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🌑 Dravolian Eclipse
Chapter 1 — The Day the Sun Vanished
The world ended quietly.
Not with screams or thunder.
Just silence… and a sun that refused to shine.
They called it the Dravolian Eclipse.
No one knew where it came from. One moment, the skies burned gold above the Kingdom of Veras, and the next—blackness spread across the heavens like spilled ink. Birds vanished midflight, rivers turned cold, and whispers crawled through every city.
To most, it was the beginning of fear.
To him—it was the day his life truly began.
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The boy stood alone at the cliffside, watching the bleeding sky reflect off the sea. Wind tugged at his dark cloak as waves crashed against jagged stones below. His name was Kael—a name the villagers used to curse.
They said he was born from the eclipse itself.
He didn't deny it. He couldn't.
Because when he looked into his reflection, his eyes glowed faintly red under any shadow. And when the eclipse appeared three years ago, he didn't run. He felt… alive.
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"Kael!" a voice called from behind.
He turned to see Tera, his childhood friend, stumbling through the grass, clutching a satchel. Her hair gleamed silver under the dying light. "You promised you wouldn't come here again."
Kael smirked faintly. "You still believe the cliff's cursed?"
"It's not just the cliff," she said, catching her breath. "The soldiers are searching again. For anyone touched by the Eclipse. If they find you here—"
"They'll try to kill me again." He said it so casually that it made her flinch. "Relax, Tera. They won't find me."
"Kael, you don't get it." She grabbed his sleeve. "The king issued an order. Anyone with markings of the eclipse is to be taken alive. They're building something in the capital… some kind of machine."
Her words caught in the wind, carried away into the fog.
Kael turned back toward the ocean.
"The Eclipse didn't end that day," he said quietly. "It's still here… waiting. I can feel it calling me."
Tera shook her head. "You sound just like them—like the priests who lost their minds."
He didn't respond. The air began to hum faintly.
The clouds above shifted. For a brief moment, a ray of crimson light shot down through the darkness—straight toward the cliff. The ground trembled beneath them.
"Kael—what is that?"
He took a slow step forward, eyes wide. "It's starting again…"
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⚡ The Light of the Eclipse
From the center of the sky, the eclipse pulsed like a heartbeat. The red glow twisted, forming symbols that burned across the clouds. Then, out of nowhere, a voice echoed—deep and ancient.
> "Bearer of the Eclipse… your time approaches."
Tera screamed as a wave of light exploded outward. Kael shielded her, but the energy tore through the grass, scorching the earth in circles around them.
When it faded, the ground smoked and sizzled. A single mark—shaped like a crescent moon—burned itself onto Kael's left hand.
He fell to his knees. "It spoke to me," he whispered. "It knows my name."
Tera stepped back, trembling. "You—You're one of them."
Kael looked up slowly. His eyes now glowed bright red, reflecting the eclipse above.
"Maybe," he said softly. "But what if 'them' isn't the enemy?"
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🌒 The Black Riders
That night, Veras burned.
Kael and Tera ran through the forest as fires lit up the horizon. The Black Riders, cloaked soldiers of the king, had arrived. Their armor shimmered like obsidian, and their horses left trails of smoke where hooves struck the ground.
"Kael!" Tera shouted. "They're behind us!"
He turned, raised his hand—and the mark on his palm flared. A burst of dark energy exploded forward, striking one of the riders and throwing him off his horse.
Both froze.
Kael stared at his hand. "What… what did I just do?"
Tera could barely speak. "You used the Eclipse."
The remaining riders regrouped, forming a circle. One of them dismounted—a tall man with silver eyes and a cruel smile.
"So the rumors were true," he said, drawing his blade. "A child cursed by the Eclipse. You belong to the king now."
Kael clenched his fists. "Tell your king…" He raised his hand again, power trembling at his fingertips. "…I'm done being hunted."
With that, the ground erupted. A pulse of black and red energy threw the riders in every direction. Trees splintered, horses screamed, and for a moment, even the air seemed to freeze.
When the light faded, Kael collapsed. The mark on his hand dimmed, and his breathing slowed.
Tera knelt beside him. "You're hurting yourself! You can't control it!"
Kael managed a weak smile. "Then I'll learn to."
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🌗 The Beginning of a Legend
By dawn, Veras was gone. The city burned to ash under the endless eclipse.
Kael and Tera stood on a distant hill, the smoke rising behind them. He felt nothing—no sorrow, no fear—only purpose.
"Tera," he said, "you once asked me what I saw when I looked at the sky."
She nodded silently.
He looked up at the dark circle that devoured the sun. "I see something trying to be whole again. Light and shadow aren't enemies. They're just… incomplete."
Tera frowned. "What are you saying?"
"I think the Eclipse isn't a curse," he said. "It's a message. And I'm going to find out who sent it."
Tera sighed. "You're insane, you know that?"
He smiled faintly. "Maybe. But the world already ended once. What's the worst that could happen now?"
As they turned toward the east, a new dawn tried to rise—but the Eclipse refused to fade. Its red light followed them, like an eye watching from the heavens.
In the distance, far beyond the burning lands, the first kingdom banners of the Eclipse Order were already rising… and the war for Dravolia had just begun.
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✨ End of Chapter 1
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