THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS
June 7, 3111 BCE
30 days until Resurgence Night
The Blue Diamond burned hotter as the twin suns set.
Seraphina arched her crystalline neck, watching the alignment of the Seven Stars of the Weaver—a constellation that only touched Shambala's sky once a century. Its light made the diamonds sing in their orbits, a sound like glass scraping against the bones of the world.
"The Resurgence comes," she murmured. The Adamant Diamond shuddered in response, its indestructible surface sweating droplets of liquid time.
Drakthar circled the Chamber of Echoes, his wings kicking up storms of dead languages. "July Seventh," he snarled. "When the veil between what is and what could be dissolves."
Himanchu crouched beside the Eclipse Diamond, its surface showing him fractured visions:
A black sun rising over Shambala.Seraphina's wings shattering mid-flight, her blue diamond heart tumbling toward
"No!" He jerked back. The vision vanished, but the dread clung like spider silk.
The Rule of Ten Million Years
On July 7, when the Weaver Stars aligned just so, the diamonds would blaze with the power of creation itself.For one hour—between the last silver sunbeam and the first violet starfall—all ten could be fused into the Crown of the First Dawn.And the wearer wouldn't just rule the universe…
They would remake it in their image.
A gust of wind slithered through the chamber. The diamonds' song pitched higher—almost a scream.
Somewhere beyond the mountains, a shadow peeled itself from a stone and began to walk.