Golden odyssey

The twilight painted the sky with a blood-red hue as the guards dragged Eryndal into the depths of the palace. His wrists were shackled with iron chains, but his mind was boiling.

— Here is your cell, slave, one of the jailers spat, shoving him into a dark room.

The doors slammed shut with a heavy thud. The air was thick, saturated with humidity. Eryndal leaned against the stone wall and closed his eyes. He had promised to reveal the emperor's dream... but how? He couldn't control his gift. The call of the Seven Divinities still echoed in his mind, but no response came.

Hours stretched on. In the darkness, his breath was the only sound that could be heard. Then, suddenly, a strange sensation took hold of him. His eyelids grew heavy, a shiver ran down his spine.

The world tilted.

A warm breeze brushed his face. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in his cell. He stood on a floor of black marble, at the foot of a colossal statue.

It was her. The one from the emperor's dream.

She towered over the horizon, unmoving, imposing. The gold of her head gleamed under a light that seemed to come from nowhere. The silver of her torso caught every reflection. The bronze of her abdomen appeared etched with unreadable inscriptions. And her iron legs sank deeply into the ground, where her feet of iron and clay were already cracking.

— This dream... Eryndal murmured.

He knew he hadn't dreamed this on his own. Something—or someone—had brought him here.

A sound echoed behind him.

He turned around quickly.

A hooded figure stood there. Tall, imposing, emanating an ancient, oppressive aura. Their face was hidden beneath a dark hood, yet Eryndal could feel their gaze piercing his soul.

— The child who walks between dreams... The stranger's voice was like an echo through time. The First Seal is cracking... and Fate is written in blood.

Eryndal tried to speak, but his throat was tight. The stranger then raised their hand and pointed to the statue.

— Look.

Before their eyes, a stone appeared from nowhere, slicing through the sky. It hurtled toward the statue at a terrifying speed, striking its fragile feet.

The impact was devastating.

The iron and clay legs shattered into a thousand fragments. In an instant, the statue collapsed, each part scattering like dust swept away by the wind.

But the stone did not vanish. It grew. It swelled, growing larger and larger, until it became a colossal mountain that covered the entire horizon.

Eryndal gasped for breath. This dream... this vision...

The stranger approached him and whispered in his ear a phrase he would never forget:

— He who understands the dream masters the future. But he who ignores it... will be crushed by it.

Everything went black.

Eryndal suddenly opened his eyes, his body covered in sweat. He was back in his cell. But this time, he knew.

The emperor's dream now belonged to him.

And with it, the key to his destiny.