Prologue
Past
Aralyn's hands trembled as she held a black, leather-bound book, thick, worn, and older than any living soul. Her swollen belly pushed against the fabric of her long black dress, stretching the once delicate white floral patterns almost beyond recognition.
She stared at the cover of the book, her fingers tightening. She had read it several times. But tonight, it felt different. Heavier. Like it knew what was about to happen.
She walked to the center of the candlelit room and lowered herself to the floor, ignoring the ache in her legs. The shadows on the walls danced with every flicker of the flames, whispering stories that only she could hear.
Her breath caught as she opened the book.
The first page held a phrase etched in trembling ink:
"Let this never be forgotten."
She turned the page slowly, her hand instinctively resting on her belly.
"Thousands of years ago, the realms lived divided — Fire, Water, Ice, Earth, Shadow, and the sealed Realm of Beasts."
The baby shifted inside her, as if listening. Aralyn swallowed, eyes scanning further.
"Each realm had its laws, its rulers, its pride. There was no peace. But there was balance. Until a child was born, carrying all five elemental gifts."
She froze.
She had read that line a hundred times, but tonight, it was unbearable. It matched everything she had feared these past months.
The flames in her dreams. The creeping chill in her blood. The earth's whispers. The sudden weight of water as it clung to her skin. The shadows… turning silent.
No Shadow wielder like her should feel the other elements. And yet… she did.
That was when she'd returned to this book, hidden deep in the ruins beneath the old Shadow archives , a sacred, cursed history kept away from the world. Every realm had a copy, passed secretly among trusted scholars and feared by the ignorant.
They called it a myth. A bedtime horror story. But Aralyn knew it was the truth, because the impossible was growing inside her.
"That child," the text continued, "was not a savior. He was power without limit. He united no one. Instead, he conquered. And when the clans resisted, he crushed them. The shadow realm went extinct during that time. He had eliminated every single last one to use as a lesson for the rest of the realms."
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.
"He burned cities. Froze rivers. Split mountains. He shattered the seal to the Beast Realm, allowing monsters to spill into the world, slaughtering millions. The remaining four realms joined forces only when their very survival was threatened. And still, it took everything to stop him."
She clenched her fists.
"He was only nineteen when he died."
Tears blurred her vision, but she quickly wiped it away.
"A pact was formed. A cycle, repeating every two centuries. One child. One wielder. If the blood moon appeared, a phenomenal sign and prophecy that the child had been born, then that child was to be killed before the power awakened.
She shut the book with a thud.
The sound echoed through the empty room like a sentence passed.
Aralyn had waited ten years for this child.
She and her husband had tried everything, spells, healers, ancient rites no one dared speak of anymore. Nothing worked. Until it did.
Until now.
Her husband… was already gone.
Killed three years ago when the High Council sent flames through the Shadow Clan to erase them completely, her husband had sacrificed his life to save her and the baby in her womb. The only few Shadow weilders left were all killed unjustly.
For fear of the next five-element wielder.
The last one had come from the Earth Clan. Before that, Ice. Before that, Water. Before that, Fire. Now… it was supposed to be Shadow's turn.
But they had ensured there would be no Shadow left.
No bloodline, no heir, And the child would never be born, which would finally end the circle. Or so they believed.
And that was her advantage.They thought the cycle had ended, but it hadn't.
Her baby, the child in her belly...he was that child. This baby was all she had left of her husband, of her clan, of herself...she wasn't going to let anything happen to him.
"I wouldn't allow anyone take you from me."
---
Five Days Later
The horses stumbled over loose rocks as the cart rattled along the forest path. Thunder rolled far above, clouds swelling with the promise of rain. But Aralyn barely noticed.
She crouched low in the cart, one hand gripping the wooden side, the other cradling her stomach as pain carved its way through her spine.
The contractions had started hours ago.
They were worse now, sharper.
She bit her lip hard to stop the scream that threatened to escape. Her mouth filled with blood, but she didn't care.
She couldn't let anyone hear her. No one could know what she was about to give birth to, which was why she had decided to move far away from town to birth this child.
The last of her magic was shielding the cart. She had drained every drop to mask her presence, to suppress the pulse of the child's growing power. She could still feel the five elements swirling in him, raw, unfiltered. He was already strong, and he wasn't even born yet.
Her vision blurred. She bit her tongue to stay awake. She couldn't pass out. Not now.
The child shifted again in her belly. Her whole body felt like it was being ripped open from the inside.
And then, as the cart jolted violently over a large rock, Aralyn let out a sharp cry. Her hand flew to her stomach.
"No… not yet… please…"
But it was happening.
There was no more waiting.
The baby was coming.
---
Hours Later...
The storm had broken.
Rain poured from the sky, turning the dirt into mud and soaking her to the bone.
Aralyn sat beneath the twisted roots of an old tree near the riverbank. Her hands were stained with blood. Her black dress was torn, soaked through with sweat, rain, and tears. In her arms… was her son.
She stared at him in silence.
He was quiet. Too quiet. But his tiny chest moved, rising and falling with each breath. His fingers were curled into small fists. He didn't cry. He only stared at her, wide-eyed, like he somehow understood the weight already placed on his shoulders.
Aralyn's lips trembled.
"Hey…" she whispered softly. "You're so beautiful…you look just like your father..."
Tears mixed with rain on her cheeks.
"I wanted to name you something strong. Something that would make you proud. But I don't have that right anymore… I won't be there to see you grow."
The baby blinked slowly.
Her throat tightened.
"I wanted to raise you with love. I wanted you to meet your father. I wanted you to feel safe. But you… you weren't born safe, were you?"
She looked down at the shaking palm of her free hand. A faint purple glow flickered weakly, her last bits of magic.
She pulled the cloth tighter around her son and laid him carefully on a large, flat stone beside her. Then she placed both her hands gently over his chest.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But if I don't seal your powers… they'll find you. They'll know, because the blood moon would announce your arrival."
She bit her lip hard and forced herself to focus.
Her remaining power surged forward. And then, Shadow, fire, water, ice, earth — all the traces she had felt in him — all five elements swirled inside his tiny body, barely contained. It wasn't normal. No child should ever have that much power.
No newborn should feel like… this.
Aralyn gritted her teeth.
Her eyes began to bleed tears of magic, purple trails running down her face as the sealing ritual burned her from the inside.
"I bind you," she whispered. "I lock away what the world fears. You will grow as a boy with no gift. With no sign. With no danger."
Her hands glowed white for a moment, then nothing.
Her magic was gone, Completely.
She gasped for air, her chest heaving as her head dropped forward.
The baby gave a small cry, his first sound, and Aralyn let out a wet laugh.
"Good… that's good. You're alive…"
With the last of her strength, she wrapped him in a dry piece of cloth she had hidden in her robes. She stood up slowly, legs shaking. Every part of her ached. Her body was shutting down. She wasn't going to last much longer.
But there was one last thing to do.
She walked, step by step, to the edge of the forest. Down the small slope. Past the broken fence. And stopped in front of a quiet cottage.
No guards. No magic.
Just a small home with warm lights inside.
She gently laid the baby at the doorstep.
And then she crouched low, pressing her lips to his forehead.
"Please…" she whispered, her voice shaking. "Grow up happy. Please be kind. Please don't let them make you a monster. Please don't become the one thing they feared."
She stood back, tears flowing freely now.
"Please… be safe."
Then she turned and ran.
She didn't get more than twenty steps before her legs gave out and she stumbled down the muddy slope, crashing into the cold river at the bottom.
The current pulled her under.
And just before the darkness took her completely, she whispered one final word.
"…Please."