The rain fell heavily that night, pounding against the tall windows of the Royal Library of Aethermoor like thousands of impatient fingers tapping. Eira Shadowend sat at her crowded worktable, surrounded by ancient map scrolls and dusty books that had been her faithful companions for years.
The flickering candlelight cast dancing shadows along the cold stone walls. It was well past midnight, and as usual, she was alone. The grand library felt like home to her. More than home, in fact. It was the only home she had ever known.
"Eastern section catalog, finished," she muttered to herself, crossing a line off her notebook. "Now for the old archives."
Eira rose from her chair, stretching her stiff body after hours of bending over parchment. The star-shaped pendant around her neck swayed gently, the only keepsake from parents she had never known. Master Aldwin once told her the pendant had been found with her when she was still a baby, left on the steps of this very library twenty-four years ago.
She picked up her candle and walked toward the back of the library, where towering wooden shelves rose all the way to the high ceiling. The old archives were rarely visited. They were too dusty, too ancient, too forgotten.
But Eira loved them.
Here, among lost knowledge, she felt the calmest. Every map, every travel record, every sketch of lands long changed told a story of the past she longed to understand.
Her fingers traced the spines of worn books, reading titles faded by time. Her sharp gray eyes caught something strange. There was a small gap between two large shelves, something she had never noticed before.
Eira brought her candle closer. The light cast long shadows into the narrow space. She could see an empty area beyond it, like a hidden compartment.
Her curiosity stirred.
Carefully, she tried to shift the shelf. The old wood creaked in protest, but finally moved just enough for her to slip inside. Dust billowed into the air, making her cough.
Inside the narrow space, buried under thick dust, lay a small wooden chest. Eira knelt and opened its rusted lock. The hinges groaned as the lid lifted.
Inside, wrapped in tattered silk cloth, was a rolled map.
But this was no ordinary map. Even before unrolling it, Eira could feel something. A subtle vibration at her fingertips. The strange sensation she always felt near certain ancient artifacts. An ability she had always hidden, even from Master Aldwin.
With slightly trembling hands, she unrolled the map.
The old paper spread open, and in that moment, Eira's world changed forever.
The map depicted the continent of Aethermoor, but with details she had never seen on any other map. Ancient cities long reduced to ruins were drawn in clear detail. Mountain ranges that had been leveled centuries ago still stood tall here. And at the center of the map, in a location now known only as barren desert, stood the image of a magnificent city.
Valendris.
Eira gasped. The name was written in ancient, shimmering letters. She had heard stories of Valendris as a child. A legendary city said to have vanished overnight five hundred years ago. Most historians dismissed it as a myth, a fairy tale for children.
But this map…
Without thinking, her fingers touched the city's name.
The map came alive.
Lines of ethereal blue light burst from the point of contact, spreading across the surface like glowing veins. Ancient symbols appeared along the margins, spinning and shifting. Certain locations pulsed with brighter light.
Eira gasped, nearly dropping the map. This was far beyond anything she had ever experienced. Usually, she could only see faint traces of energy. But this felt different. It was as if the map was responding to her presence, speaking to her in a language older than words.
"Incredible," she whispered.
She studied every detail with eyes hungry for knowledge. The glowing lines resembled routes, pathways connecting one location to another. There was a pattern here, some kind of roadmap leading toward something.
Three points shone brighter than the rest, aside from Valendris itself. Eira carefully touched the first one. Instantly, images flooded her mind. The ruins of a temple at the edge of a forest. Ancient inscriptions. An altar still emitting faint energy.
She pulled her hand back, her breath catching. This map did not merely show locations. It stored memories. Knowledge.
"What have you found?"
The voice made Eira jump, nearly dropping the candle. She spun around to see Master Aldwin standing at the entrance of the narrow space. The old man wore his night robe, his white hair disheveled, but his blue eyes were sharp and alert.
"Master Aldwin. I am sorry. I did not mean to…"
"It is all right, my child," he said gently, though something in his tone felt different. Concern, perhaps fear. "Show me what you have found."
Eira hesitated, then held out the map. The blue light still pulsed faintly across its surface.
Master Aldwin stepped closer. His eyes widened as he looked at it. The color drained from his usually calm face.
"By the Maker," he whispered. "After all this time. I thought this map was lost."
"You know about this map?"
The old man did not answer immediately. He looked at Eira with an expression she could not read. There was sadness there, and something else. Regret, perhaps.
"Eira," he said softly. "What happened when you touched it?"
"The map reacted. The light appeared, and I could see, feel certain locations. It was as if the map was speaking to me."
Master Aldwin nodded slowly, as though confirming a long-held suspicion. He took a deep breath.
"Sit down, my child. There is something I must tell you. Something I should have told you many years ago."
Eira sat on the dusty floor, her heart pounding. For twenty-four years, Master Aldwin had avoided speaking about her origins. He always claimed he knew nothing, that he had simply found a baby on the library steps.
But now, from the way he looked at her, she knew he had been keeping a secret.
"Your parents," Master Aldwin began, his voice trembling slightly, "were not ordinary people. They were Guardians."
"Guardians?" Eira frowned.
"Guardians of Valendris. Protectors of the lost city and keepers of its greatest secret. The city was not truly destroyed, Eira. It was moved, shifted into another dimension to protect something both immensely powerful and incredibly dangerous."
The words struck her like a blow. Eira shook her head, trying to process information far too vast to grasp.
"But why? Why would they do that?"
"Five hundred years ago, a great war threatened the world. Valendris housed the Eternal Core, a source of power capable of saving everything or destroying it all. The last king wished to use it as a weapon. The Guardians, led by your ancestor, refused. They chose to move the entire city rather than allow the Core to fall into the wrong hands."
Master Aldwin touched the map with trembling fingers.
"This is the Return Map. The only way to find the path back to Valendris. Your parents hid it here to protect you. They knew that one day, you would find it."
"Why me?" Eira whispered. "What is special about me?"
The old man's eyes filled with tears.
"Because you are descended from the First Guardian. Your blood carries the key to open the path. Your ability to see energy in maps is no coincidence. It is your inheritance. And now that the map responds to you, it means…"
He did not finish the sentence.
"It means the time has come," another voice interrupted from the darkness.
Both of them turned sharply. A tall figure clad in black robes emerged from the shadows. His face was hidden behind a cold silver mask. In his hand was a long sword, glowing with dark purple light.
"Give me the map," the figure said. His voice echoed unnaturally. "And you may live."
Master Aldwin stepped in front of Eira, shielding her with his body.
"Run," he shouted. "Take the map and run, Eira."
Before Eira could react, the figure moved. Too fast. The sword flashed, and Master Aldwin staggered back as blood spread across his chest.
"No!" Eira screamed.
The old man fell to his knees. With the last of his strength, he pushed Eira away.
"Go… now… find… Kael Stormwright… he will… help you…"
"Master Aldwin, no. I cannot leave you."
"You must… Valendris… needs you…" His breath grew shallow. "I am… proud of you… my child…"
His eyes closed.
Something inside Eira shattered. But adrenaline took over. The masked figure advanced, sword raised.
Instinctively, Eira rolled up the map and clutched it to her chest. Blue light erupted from it, forming a barrier that hurled the attacker backward.
Eira did not understand what had happened, but she knew this was her chance.
She ran.
She leapt over shelves, sprinting through the library corridors she knew by heart. Behind her, heavy footsteps thundered in pursuit. Not just one figure. There were more.
Eira burst through the back door and into the rain-soaked night. Cold water slammed against her face, but she kept running. She did not know where she was going. She did not know what to do.
All she knew was that her life had changed forever.
And Master Aldwin, the only family she had ever known, was gone.
Eira ran through the narrow alleys of Aethermoor. The rain made the streets slick, but her legs moved on instinct, following escape routes she had imagined as a child while playing among these streets.
The map in her hands still emitted a faint glow, as if it were alive.
She stopped beneath the awning of a closed shop, pressing her back against the wall while struggling to catch her breath. Tears mixed with rain on her cheeks. Master Aldwin's face replayed endlessly in her mind. His final words.
"Kael Stormwright," Eira whispered. A name she did not know.
Whoever he was, Master Aldwin believed he could help. But how was she supposed to find him in a city this large, especially now that she was being hunted by…
Footsteps.
Eira froze. Figures moved at the end of the alley. Three people clad in similar black robes, swords drawn.
She turned to run the other way, but two more figures appeared from the opposite side, blocking her escape.
Trapped.
Eira tightened her grip on the map. Her heart pounded violently. She was no fighter. Her life had been spent among books and maps, not blades and battle.
"There is no escape, little cartographer," one of the hunters said mockingly. "Hand over the map quietly, and we might be quick about it."
"Never," Eira replied, her voice steadier than she felt.
The hunter laughed. "Fool."
They advanced. Eira backed away until her shoulders hit the wall. This was it. The end.
Then something moved above them.
A shadow dropped from the rooftop, landing between Eira and the hunters. A black coat flared, and a sword gleamed in the figure's hand.
The man moved like a deadly dancer. In seconds, two hunters collapsed. The others attacked, but their strikes were easily deflected. His movements were efficient, precise, lethal.
In less than a minute, all five hunters lay unconscious on the ground.
The man turned toward Eira. Moonlight broke briefly through the clouds, revealing his face. Emerald green eyes. Brown hair soaked by rain. A thin scar cutting through his left eyebrow. He was young, perhaps only a few years older than her.
And he smiled. A smile that somehow made Eira more wary rather than relieved.
"Bad night for a walk, cartographer," he said. His voice was deep, touched with humor despite the danger.
"Who are you?" Eira asked, still clutching the map to her chest.
"Someone who needs that map just as much as they do," he replied casually. "The difference is, I am not going to kill you to get it."
He stepped closer.
"My name is Kael Stormwright. And it seems we share the same interests, Miss Shadowend."
Eira gasped. "How do you know my name?"
"Master Aldwin sent word to me a few hours ago. He asked me to protect you if anything happened." His expression grew serious. "Judging by your state, something clearly did."
At the mention of Master Aldwin, something collapsed inside Eira's chest. Tears threatened to spill again, but she forced them back.
"He… he is…"
"I know," Kael said softly. "And I am sorry. Aldwin was a good man. He did not deserve to die like that."
Silence fell between them, broken only by the sound of rain.
"But now," Kael continued, "we have a bigger problem. They will keep coming. And within hours, the entire city will be searching for you. We need to leave."
"Why should I trust you?" Eira asked cautiously.
Kael raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a better option?"
He was right, and Eira hated that. She was alone, hunted, and had nowhere to go. Master Aldwin trusted this man. That had to mean something.
"Fine," Eira said at last. "But I need answers. A lot of answers."
"And you will get them," Kael promised. "Just not here. Come with me."
He held out his hand.
Eira looked at his hand, then at his face. There was sincerity in those green eyes, even though many secrets still hid behind them.
Taking a deep breath, she reached out and took his hand.
Together, they disappeared into the dark night.