"There is always a land missing from every kingdom's history. Ask why."
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Rhaelor stood alone in the royal cartographer's vault beneath the old capital.
Maps from every dynasty lined the walls — ancient, cracked parchments and golden ink from empires long turned to dust. He'd seen them all before.
But this time, he wasn't looking for land.
He was looking for a scar.
And he found it.
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Near the border of the Dying Wastes and the sea, a piece of every map was always smudged — erased, scorched, or simply left blank.
It wasn't just forgotten.
It was forbidden.
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He traced the outline with a gloved finger. No name. No path.
But then he remembered the scroll from Siyara's vision — the line that echoed like prophecy:
> "Until the sword is turned against the gods themselves."
And suddenly, the burn mark on his chest throbbed again.
Not pain — but direction.
---
In a hidden drawer beneath the royal globe, he found an old journal — the last record of an explorer named Kaien of the East.
The final entry:
> "The land we call 'Nocthera' is not on any map because it is not meant to be reached.
Its mountains breathe. Its rivers remember. And at the heart of it… the blade sleeps beneath a mirrored tree.
We lost half our crew trying to leave. The others forgot we'd ever been. I should not remember either.
But something in me burns to return."
— Kaien, Year 92 After Flame
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Rhaelor slammed the journal shut.
This was it.
The place not even kings dared name.
The place they were always meant to return to.
Nocthera — the scar on the gods' throat.
---
Back at her camp, Siyara stared into the fire, murmuring in trance.
> "He's going," she whispered.
Maari blinked. "Where?"
> "Where they buried the first truth," she said.
Her eyes had changed. The golden flickers had returned.
> "
And the blade is waking."
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End of Chapter 15: The Scar on the King's Map
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