As darkness enveloped Astren, it resembled a smooth, dark fabric.
Residences grew darker, lights flickered gently, and crickets created a quiet, harmonious sound together.
However, not all inhabitants found tranquility in slumber..
Stellan's dream
Stellan's eyelids closed slowly… and his awareness of reality vanished.
He didn't simply transition into a dream state.
He plummeted into a fundamental truth.
Utter darkness.
Limitless – yet complete, not devoid.
A silence throughout the cosmos so immense it erased every concept, every dimension, every established rule.
Then – an auditory sensation.
A rhythmic pulse.
Not originating from him.
Reality itself was pulsating.
And there, floating in timeless serenity…
A singularity.
Not the type that provoked terror in celestial bodies.
The kind that governed the order of creation.
Stars circled it in a pattern of veneration. Time streams bent into its pull like holy texts being returned to their origin.
Light curved, not in submission – but in profound respect.
It represented the source.
Though no words were spoken, Stellan perceived:
"You were not brought into existence from luminance or obscurity… but from the nucleus where destiny bows. "
The emptiness around him fluctuated, as though it was aware of him – recognizing his essence.
Stellan extended his hand toward it.
The surrounding space shrieked.
Time quaked.
The illusion shattered.
He awoke abruptly, gasping for air.
His room flickered strangely. The candle's flame leaned in his direction as if bowing respectfully.
Stellan gripped the sheets tightly, his heartbeat normal but his breathing unsteady.
Stellan gripped his sheets tightly, his heartbeat normal but his breathing unsteady.
He lacked understanding of what he had witnessed.
But it had knowledge of him.
Ren's Night
Across the village, Ren remained awake, repeatedly striking the practice target with a wooden weapon.
Perspiration dripped onto the rocks surrounding Stellan. The ground submitting.
The universe observing him – not Ren – as though he were already a monarch.
Ren's breathing faltered.
"I refuse to be subordinate to you."
His tone was gentle, yet piercing.
He delivered another blow.
And another.
And yet another.
His pulse did not resemble that of a young individual.
It echoed someone who had already reached their apex – and rejected the notion.
A solitary tear?
No.
A gleam of hope.
Determination.
Pride.
An ambition that would eventually challenge eternity.
High above, a distant star flickered erratically – then ceased to exist.
Ren raised his gaze upward, his chest expanding.
He offered a smile.
Neither malevolent.
Nor immoral.
But destined to be great.
An Omen Above
While Astren was in slumber, the heavens transformed.
A subtle circle – shadowy, spinning – materialized behind the moon.
No one detected it…
Except for a single elderly Cleric, who was still awake, trembling in the glow of his temple's candles.
He fixed his gaze on the firmament, uttering:
"The Dark Core awakens… and the offspring heed its summons. "
His voice sounded fragile.
"The first will ascend from desperation.
The second… from the inevitable. "
Two young individuals were in repose – one uneasy, one resolved.
One favored by destiny.
One resisting destiny.
The cosmos remained vigilant.
It observed.
It patiently waited.
It prepared to show obedience.