Ash and starlight

---

Prologue

Long before kingdoms rose and fell, before names were carved into stone and memory, the world was ruled not by men - but by magic.

It flowed like rivers through the land, wild and untamed, answering to no one. But when the Ancients came - beings of immense power, neither mortal nor god - they bound it. Shaped it. Caged it in spells and songs. And they warned the world of one prophecy.

> "When the moon bleeds red and the stars tremble,
A child will be born bearing the mark of Aralith.
Magic shall awaken.
The veils will tear.
And the fate of all worlds will rest in her hands."

For thousands of years, it was nothing more than a myth.

Until the night the blood moon rose again.

In a forgotten corner of the kingdom, where the sky seemed to stretch endlessly and the wind whispered of things long buried, a baby girl opened her eyes for the first time - and the world shifted.

None knew it then.

Not the mother who clutched her child in awe and fear.

Not the midwives who crossed themselves and prayed to forgotten gods.

Not even the Seers cloistered in the white spires of the Capitol, whose mirrors cracked and whose flames danced wildly as the child drew her first breath.

But the mark upon her forehead gleamed with ancient power.

And in the dark corners of the world, something woke up - something that had been waiting for her.

Watching.

Whispering.

Waiting to see if she would be the salvation of the realm...

Or its ruin.

---