He is more. He is Evernight in full."
From Arden's chest, a flicker of silver and black flared, then vanished. The world exhaled.
Clouds returned to the skies. Stars blinked back into place.
And a single thought echoed across realms, mortal and divine alike:
The Heir has returned.
To be continued in Part 2...