The Eldryn Forest, deep within the human continent, shimmered beneath the full moon, its ancient trunks whispering millennia-old secrets.
Through the heart of the night, a silver carriage rolled forward, carrying Queen Lythariel—a sovereign whose magic was sung of in every legend—and her son, the seed of a sacred alliance.
But the night hid betrayal.
In the forest's dark recesses, shadows gathered around a forbidden artifact: an ancient seal, forged in forgotten ages, capable of shackling even the purest elven magic. Its creators were the architects of wars and hatred, intent on shattering the fragile peace between humans and elves.
When the carriage reached the ambush point, enemy forces surged forth. Lythariel raised her hands, runes of light sparking into the air, summoning storms of brilliance to sweep her foes away.
Yet something was wrong.
The seal awoke, bursting in a wave of dark aura. It wrapped the queen and her guard in petrified energy, draining their power and silencing the very hope of her people.
In that moment of despair, a hooded figure seized the infant with impossible eyes. Lythariel's scream split the night, but she could do nothing—the child, her hope, was gone. Shadows melted away, knowing even weakened, this queen was still not to be underestimated. Her grief turned into fury, her vow echoing in the cursed forest:
"They took everything from me—first my beloved, now my son. Unforgivable. I will hunt them all to the end of the world."
The assassins, fleeing with a teleportation charm, reappeared in the deepest part of Eldryn, a place untouched by humans, where monsters ruled.
"Why not kill him outright?" one of them asked.
"Because if she senses our hand in this, we're doomed," their leader hissed. "Here, the beasts will do the work for us."
And so they abandoned the child, his cries fading into the night.
Yet fate had other designs. In those haunted depths, a lone figure lingered—Kael'Thar, demon lord and secret scholar of human power. The wailing drew him in. Curious, he found the child and, after a long silence, lifted him into his arms.
"A human infant… an intriguing subject for my studies."
He did not yet know that this frail being would one day shake the foundations of the world itself.