REY_REGINO

Beneath a sky that remembers forgotten names, a rift opens—and the world will never be the same.

Lynchie is no chosen one. Orphaned by fate and burdened by dreams she can't explain, she enters the gates of Vatra Arx, a floating academy suspended between stars and ruin. Within its spell-forged halls, celestial politics, ancient beast trials, and haunting whispers of the First Tongue converge.

But power comes at a cost, and destiny isn't always a gift.

As rival students clash under hidden banners and forbidden factions awaken, Lynchie must survive more than exams—she must survive truths no one dares speak aloud. Truths that twist the stars, silence gods, and splinter the meaning of life itself.

At the edge of prophecy and rebellion, a misfit may wear the crown—if she can remember who she is.

CROWN OF MISFITS

Lynchie crumpled to her knees, hands clutching her throat as the alien voice spilled from her lips. But it wasn't a scream or cry—it was a language older than understanding, a resonance that echoed in bone and blood.

"Velan-kae... shiru-tol... evarin..."

Zev stood frozen, sword half-lowered, unable to tear his eyes away from the light haloing her body. It wasn't Spiral magic. Not anymore. This was something beneath even the Spiral—a root system twisted through creation, now rising to the surface through her voice.

The earth split with a silent roar. A fracture zigzagged beneath Lynchie's feet and spread outward in all directions, carving symbols into the stone. Ocean waves halted mid-crash, held in suspension as the Spiral faltered across the boundary between now and then.

Zev lunged forward, reaching her just as the final word left her mouth.

And then a pulse. Low. Ominous. From deep beneath the cliffs.

Lynchie gasped, collapsing into Zev's arms. Her skin was ice. Her eyes, closed. But magic still poured from her in flickering tendrils, golden-white, speckled with deeper violet hues.

He stood at the top of the ridge, eyes wide, Spiral scroll clutched in trembling hands. "You didn't just awaken the seal—you became the mouth of it. The conduit."

Zev cradled Lynchie closer. "She spoke in a language I've never heard."

"No one's heard it," Vyen said hollowly. "That language was buried with the first Mirror-Spoken. It's not just speech—it's a command code embedded in the Spiral's foundation. It can rewire reality."

"Zev..." Her voice was raw, scraped against something unseen. "They showed me..."

He leaned in. "What did they show you?"

Her lips parted. "Your face. Among them."

Zev recoiled slightly, eyes widening. "What are you saying?"

But Lynchie could not finish. She convulsed, magic flaring around her in a blinding surge. Vyen shielded his face. Zev gritted his teeth, anchoring her against the blast.

The fracture beneath the cliffs glowed with a muted fire. And slowly, impossibly, stone figures began to rise from its depths—hooded, robed in flowing obsidian, their faces mirrored and faceless.

The Mirror-Spoken had begun to emerge.

Zev turned to Vyen. "Get the Warders. Get the Council. Get anyone who still breathes."

Zev looked down at Lynchie in his arms, heart pounding with dread and something deeper. Regret? Longing? Terror?

He whispered, "What did they do to you, Lynchie? And what did they do... to me?"

The sky cracked again. This time, it screamed.

The Mouth of Silence