Chapter 2 — The Light That Listens
The bells of the Holy Capital rang at dawn.
Not hurried. Not alarmed. They were the slow, deep peals of ceremony — the kind that rolled over the rooftops like warm sunlight, reaching even the narrowest streets.
I stood at the heart of the Grand Cathedral, before the altar of the Goddess. The stained-glass window above me caught the morning light, spilling it down in waves of gold and rose, until it crowned the marble steps where I knelt.
"Eryndor," the High Priest's voice carried, smooth and commanding, a river that knew its own depth. "The Goddess has chosen you."
I raised my eyes to the statue before me — a serene figure of white stone, her gaze cast gently downward, hands open as if ready to gather the world into her embrace.
The light shifted.
And then, the world fell silent.
It wasn't the kind of silence that comes from a lack of sound, but one where every sound was listening.
> "Eryndor."
Her voice did not echo. It blossomed in my mind, every syllable a petal opening.
> "You have been my hand before, in lives you do not remember. In this age, you will be my sword. The shadow stirs again, and my light must walk among the living."
I bowed lower, my hands trembling against the marble. "I am yours to command, my Lady."
The light around the statue deepened, warm yet fierce. I felt it seep into me, not as a burden but as a promise.
> "You will heal where others would harm. You will defend where others would strike. But when the moment comes… you will cut down what must never be allowed to grow."
A warmth gathered in my chest, spreading outward until every breath felt like sunlight.
When the light faded, I stood — no longer in the same robes I had worn. The ceremonial whites of the cathedral had given way to armor of silver and gold, light yet unyielding. In my right hand rested a blade, its edge catching the light in a way that made the air shimmer around it.
The High Priest smiled faintly — the kind of smile that never reached his eyes.
"The Goddess has spoken," he said. "The age turns, and you, Eryndor, will be its hero."
Outside, the bells rang again.
But this time, I felt something else beneath their song — a low, distant beat, like the echo of a heart I had never heard before.
Somewhere far away…
The shadow was already moving.