The Gatekeepers Enter the Capital
The skies over the Don Imperial City shimmered as Zaxton and his Gatekeepers descended.
It was the first time they had returned together since their formation.
People flocked the streets. Children sat on rooftops. Elders wept.
Each Gatekeeper was clad in armor imbued with celestial alloy, engraved with the symbol of the Dawn Seal — an open eye above a rising star.
Spirit beasts prowled beside them, elegant and terrifying.
And at their head, Zaxton, the Starlit General.
He walked in silence through the golden gates, flanked by the imperial guard — not out of protection, but respect.
---
An Oath Renewed
In the Great Hall, beneath banners a thousand years old, Zaxton knelt before Emperor Auren IX once more.
Behind him, the Gatekeepers dropped to one knee in perfect unity — thirteen souls bound by starlight and duty.
ZAXTON (clear and steady):
"We do not stand above the Empire, nor beside it. We stand beneath it, holding the weight that once nearly broke it."
He raised his head.
ZAXTON (cont.):
"Let it be known — from this breath to the last — that the Gatekeepers are born of Don, and serve the bloodline that guards the stars."
A hush fell over the court.
Then Auren rose from the throne.
---
The Emperor Awakens
The moment he stepped forward, all cultivators in the room felt it — the air shifted.
Auren's aura had changed.
No longer the flickering light of a reformer prince.
Now it blazed like the old days, like when the skies obeyed the Don line.
The Gateborn Bloodline had awakened.
Eyes of shimmering silver. A heartbeat in sync with the veil. Even the celestial map on Zaxton's arm reacted, pulsing as the emperor approached.
AUREN:
"The Empire was never just walls and banners. It was a promise — to be the lock upon the gate."
He reached out, touching Zaxton's shoulder.
AUREN (softly):
"Now we are two keys. Let's turn together."
---
Orders and Farewell
After the ceremony, Zaxton and Auren spoke in the starlit chamber where the Empire's most sacred decisions were once made.
They stood facing the celestial mirror — a pool that reflected not faces, but auras.
There, Zaxton explained what he'd seen at the breach. What the Formless whispered when they touched him.
That this was just one realm of many.
And they were looking for a way in.
Auren listened. His face steady, but his knuckles white around the hilt of the ceremonial blade.
AUREN:
"Then we do not wait."
He gave Zaxton full command of the outer territories.
And made public decree: The Gatekeepers are an official branch of the Imperial Order — answerable only to the Emperor himself.
---
The Gatekeepers Sent Out
Zaxton gave each of his Gatekeepers a region to patrol.
Some to mountain passes.
Some to desert borders.
Some to sea cliffs where the stars fall too low.
They went gladly.
Each one bowed to Zaxton before leaving — not as soldiers to a general, but as kin to their founder.
As the last one vanished into the horizon, Zaxton remained in the capital, alone but never more burdened.
The stars above were no longer peaceful.
They were pulsing.
---
A Final Quiet Between Storms
Late that night, Zaxton stood alone on the highest tower of the palace. Auren joined him quietly, robes rustling like silk wind.
They didn't speak at first. They didn't need to.
Then Auren whispered:
AUREN:
"You've changed more than the Empire."
ZAXTON (softly):
"Not enough. Not yet."
The stars blinked. One, near the southern sky, flickered violently.
They both saw it.
Neither smiled.
The Celestial Conclave
The Call Beyond Realms
When the Emperor and Zaxton issued the invitation, no one believed it at first.
The idea of a summit — not just of the First Realm, but with emissaries from higher realms — had been a myth for centuries.
But then the sky changed.
Golden sigils floated for a full day above each empire.
A voice thundered through every sacred site:
> "By decree of the Don Empire and the Gatekeeper Order — the Conclave is to begin. Come not as rulers. Come as witnesses. The veil is thinning."
And they came.
From the far sands of the Sunspire Dominion.
From the drifting cities of the Skybound Accord.
From the dark, walled palaces of the Second Realm.
Some came curious.
Some came afraid.
And one came with blood on their breath.
---
The Conclave Begins
Held at Astral Summit, a floating island suspended above the capital and reinforced by ancient Donite seals, the Conclave was the most guarded space in all realms.
Zaxton sat beside Emperor Auren on the Star Dais, flanked by his Gatekeepers — all but those still patrolling distant rifts.
Speeches began. Warnings were shared. Images of the Formless breach were projected into the air for all to see — shifting horrors, swallowed villages, shrieking skies.
Some scoffed. Others wept.
Then came the turn of Gatekeeper Solari, the eldest among Zaxton's disciples. She had discovered the celestial dead zones — where the stars stopped watching.
She stood to speak.
She never got the chance.
---
The Assassination
It happened so fast, most didn't understand what they'd seen.
A flicker. A shadow.
A silver needle of astral venom launched from a Second Realm envoy's sleeve — faster than thought, honed for a single purpose.
Solari's chest exploded in light and blood.
Her beast wailed — then vanished in smoke.
She collapsed at Zaxton's feet.
Dead.
Silence fell. Then screams.
The assassin tried to vanish, but Zaxton moved before the blink finished.
In a single instant —
He ripped the assassin from the veil itself, pulling their body out of a half-completed realm-step. The envoy's robes flared. They screamed.
Zaxton turned them to ash with a glance.
Then he stood. Slowly. The stars dimmed overhead.
---
Judgment of Stars and Fire
No fury showed on Zaxton's face.
No wild rage.
Just clarity.
The kind that makes entire courts tremble.
He looked at the Second Realm envoys — nobles dressed in soulmetal, once proud and silent.
And he spoke:
> ZAXTON (cold):
"Today was meant for peace.
You have chosen extinction."
Auren rose beside him, his aura flooding the dais with solar fire, his awakened bloodline swirling like a thousand suns behind his eyes.
> AUREN:
"The Don Empire recognizes this act as a declaration of war.
But you won't be the ones fighting it."
Zaxton stepped forward.
> ZAXTON:
"I will come to the Second Realm myself.
I will tear down the banners of your bloodline.
I will make your stars fall."
(beat)
"Your name is now on my breath.
And I do not forget."
A tremor ran through the island. The heavens blinked.
Envoys from all realms shivered. Even the Skybound Accord, who claimed neutrality in all things, took a defensive stance.
---
The Funeral and the Vow
Later that night, beneath the starlit pyres, Zaxton stood alone before Solari's funeral flame.
He placed her blade — still clean — across her chest.
ZAXTON (softly):
"You should've lived to see the stars you guarded."
Her beast, reformed as a spirit echo, howled once before vanishing into the night.
From that moment, Zaxton wore her sigil beside his own.
---
End of Chapter Foreshadowing
The summit was declared failed, but the message was clear:
The war for the realms had begun.
Zaxton's journey to the Second Realm was no longer a matter of if — but how soon.
And somewhere, beyond the veil, something else was watching.
Not the Formless.
But older still.
It whispered:
> "He burns too bright. He must be unmade."