The moon hung low that night—too low. Rin could feel it, even if no one else noticed.
She stood alone by the old shrine, wind tugging at her silver-white hair. The village festival had ended hours ago, but sleep wouldn't come. Not with that voice still echoing in her mind.
> "Daughter of the Dawn… you belong to me."
She pressed a trembling hand to her chest. The voice didn't feel like a dream. It was ancient, deep—more like a memory not her own.
And tonight, it was stronger.
The shrine's stone base was cracked. No one remembered when that had happened. The elders said it had always been like that, but Rin… she knew better. Every year, the crack grew deeper. And tonight, it bled light.
A faint glow—red, like embers. Like a wound that had just reopened.
> "This is wrong," Rin whispered, stepping closer.
"Why does it feel like… something's waking up?"
As she placed her hand on the stone, it pulsed beneath her skin. A chain, unseen by mortal eyes, wrapped itself around her wrist with a hiss. Heat seared through her veins.
She screamed.
The sigil burned into her skin—an intricate circle of runes and chains, glowing with cursed light.
> "One link… forged."
The voice again. Louder this time. Closer.
She staggered back, clutching her arm. Her vision blurred. She saw things that shouldn't exist. A throne of black stone. Floating chains. A figure, immense and cloaked in void, eyes burning like dying stars.
He sat motionless… until he smiled.
---
Far below the surface, in a cavern older than time, the chains began to rattle.
Seven women—goddesses, queens, spirits—sat in silence around a dark altar. Eyes hollow. Power drained. Souls bound.
A single voice echoed in the darkness.
> "After ten thousand years… the seal breaks. My vessel awakens."
Xal'Tharos opened his eyes.
---
Back on the surface, Rin collapsed. Her heartbeat slowed. The sigil faded, but the pain didn't.
Kai, her childhood friend, found her moments later. He dropped to his knees, shaking her shoulders.
> "Rin! Rin, wake up!"
Her eyes opened—and for a moment, they weren't hers.
Silver light. Alien focus. Chains reflected in her irises.
Then… she blinked, and it was gone.
But the first link had been forged.
And the world would never be the same.
---
[To be continued…]