The gateway to the Abyss was not found in the sky.
but beneath the bones of the moon.
It hung suspended above the ruined sea, a silver wound carved into space itself.
From it flowed streams of light and shadow, twisting together in a silent spiral.
Even time dared not pass through it.
Arka stood before the rift, his cloak torn by the wind of creation.
Liora, pale but resolute, joined him with a trembling voice.
"The readings are unstable.
That place doesn't exist in any dimension we know."
Arka nodded slowly.
"That's because it was never meant to be found."
The wolf spirit hovered beside him, its eyes glowing with ancient sorrow.
"Long ago, when the First Beast split itself, the gods sealed half of its essence deep within this void.
That half became the cradle of forgotten dreams the Abyss beneath the First Moon."
✦ Descent
With a gesture, Arka summoned a bridge of solid starlight.
Each step he took sent ripples through the air, and the stars above flickered as if watching.
Liora followed, her heart pounding.
"Are you sure this is the only way?"
"No," Arka admitted.
"But it's the only path forward."
As they crossed the threshold, gravity inverted.
The sea turned upside down, and the sky became a mirror of endless eyes.
They were falling upward
into the memory of the world.
✦ The Ocean of Dreams
When they landed, there was no ground.
Only an endless ocean made of glass and light.
Each ripple reflected fragments of history
cities rising, gods falling, beasts howling in chains.
Liora stepped closer, touching one of the glowing waves.
Instantly, visions poured into her mind
the creation of the world, the First Beast's birth, and the betrayal of the stars.
She gasped and stumbled back.
"It's… it's alive. Every drop of this ocean is a living memory."
Arka closed his eyes, sensing the pulse beneath his feet.
"This is where reality was written.
And where Kael is rewriting it."
✦ The Slumbering Beasts
From the depths of the glass sea, massive shapes began to stir.
Colossal beasts some winged, some formless, some made of pure light rose slowly.
They were The Sleepers of the Deep divine fragments that once served the First Beast.
Their voices echoed like thunder.
"Bearer of the Star Wolf…
Why do you wake us?"
Arka raised his hand.
"Because your creator's world is dying."
"It always was," they replied in unison.
"The cycle of creation demands sacrifice.
Will you offer yourself to restore it?"
The question pierced deeper than any blade.
Arka's lips tightened.
"If sacrifice means surrendering to Kael, then no.
I'll restore it by choice not by fate."
The Sleepers stirred restlessly.
"Then you defy the design of the First Beast."
"I defy the cage of it," Arka said.
"Even gods must evolve."
✦ The Chamber of the Origin
The sea parted suddenly.
From its heart rose a temple made of black crystal, floating in silence.
Runes older than existence burned across its surface.
Arka and Liora entered, the wolf spirit fading into a mist around them.
Inside, the air was thick not with magic, but with memory.
Every wall pulsed like veins, glowing with symbols that whispered truths in forgotten tongues.
At the center of the chamber floated a single object:
a heart made of starlight, chained by nine golden rings.
It beat slowly once every few seconds
and each beat sent shockwaves of power through the entire Abyss.
"That's…" Liora whispered,
"the heart of the First Beast."
Arka approached, his body trembling as the runes flared in recognition.
"It's calling to me."
"Or warning you," the wolf's voice echoed faintly.
✦ The Echo of Creation
When Arka touched the heart, the Abyss screamed.
The glass ocean shattered, and the stars bent inward.
Light poured from his hands, flooding through every corner of the void.
Visions consumed him
of the First Beast's birth, the creation of Kael, and the moment the world first spoke its name.
"You were never meant to rule,"
a voice thundered through him.
"You were meant to remember."
Arka gasped.
"Then why give me this power?"
"Because power without memory becomes hunger.
You must remember the First Name
the true word that binds all creation."
The light formed a single glowing rune in the air ancient, perfect, incomprehensible.
But before Arka could read it, the chains shattered.
The heart pulsed once and exploded.
✦ The Awakening of Kael
Far above, on the surface world, Kael opened his eyes.
Golden light burst from his chest, forming the same rune across the heavens.
He smiled darkly.
"So, he found it."
He raised his hand, and the false sun behind him flared.
"Then let's see who remembers it better."
The rune split half descending to Arka, half to Kael.
The world began to tremble as the two halves of creation fought for dominance.
The moons bled once more.
Mountains floated into the sky.
The oceans screamed.
And from the heart of the Abyss, Arka rose his body blazing with silver fire and ancient symbols wrapping around his arms.
"Kael…" he whispered,
"You've taken the false name.
I'll keep the true one."
✦ The Name of Power
As the Abyss closed behind him, Arka spoke a single word that shattered the horizon.
The stars bent.
The wolf howled.
And for the first time in millennia
the world remembered its beginning.
Every creature beast, human, and god felt the pulse of that word in their soul.
A word older than magic, stronger than time.
The word of the True Star.
And in the silence that followed, Kael laughed.
"Then the game begins, brother."