Arka-Nor Island and the Eternal Fragment

The sky above the Shadowless Land was still gray when Raka stepped out of the dimensional gate at the base of the Black Tower. His body was tired, his soul was torn, and his mind was haunted by the shadow of the Maker. But there was one thing that kept bringing him back: Aira.

He stared at the dim horizon. The world he once knew had changed. Time passed differently in that dimension. The trees that were once green were now black. The cities were deserted. The rivers no longer flowed. But his heart still led him eastward, to the ruins of Luminara Fortress, the last place Aira had been seen.

Raka took a deep breath as he stood on the rocky hill and stared at the ruins of the fortress. The faint rays of dawn fell on the old walls wrapped in wild plants.

"Aira... are you still here?" he whispered.

The footsteps of a horse approached quickly from behind. From behind the mist, a silver-haired girl appeared, wearing a luminous white robe.

"Raka... you are alive."

The voice jolted his chest. He turned, and before him stood Aira. Her eyes glinted softly, her hand carrying an ancient light stick that glowed with the rhythm of her heartbeat.

"Aira," Raka approached. "I... I'm back. This world... we're not finished yet, are we?"

Aira nodded slowly. "Not yet. Because what comes is not the end, but the beginning of the Dimensional War."

---

They sat under an old tree that grew in the ruins of Luminara's altar. Raka told her everything: the Black Tower, the Compiler, thousands of himself from other dimensions.

"He wants to unite all possibilities into one," Raka said. "And I... I'm afraid I'm one of the ways for that to happen."

Aira held his hand. "That's why you have to choose. Not with strength, but with your heart. And that's also why... we need Tara."

The journey to Scholar City took two days. Throughout the journey, Aira used magic to protect them from the dimensional distortion that had not yet completely disappeared.

Scholar City was one of the few cities that survived. Standing on a crystal-lined valley, it was filled with towers of knowledge, living libraries, and streets of light.

Raka fell silent when he saw Tara, sitting in front of a world map, staring at the red lines that formed a spiral pattern in the middle of the ocean.

"You came... finally," Tara said without turning around. "And you brought the answer."

Raka approached. "I don't know what I have to do. But I do know we have to stop the Maker from controlling all possibilities."

Tara stood up, pointing to a spot on the map that glowed purple.

"This is where all the dimension lines meet. The island of Arka-Nor. An island that has never appeared on any map, except in a script sent by a version of you from another world."

Raka froze. "What...?"

Tara stared at him. "Yes. There was another Raka who was here. And he died trying to write the message. But he left coordinates and a warning: 'If you are reading this, then time is up.'"

That night, the three of them gathered at the Scholar City Observatory. The sky opened, revealing a dimensional rift beyond the stars. Aira joined her staff to the transmitter crystal, Tara arranged a three-dimensional map, and Raka looked at them with respect and admiration.

"I may be able to fight," Raka said. "But you... you are the heart of this war. Without you, I am just a shadow."

Aira smiled. "You are more than that, Raka. You are a fire that refuses to go out."

Tara added, "And if this world must choose one soul to fight fate, I will bet on you."

Dawn broke. Sunlight pierced the dimensional fog, and three figures stood at the western gate of Scholar City. Before them, an ancient airship prepared to take them to Arka-Nor Island. The wind carried the scent of both endings and beginnings.

"We can't go back after this," Tara said.

Raka nodded. "Because we will move forward. And bring back the light."

Aira raised her staff. "Then let us write history with light and blood."

The ship lifted, heading towards the broken sky.

The airship hovered over an unnamed sea, the dimensional mists thick, the cracked sky reflecting green light. In the distance, the island of Arka-Nor appeared—not land, but a patchwork of other worlds. Floating forests, inverted mountains, and lakes mirrored with fire.

"This place… is no ordinary world," Tara murmured.

Aira nodded. "This island was born from the sparks of dimensions that once collided. And it is there that the Eternal Fragment lies."

As the ship landed, the ground immediately absorbed the light. Their footsteps echoed strangely. The island was alive. Breathing. Watching.

In the center of the island stood an ancient temple—half in ruins, the other half made of frozen light. Raka stared at its walls, which depicted robed figures and shattered globes.

"There it is," Aira whispered. "The Temple of the Fragment."

But before they could step inside, the ground shook. Shadows emerged from the mist: dimensional beings, their bodies gleaming with cracks and eyes glowing red.

"The fragment has been found," a ghostly voice echoed. "You must go no further."

Raka drew his sword. "We did not come to submit. We came to challenge destiny."

The battle broke out. Raka jumped into the middle of the enemy, cutting through the dimensional creatures that were in the form of solid smoke. Aira spun her staff, creating a wall of light to protect Tara who was busy opening the temple gate with the dimensional map.

"Aira, your right!"

A beam of lightning flashed as Aira protected Raka from the invisible attack. Raka, who was almost dragged into the dimensional gap, held on to the glowing roots.

"Tara! The gate!"

"Just a little bit more...! This fragment... is alive! I have to access its old pattern!"

Suddenly the temple floor glowed. A ball of light appeared, forming the face of a child. The face smiled, then cried.

"I am... the Eternal Fragment. I am a fragment of the world that was never allowed to live. And now... you have awakened me."

Raka approached, sweat pouring down his face. "We want to save you. But the world is collapsing, and only you can stop it."

The Fragment fell silent. Then he said, "Then... take me to the Center of the Spiral. But be careful... for all dimensions will know that you carry the spark of beginning."

The temple shook. Above the sky, a giant shadow appeared. The Framer now knew

The sky above Arka-Nor Island was beginning to crack. The cracks were not just metaphorical—streaks of light like lightning streaked across the sky, as if reality itself were creaking and warping. Raka stood on the edge of the ruins of the ancient temple with Aira and Tara. The three of them stared up at the swirling vortex of light that curled like a spiral, warping time and space.

"That's… the Spiral of Fate," Aira whispered in a trembling voice.

"What is… a dimensional hole?" Tara asked, peering at the vortex through the glowing magnifying glass hanging from her neck.

"No. It is a wound. A wound between dimensions," Aira answered. "And someone… or something… is trying to pass through it."

From the vortex, light formed a humanoid shape. It was not fully human, but an entity cloaked in gray whose face was shrouded in a silver mist. Its eyes were black like abysses, and its hands held a spear of light that was constantly changing shape.

"I am the Guardian of the Rift," the voice echoed silently, directly inside their heads. "You have opened a path that should have remained locked."

Raka stepped forward. "We are simply following the clues of history, seeking the truth about our world. The Shadowless Lands were destroyed by something darker than ourselves."

The Guardian stared at Raka, or rather through him. "You are the spark that ignited the Spiral of Fate. You, the child of two ancient guardians who trespassed."

"I am not a trespasser! I seek answers!" Raka drew his dagger, now glowing with a red glow due to the resonance of the fragments in his body.

The Guardian's spear struck. Raka blocked it with his dagger. Sparks of energy shot out in all directions, and the ground around them split, creating a chasm that led straight to the void.

"He is too strong!" Tara exclaimed as she drew a protective symbol in the air with her magic map tool.

Aira closed her eyes and chanted an ancient light spell. Pillars of light appeared, trying to bind the Guardian of the Rift. But the Guardian simply spun his spear, destroying the magic as if it were wind.

"The only way to win is to break the Spiral of Fate itself!" Aira shouted. "Tara, you know the location of the temporal spiral of the third artifact, right?"

"Yes! But it takes time to open the dimensional path!" Tara began to tidy up the scrolls of secret maps and open the dimensional compass.

Raka fought with all his strength. He jumped from the rubble to the pillar, then slipped behind the Guardian and stabbed his dagger. But the Guardian's body only turned into mist and solidified again behind him, kicking Raka so that his body hit the stone wall.

"We need a distraction!" Tara shouted.

Aira floated into the air, her body fused with the ancient spell of the Light Rite, a sacred vortex that vibrated with cosmic tones. She struck the Guardian with a shower of pure light, distracting him slightly.

"Now! The path!" Aira shouted.

Tara activated a dimension scroll, and a silvery purple path opened beneath their feet. The Guardian noticed this and threw his spear. It struck Tara's map, shattering part of it.

"We only have one chance!" Tara shouted. "Raka, you must bring the Eternal Fragment into the Spiral and destroy it from within!"

"What?! But I can—"

"There's no time! Trust me!" Aira looked at Raka with tears in her eyes. "You are our last hope."

Raka gripped his dagger, then jumped into the open Spiral of Fate. Inside, the world seemed to fold. He saw thousands of versions of himself: one who died young, one who became king, one who never even chose to adventure. All the possibilities twisted and tried to pull at his soul.

"Focus," his mother's voice whispered… from either a memory or another dimension.

Raka crawled toward the center of the spiral, where a ball of dark light floated. A Fate Fragment, a piece of the primordial power that had once destroyed the Shadowless Lands.

As his hand touched the fragment, the Guardian of the Rift appeared before him again, larger this time, with two pairs of dimensional wings and eyes spinning like black holes.

"YOU CAN'T FIGHT FATE!"

"Perhaps. But I can choose another path!" Raka stabbed his dagger into the Fragment. A burst of light erupted in all directions. The Spiral of Fate trembled, then shattered.

Raka was thrown out, back into the real world. His body fell rolling next to Tara and Aira, who hugged him tightly.

The sky was calm again… for now. But far beyond their dimension, another being—the Arranger, who had long observed the Spiral of Fate—opened his eyes. And a greater conflict had only just begun.

--- To be continued...