Chapter 2....
The Gravemarch Basin lay quiet beneath the shadows of its three colossal mountains. Mist curled around jagged cliffs, and the only sound was the distant roar of the underground forges, where dwarves hammered steel into weapons that could cleave gods.
Nox stood on a plateau, his black cloak whipping in the cold wind. His eyes, sharp and almond-shaped, scanned the horizon. The valley below was silent, but he could feel the pulse of life stirring. His kingdom would not be built in whispers—it would roar.
The First Allies
The first to answer his call were the Grimforge Dwarves, led by Bromm Ironveil, a stocky warrior with arms like iron bands.
"You call yourself Nox," Bromm said, his voice a low rumble. "Why should we follow a boy who was nothing before?"
Nox's jaw tightened. He stepped closer, and the wind seemed to still around him.
"Because this time," he said, his voice cold as obsidian, "I will not fail. And anyone who stands with me will shape the world, not just survive it."
The dwarves studied him. Their eyes, trained to detect strength, narrowed. A few hours later, Bromm nodded.
"We follow," he said. "But mark my words—one weakness, and you die."
First Trial
It was not long before the first challenge arrived.
From the abyss beneath the mountains emerged Shadow Beasts—creatures with elongated limbs and teeth like jagged glass. They moved silently, but Nox sensed them before they appeared.
He drew his jagged sword, the one forged by the first of the dwarves. Light caught on the blade, reflecting a spectrum of cold fire.
The beasts lunged.
And Nox moved.
His strikes were precise, brutal, almost surgical. Each swing cut clean, each motion calculated. The beasts fell one after another. But one, larger than the rest, broke through. Its claws tore through the plateau's stone, and Nox felt the shock vibrate through his arms.
He smiled.
This was not fear. This was… hunger.
"Come."
With a roar, he leapt. The jagged sword met the beast's skull, and a shockwave of power threw the remaining creatures back into the shadows.
When the last beast fell, silence returned. But Nox knew the valley was watching. Not just the beasts—all the hidden eyes of Astraeon.
The Name of Power
That night, around the fires of the dwarves' forge, Nox spoke.
"This land," he said, voice steady, unwavering, "will remember the name Noxara. A kingdom born from shadows, forged in blood, and ruled by those who dare to rise."
The dwarves, magicians, and beast-folk around him remained silent, but in their eyes was the spark of belief.
For the first time, Nox felt it—not victory, not power—but control.
"I am no longer the boy who was left to die," he whispered into the wind.
"This time… the world will kneel, or it will fall."
Foreshadowing
Far beyond the mountains, in the distant lands of Astraeon, three figures watched from shadows. Familiar faces, unrecognized by Nox, yet etched deep into his past.
"He has returned," one whispered.
"And this time… nothing will save him."
The wind carried their words across the mountains. Nox did not hear them. But the first threads of destiny had already begun to weave.
And thus, the first blood of Noxara was spilled—not in betrayal, but in the awakening of power that would one day shake the world.