The book was open on his lap.
His grandfather's voice was slow and heavy.
"This story," he said, "begins long before your time...
long before Beijing, machines, or flying skies."
China — 1400 BC
The Age of Huaxia
There was a land in ancient China.
It was not a land that was marked on maps.
It was a secret village, surrounded by towering mountainsand thick mist. The mountains were so high that clouds slept on their peaks,wrapped like thick blankets. Snow fell on the higher trails, and only monks andwarriors ventured there.
The air was pure.
The nights were still.
And the mountains held secrets older than time.
At the very summit of the mountain, a man sat in deepmeditation.
His name was WéixiǎnWang.
For 100 years, he sat unmoving at the edge of the mountain,his eyes closed and breathing slowly. Dark symbols were carved into the stonebeneath him. Not for peace.
Not for wisdom.
For power.
WéixiǎnWang believed that only the darkness would reveal the path to Shambala. Byforbidden means, he sought the hidden path to the sacred realm.
Then—
Darkened the sky.
Through the mountain, a wind howled.
From the heavens, a black shadow fell.
It had no shape.
No face.
Just a darkness...
And a horrific smile.
It stood before WéixiǎnWang.
A Dark God.
"You have waited well," the shadow whispered.
"Your efforts please us."
Wéixiǎnopened his eyes.
"I seek Shambala," he said. "Tell me the way."
The shadow laughed softly.
"Shambala's doors open once every 500 years," it said.
"The next opening will come in 100 years."
The shadow raised its dark form.
"I will give you the route.
I will give you powers strong enough to fight even thedragons of Shambala."
Wéixiǎnbowed.
"But I ask for one thing," he said.
"Give me healing powers.
I do not wish to die."
The shadow grew silent.
Then it answered:
"You will not die by age or illness.
But remember—
you can die by your own blood... by your own hands."
Wéixiǎnsmiled.
"My family will never kill me," he said.
The shadow laughed again.
Dark energy wrapped around Wéixiǎn's body.
Power entered his veins.
Darkness became his ally.
That night was remembered as The
Dark Night—
the night when evil gained strength,
when dark worlds touched the human realm,
and when shadows learned to live among men.
On that very night, a child was born.
A boy.
His name was Kai.
Wéixiǎnsmiled. And yet there was hunger in his eyes.
That night, the rocks began to sing.
Not wind. Not echo. A soft, flowing song, like a motherhumming to a child no other could see.
Kai's goats heard it first. They ran towards it, panicked,bells clashing. Rain lashed like needles on Kai's flesh as he chased after, onhis hands and knees.
The elders told of "the valley that ate curious boys."
But the song ran through Kai's teeth, through his ribs,through the salt of his sweat.
Then
The mist parted, like a dying breath.
Before him lay Shambala.
The air was like crushed emeralds.
Trees with trunks of braided silver rose to canopies ofburning fire blossoms.
A river of glowing molten sapphire ran through it.
At its heart, a female dragon of living crystal.
Her wings stretched out over the valley like shatteredstained glass.
Her breast was cracked open, revealing a pulsing BlueDiamond.
It beat like a heart. It sang.
Near her lay a male dragon, ancient and watchful.
This was a land of animals that would never die. Of magicthat filled the air. Of power that was old and endless.
The female dragon ruled over Shambala.
She was older than time itself.
There were ten diamonds, each with a unique power. Allcombined, they had the power to rule over Shambala.
The Blue Diamond was her heart.
Kai returned home, trembling with excitement.
"Grandpa," he said, out of breath, "I saw it. Shambala."
Wéixiǎn's smile grew bigger.
"Good," he said. "The door will open in 85 years."
Kai's eyes blazed with passion.
"Then we shall enter together."
Wéixiǎnnodded.
"Yes. Together." The years went by.
Wéixiǎntaught Kai martial arts, dark magic, and forbidden chains. Every day, Kaibecame stronger and more ruthless. His mind was sharp, quiet, and starving.
He wanted Shambala.
He ceased to listen to his parents.
He ceased to care.
Years went by
Kai married a beautiful woman. A child was born.
Even then, his heart remained empty.
That night, Kai did not sleep.
Kai went out of his home barefoot. The ground was cold andbiting. The grass cut his feet like teeth.
The forest watched him. Insects ceased to buzz as he passedby. The wind recoiled from him.
Kai knelt down where the darkness was the thickest. Heslowed his breathing. He went down into the place inside himself wheresomething was waiting.
The darkness moved.
It was not a voice. It was a pressure. A weight. As thoughsome huge beast was shifting in the night, turning one eye toward him.
His chest was burning as though the night was breathingthrough him.
And then it spoke.
Not out loud. Inside his bones.
"To enter my world..."
The words crawled through him, cold and intimate, like clawstracing his spine.
"...you must give your own family's blood."
The earth beneath Kai trembled, just enough to be felt.Somewhere far away, an animal screamed—and cut off abruptly.
Kai did not move.
The darkness waited.
Kai did not hesitate.
Kai returned home before dawn.
The house slept.
He sat alone in the dark, rehearsing the voice again andagain.
Family's blood.
The words no longer seemed cruel.
They seemed... inevitable.
He stood up.
The knife felt heavy in his hand, not because of its weight,but because of its significance.
The night lamp was lit inside his parents' room. His motherwas asleep, unaware of everything. Kai gazed at her face. It was the face thatused to bend down to wipe away his tears.
For an instant, something inside him shook.
Then it steeled itself.
A smile, an improper smile, spread out on his face.
His shadow moved.
His mother's eyes opened once. Not in terror. Inrecognition.
Tears fell silently down her temples.
It wasn't about death.
It was about death by the hands she gave life to.
Silence.
Footsteps.
A gasp.
His father stopped in the doorway.
Grief caused him to fall to his knees.
Kai turned to him.
"I'm sorry, Dad," he said softly.
"I need this."
The light went out.
When the screams finally shattered the silence, the housewas already empty.
Morning came.
His grandfather arrived to a home that no longer felt likeone.
The walls were marked.
The center of the room was occupied by a truth that nograndfather should ever face.
Kai stood before it, calm, composed.
"Everything for Shambala, Grandpa."
The old man understood then.
He turned to run.
Too late.
The dark had already chosen its heir.
As he felt life ebb away, he remembered the words he onceread as he gazed upon that ancient prophecy:
"You will die by blood that shares your name."
Kai drank deeply—not from hunger, but from awakening.
The power answered.
He walked through the villagecarrying silence with him.
People backed away.
No one spoke.
At the place where the shadow hadfirst answered him, the Dark God waited.
The heads were taken.
The voice returned, pleased.
"Welcome to the Dark Land, Kai