Chapter 3 – Ash Beneath My Feet

Present Day — Borderlands, Outlands of Eiden Hollow

The sky was the color of old ash—neither dark nor light, just suspended in silence like the world had forgotten how to breathe.

Rai walked alone.

His boots cracked dried grass beneath him, and the wind hissed low across the hills like it was trying to warn him. He didn't listen. He'd stopped listening a long time ago.

Behind him lay the Kingdom of Caelvara, capital of the country, and the prison he once called home. A land where people bowed not just to kings, but to the blinding dogma of the Church of Radiant Order, and bent their knees before the cold rulings of the Archanic Council. Two pillars, one nation—built on faith and fear.

They branded Rai's Halo a curse.

Called him impure.

Called him dangerous.

But they never called him wrong.

Now, beyond the borderlands, beyond the eyes of the Cathedral Watchers and Council Scribes, Rai was chasing something real. A name half-buried in forgotten scriptures, lost to time and war: Kaien Vell. A Black Halo before him. The only one.

If he ever truly existed.

A Glimpse of the Realm

Myraden—the country carved by conquest and time—was vast and broken into many lands, but ruled under a single Kingdom. Its heart was Caelvara, the shining seat of both spiritual and magical law.

Within it sat:

The Church of Radiant Order – robed in gold and ivory, enforcing divine purity, where Halos are judged, and impure ones erased.The Archanic Council – cold-blooded and logical, managing all affairs of mana: from education, war policy, to arcane weaponry.

They rarely agreed, except when someone like Rai was born.

Villages and cities under the Kingdom's banner were tightly monitored. Every child underwent the Halo Evaluation Rite by age seven. If the glow of your Halo didn't align with their blessed spectrum, you were taken. Some quietly vanished. Others… burned.

Rai adjusted the scarf around his neck as he neared the cliffs of Eiden Hollow. His white cloak had dulled with dirt and travel; the hem torn, the sleeves slightly too long now. He wore it still—a remnant of who he was before everything turned.

A winding path led through narrow stone steps, descending into a forgotten valley below. Somewhere in those depths, the last known trace of Kaien Vell had surfaced. A Black Halo sighted nearly three decades ago, wandering these cursed paths.

The Hollow didn't welcome strangers. Superstition said its winds carried the cries of condemned mages, that mana turned foul here, that prayers were swallowed whole.

Perfect place for someone like him.

By dusk, Rai reached a cliff village carved into the side of a mountain. Worn houses. Empty wells. No guards, no churches—just shadows and memory. A tavern stood crooked near the square, its door barely hanging on its hinges.

Inside, firelight danced weakly across wooden walls. Only three people sat, heads low over clay mugs. They glanced up when Rai entered—his face cloaked, his steps quiet.

He approached the counter and pulled back his hood.

The barkeep—a woman with silver scars lining her cheek—froze mid-pour. Her eyes landed on the black shimmer floating above his head. A Halo unlike any other. Black as void. Silent. Still.

"Kaien Vell," Rai said plainly. "He was here, wasn't he?"

The woman didn't answer immediately. She slowly set the jug down.

"You're not the first who's come asking. But you'll be the last," she said. "Most who come looking for Black Halos don't live long enough to regret it."

Rai didn't flinch. "I don't regret anything anymore."

From the far corner, an old man with a weathered staff cleared his throat.

"If you want Kaien," he said, voice like cracked earth, "you'll need to go deeper. Past the Hollow. Into the fog woods."

"Is he alive?" Rai asked.

The old man only smiled.

"Ask the bones. They might remember."

Outside, the wind picked up again.

Rai looked up. The night sky stretched endlessly above him, and his Halo glowed faint black against the stars. It was quiet. Always quiet.

But somewhere beneath the silence… something stirred.

And Rai kept walking.

Author's Note:

Sorry this one came out a little later than I planned, but I really wanted to get the atmosphere and politics right before I pushed it out. Rai's finally moving—really moving—and now we're diving into the mystery behind others like him.

I'm pacing this story like how I'd read it if it were on a shelf—slow burn, heavy lore, and moments that hurt. Thank you for sticking with me. And hey, if you caught the name Kaien before… you're paying attention 🖤