Chapter 1

The sky burned with twin streaks of light—one golden, one silver—tearing across the heavens like divine signatures upon the fabric of fate. The gods had long withdrawn from the world, but on this night, their presence was undeniable. In two distant realms, under the same celestial omen, two children were born—one in magic, one in knowledge—destined to reshape the world.

In the realm of Oaky, within the towering walls of the Ivory Citadel, Queen Lysara struggled through the pain of childbirth. The kingdom's mages surrounded her, their hands glowing with golden magic, stabilizing the life force of both mother and child. King Dagan, a ruler feared for his ruthlessness, stood by, his face unreadable.

As the child emerged, a sudden wave of power pulsed through the room. The torches flickered. The ground trembled. Every mage present gasped as ancient runes of KURAT magic glowed faintly upon the newborn's skin before vanishing.

"She is the one," whispered High Mage Teleron.

King Dagan's cold eyes narrowed. "My daughter... a wielder of KURAT?"

He should have rejoiced, but instead, a storm brewed in his heart. A wielder of KURAT was destined for more than just a throne. A child born with such power would have a fate beyond his control. And King Dagan despised anything he could not control.

Yet, for now, he masked his thoughts. He took the child in his arms, gazing down at her small, fragile form. Her tiny fingers clenched into fists, as if already prepared to fight against the fate thrust upon her.

"We shall name her Zypharain," Queen Lysara whispered weakly, running a trembling hand across her daughter's cheek. "A name worthy of power."

The queen smiled, but King Dagan's expression remained dark. He would watch this child closely. If she ever became a threat to his rule, even a daughter was not beyond his wrath.

*****

On the same night, far away in the realm of Earth, a storm raged over the city of New Arcton, a metropolis ruled by towering skyscrapers and artificial intelligence. In a small, dimly lit hospital on the city's outskirts, another child was born.

The mother, a woman whose name was lost to time, died moments after childbirth. No one knew who she was or where she had come from. The child—a girl with striking silver eyes—was left alone in the world before she had even taken her first breath.

A nurse, Elara Vex, who worked for the government-run orphanage system, looked at the infant with unease. "She was born during the Twin Comet Night," she whispered to a doctor. "They say children born under such omens have... unusual destinies."

The doctor dismissed the superstition with a tired sigh. "She's just another orphan, Elara. Get her to the orphanage."

But as Elara held the child, she felt something—an energy, something unnatural humming beneath the baby's skin. The air around her seemed to distort for the briefest moment, as though bending to the infant's presence.

Not magic. Not technology. Something... different.

The name tag given to her was simple: Wendall. No last name. No history. Only a future waiting to be written.

Though Zypharain and Wendall were born worlds apart, the forces of fate had already begun pulling them toward each other.

One was raised as a princess, a child of magic, hidden in the palace of Oaky under the watchful eyes of a tyrant king.

The other was raised as an orphan, a child of knowledge, growing up in the technological expanse of Earth, unaware of the power she carried within her.

One day, they would meet.

One day, they would stand together against the storm that threatened to consume the realms.

One day, the war would return.

And this time, the fate of all existence would rest in their hands.

****

In the realm of Toaf, where the sun was a distant memory and the land was bathed in eternal twilight, an ancient force stirred. The realm was ruled not by kings or councils, but by the unseen hands of the nightwalkers—vampires who had long since abandoned their humanity.

Among them, one name had begun to spread like whispered terror—Tyoran.

Tyoran had been born into the darkness, but unlike others of his kind, he sought more than mere survival. He sought dominion. Toaf had remained hidden for too long, trapped in its own shadows while the other realms shaped the world above. But Tyoran had seen the truth—the war that divided the realms had only delayed the inevitable. One day, the barriers would weaken, and when they did, the world would belong to the strongest.

And he would make sure that Owner of the Night was that force.

Tyoran traveled across Toaf, gathering the most powerful of his kind—elders who had feasted on the blood of seers, warriors who had slain dragons, and scholars who had studied forbidden magics. But he knew that vampires alone would not be enough.

He sought out those who had been cast out from other realms—rogue mages from Oaky, exiled seers from Rafina, and even disillusioned scientists from Earth who had turned to darker experiments.

Under his command, the Owner of the Night was born.

Their goal was simple—to reunite the realms, but through conquest, not peace. They would break the barriers, shatter the balance, and rule the world as one eternal empire of darkness.

But power demanded sacrifice.

Tyoran knew that magic alone would not break the barriers. The gods had sealed the realms with forces beyond mortal understanding. He needed something stronger, something ancient.

That was when he found it—the magic of blood and the depths of the sea.

Legends spoke of the Mermaids of Rafina, creatures who did not just predict the future but could alter reality itself. Their magic, drawn from the heart of the ocean, had been sealed away after the war. No one had dared to seek it—until now.

Tyoran led a secret raid into Fusha, the last stronghold of the mermaids. His forces struck fast, capturing the eldest of the seers, Mistress Naivara, a mermaid who had lived through the Great War.

She knew what he wanted.

"You seek the power of the tides," she whispered as his soldiers chained her in enchanted steel. "But you do not understand its cost."

"I do not fear the cost," Tyoran said coldly. "Only the reward."

Through blood rituals and forbidden incantations, he absorbed the magic of the mermaids, binding it to his already formidable vampire strength. With it, he could see glimpses of the future, bend water to his will, and most importantly—weaken the barriers between the realms.

But even that was not enough.

There was one more piece missing.

Tyoran had heard whispers of an ancient prophecy—the twin fates, two children who would be born with the power to change the world. The wielders of KURAT magic.

If he could find them… control them…

Then nothing could stand in his way.

His spies spread across the realms, searching for any sign of these children. But they were hidden well. The gods themselves had ensured it.

For now.

Tyoran smiled to himself as he stood atop the highest peak of Toaf, gazing into the stormy abyss beyond.

The Owner of the Night had risen.

The realms would fall.

And soon, the world would belong to him.

***

The New Arcton Orphanage was not a place of warmth or kindness. It was a facility, efficient and sterile, designed to house the forgotten children of Earth—those without names, without families, without futures.

Wendall was one of them.

From the moment she was left at the orphanage as a newborn, she was different. The other children whispered about her silver eyes, how they seemed to glow in the dark. The caretakers never spoke of it, but Wendall noticed how they hesitated when they looked at her.

It wasn't just her appearance. Strange things happened around her.

Light bulbs flickered when she was angry.

The air would feel heavier when she was sad.

Objects moved, just slightly, when she reached for them without touching them.

She didn't understand it. No one did. And in a world ruled by technology, science, and logic, there was no place for something unexplainable.

Wendall quickly learned that she didn't belong.

The other children avoided her. Some feared her, others resented her. Whenever something unusual happened—a sudden power outage, a toy breaking without reason—she was always blamed.

"You're a freak," a boy named Darius sneered at her once. "That's why no one wants to adopt you."

She said nothing, but deep inside, those words stung.

No one had ever come for her. Children came and went, finding homes, finding families. But Wendall remained. Year after year.

The orphanage director, Madame Kovak, was a strict woman who believed in discipline and order. She made it clear that Wendall's "oddities" were not to be tolerated.

"You will control yourself, Wendall," Madame Kovak said one night after catching her staring at the flickering lights. "Or you will have no future."

But how could she control something she didn't understand?

Everything changed on her twelfth birthday.

It was late at night. The orphanage was quiet. Wendall sat by the window in her small, empty room, watching the city lights of New Arcton flicker in the distance.

Then, she saw her.

A woman in a dark cloak standing outside the orphanage gates, staring up at her window.

Wendall's breath caught. Something about this woman felt… familiar.

She blinked, and suddenly, the woman was inside the room.

Wendall scrambled back, heart pounding. "H-how did you—"

"Shhh." The woman knelt beside her, placing a warm hand on her shoulder. Her eyes were golden, glowing softly in the dark. "I've been looking for you, Wendall."

Wendall froze. No one had ever looked for her before.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

The woman smiled. "Someone who knows what you are."

"What… I am?"

The woman reached into her cloak and pulled out a small crystal, swirling with golden and silver energy. The moment Wendall's eyes locked onto it, something inside her shifted.

A memory she didn't recognize. A voice calling her name. A feeling of power.

"You are not just a child of Earth," the woman whispered. "You are something more. And if you wish to understand, you must come with me."

Wendall's fingers trembled. For the first time in her life, she was being given a choice.

And she had no idea what it would cost her.