Far beneath the surface of the world, where no sun had ever shone, the great gates of Nethermoor stood in silence.
They were carved from obsidian older than time, inscribed with the names of kings long perished. Behind those gates, the air shimmered with heat and power, thick with the scent of brimstone and soulfire. This was the Underworld, the realm of the dead, the lost, and the damned.
And its king had not stirred in a hundred years.
Until now.
Within the Obsidian Keep, at the heart of this forsaken realm, a throne of black flame crackled in the darkness. Upon it sat a figure still as stone, crowned in shadow.
Kaelreth Azarion, the Devil King, did not age. He did not hunger. He did not dream.
But tonight, something shifted.
A tremor rippled through the great hall one no mortal would notice, but the demons did. They halted their murmurs, bowed their heads, and withdrew into the deeper halls. Even the air trembled.
Kaelreth's fingers tightened on the hilt of the great blade resting beside his throne. His molten-gold eyes flickered open for the first time in a century.
His voice, unused for an age, came forth like thunder held in chains.
"The Veil weakens."
A servant twisted, sharp-winged, and pale-skinned appeared from the shadows and knelt before him.
"Sire," it hissed, "the realms above stir with war. The witches have begun to scry the stars. The humans speak of alliances. The shifters... fracture. The world forgets your name."
Kaelreth stood.
"The world may forget," he said, stepping down from the throne, his voice quiet now. "But the world will remember. And it begins again."
A black flame coiled around his hand, then vanished into his palm.
"But... why now?" the demon dared to ask. "The surface has warred for ages. None dared summon you."
Kaelreth turned, and for a moment, something passed through his gaze. Not rage. Not pride.
Longing.
"I was not summoned," he said. "Something has awakened. Something ancient. A shift in the thread of fate."
He did not yet know her name.
He did not yet see her face.
But somewhere, in a kingdom of moonlight and betrayal, a girl with violet eyes would soon cross his path.
And the curse that bound her... would soon bind him, too.