Ash_Monarch

The Apocalypse is in full swing. 

Defiled - powerful creatures corrupted by the Great Collision - prowled the lands in search of prey. Unfortunately for them, the human race had long since retreated behind the secure walls of the Sanctuary of Everlast. 

During one of his regular excursions outside the Sanctuary, Alden is separated from Celeste. - his childhood friend and crush. In that moment, he came to regret never summoning the courage to confess. 

Somehow managing to survive thanks to some trickery, Alden awakens as a mage. 

Instead of receiving a normal power, he gains the ability to decay. What's more, during his ascension, he received a vision from his future self advising him not to trust the Asterons - celestial beings who had saved his race from inescapable doom.  

Normally... such a revelation wouldn’t faze Alden. 

However, there was only one major problem with the declaration, though. 

Celeste was bound with an Asteron. 

And not just any normal Asteron... 

She had made a pact with one of the Divine Sovereigns.
________ 

Cover is not mine. I found it on Pinterest.

The Inner Odyssey

Drakon walked through the citadel of the Ember Clan. Both his steps and heart were heavy.

Or rather, who he was going to face….

Drakon dreaded this meeting for more reasons than one. Not the least because he always felt small and insignificant after they finished.

He studied the lavish corridors of his home to help distract himself from his nerves. Plush rugs spread as far as the eye could see. Chandeliers fitted with mana crystals hung from the ceiling at certain intervals. On the walls, breathtaking paintings were also displayed.

Some of them depicted a few harrowing battles closer to the inception of the Apocalypse. Some included pictures of extinct Fire Beasts, such as the Mighty Dragons.

Others merely settled for drawing a roaring blaze.

Ancestral Pool