đď¸Â Descent into the Unreal
Lucien lay in the Hall of Bone, eyes closed, mind focused.
All around him, his queens formed a protective circleâcasting wards, incantations, and binding rituals. Only Kaelira spoke:
"You're not going in physically.
You'll enter the Starborn's dreamâwhat it thinks is real.
If you die there, your soul dies here."
Lucien's last words before slipping under:
"If I don't wake up in an hour, burn everything. Even me."
And thenâdarkness.
đ Dreamless First
At first, there was nothing.
Not the peaceful kind.
The kind that hated being disturbed.
Lucien floated, naked in thought, before an impossible horizon. Colors had no name. Sounds wept sideways. Every heartbeat felt borrowed.
But in the distance⌠something pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
A rhythm.
A heartbeat.
đď¸Â He Who Dreams
The dream sharpened.
Suddenly, Lucien stood inside a cradle of starsâa nest of burning moons, black suns, and twitching sky-serpents. And in the center, floating mid-air like an unborn god:
A child.
But not just a child.
A silhouette of energyâshaped like a boy, maybe eight years old, with skin like liquid starlight and eyes like mirrors of galaxies.
It blinked.
Lucien's name echoed without words.
"Lucien."
He felt it inside his spine.
"You know me?" Lucien asked.
"I dreamed you," the child replied softly. "I see everything."
đąÂ The Godseed Speaks
Lucien circled slowly, not drawing power, not yet.
The child just floated, watching him with eerie calm.
"They call you the Third Sun," Lucien said.
"I call myself Nothing. Because they made me Everything."
Lucien gritted his teeth. "You're going to burn the world."
"Not because I want to," the boy whispered. "Because they will it. I'm their answer to the Crown. A god that doesn't command or destroyâone that replaces."
Lucien stepped closer. "And what do you want?"
The child paused.
"I want⌠to wake up.
And not be me."
Lucien's jaw tensed.
Because he recognized it.
That plea.
He'd made it too⌠once.
âď¸Â Mercy or Murder
The boy extended a hand.
Inside itâan impossible offer.
"Kill me now. Before they make me forget.
Before I become the sun."
Lucien blinked.
"You're asking me to end you. A child."
"Not a child. A godseed. A weapon. They're using my soul like fuel."
Lucien hesitated.
He could do it.
One soul-bind.
One severance of astral weave.
But something deeper stirred.
The Crown pulsed in protest.
The boy wasn't lying.
He was terrified.
"Why me?" Lucien asked.
"Because only someone who chose to die can understand what I'm asking."
And suddenly, the dream began to twist.
Because the gods had found him.
đĽÂ Invasion
The skies cracked.
Elysera's voice rang outânot in the dream, but in reality.
"Found him! Anchor himâdon't let him wake!"
The cradle of stars became a burning cage.
Lucien turned to the child.
"Trust me."
"Why?"
Lucien smiled.
"Because I'm worse than the gods."
𧠠Crown Overload
Lucien tapped into the Crown.
Not powerâmemory.
He fed the dream all of his past selves. All his horrors. All his triumphs. All his rage, his shame, his love. A full imprint of who he really was.
The child screamed.
But not in pain.
In awakening.
His body began to splitâdivine light rupturing, becoming unstable.
Lucien grabbed his arm and whispered:
"If you want to be more than a godâŚ
Be a person."
And then Lucien ripped his soul out of the dream.
đ Return to Reality
He gasped awake.
Serael caught him. Velka burned the summoning seals.
"Lucien?!"
He coughed, eyes wide. "He's not the threat. Not yet. He doesn't want to burn the world. But they'll force him to."
Kaelira frowned. "Then we kill the gods?"
Lucien shook his head.
"No."
He stood.
"We steal their weapon."
đď¸Â End of Chapter 14
đŁÂ CTA (Call-to-Action)
The Starborn is a living child-god, terrified of what he's becoming.
Should Lucien save him⌠or destroy him before he's turned into a weapon?
đŹ Comment your vote: Save or End?
đ Next Chapter:Â "Stealing a Star"
To save the Starborn child from becoming a god, Lucien must launch a rescue raidâinto the heart of the divine realm itself.
And the only one who knows the way⌠is Ardana.