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Arc 1 - Blind Faith
Blind Faith - Halovium
Written by - Ellien S. Vorein
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Her eyes were red — watery. Her hair was messy, her nose pink. Her lips were cherry-red.
When she said, "Happy… birthday," there was so much hope — yet so much sadness .As if those were her last words. As if she knew they were her final words. They were full of love… yet drowned in quiet dread.
For a moment, she just stood there, breathing softly — eyes glistening, as if searching for something in him. Then the air shifted.
He blinked ."What…"
As if she never got to finish her words, a hand closed around her head .It wasn't normal. Its shape was wrong — twisted, stretched, too human to be human .The skin rippled like wax under heat. Fingers where they shouldn't be .A palm that trembled like liquid glass.
The wind took a single breath — and forgot how to exhale.
"Hey…"
He spoke her name — yet it never left his throat. Is this a joke…?
He gritted his teeth. "I'll… save you."
He lunged forward, reaching for her small, delicate hand .And then — she was taken.
The man fell to his knees. He bit into his hands — once, twice — until blood dripped between his fingers .His shoulders trembled; his breath hitched and broke apart in small, uneven gasps .His eyes twitched — wide, unfocused, trembling between disbelief and madness.
I feel sick.I feel sick.I feel sick.
His eyes dimmed first. Then the warmth fled the room .Then the air itself stopped remembering how to move.
In the cold, a trace of her warmth lingered on his bitten hands ,and her final scent kissed the boy's nose.
- - -
It was the year 1549 A.S.
The world of Lythen was thriving — loud, bright, and impossibly alive. Magic threaded itself through cities and markets — through women, men, and children who danced and cried with sheer whimsy.
Yet in the quiet villages, the same magic drifted through the air — soft, patient, alive in every breath the world took.
In the capital, Velronia, four Guardians stood as both memory and myth — proof that even peace was once bought in blood.
Beyond the walls, the land stretched open and strange. Some said a sinister evil had once been sealed away, though no one could name what it was. The story changed each time it was told.
People worked, argued, and fell in love. They worried about the weather, rent, and gods that never answered them back. The world kept moving — the same as it always had.
And when history spoke of strength, it spoke of four flames.
Vivian, ranked first — the half-elf whose calm could silence storms. Her name was a prayer among mages, a symbol of grace carved from ruin.
Lucan, ranked second — the Astreion, strongest among them. His strength met no equal, whether man, monster, or devil; yet even he bowed to a heart he could never surpass.
Obellion, ranked third — the Colossal, a god of stone whose blade slept beside him until not even the strongest of evils could foresee its divine judgement.
Cyran, ranked fourth — the archer whose arrows sang louder than any hymn, the friend every soldier wished they'd met in another life.
Together, they were known simply as the Guardians — protectors not only of Velronia, but of the entire planet of Lythen. Their ranks were not titles of honour. They were echoes of what the world demanded from them.
***
The young man walked down a lane of grass and stone, the pillars around him fractured and worn. The trees whistled softly, singing with the passing breeze. The rain had finally died down.
"Kairo."
He remembered.
His father's voice echoed faintly in the back of his mind — the same voice that once spoke to him beneath the warmth and light of their old home.
The house had always smelt sweet — the air rich and soft, like honey. It was the scent of comfort, of safety, of home.
How many years had it been since that night? Since his father told him the story of the Dragon of Divinity?
As he wandered, his thoughts drifted back to Lagos. His hand clenched into a fist, grounding himself in the present — but the past bled through all the same.
"Legends say that Elvyvarine the Divine is a sacred dragon who lingers near the peak of Mount Halovium."
His father's words felt blurred now, eroded by time. Yet even so, they lingered — woven into his being like a whisper he could never quite forget.
He remembered himself as a boy, laughing — naïve, bright, and carefree.
"Dragons don't exist, Dad. What are you even talking about?"
He grinned as he said it, his voice soft and full of warmth.
But his father's reply came differently this time — stern, quiet, and trembling faintly at the edges of his breath.
"Kairo… I've heard that she can cure any sickness — any curse.Her power is absolute.She could be a great help to us."
Kairo could still see that look in his father's eyes.
I remember… Father had such a strange look in his eyes — eyes I'd never seen before. They were usually so bright, so strong, but this time… they looked cold and faint. Like a flame extinguishing itself and relighting again and again.
He hadn't understood it back then — that flicker between life and resignation. But now, walking alone through the dying rain, he finally did.
He exhaled softly. For a moment, he forgot that the rain had stopped. And still… he kept walking.
As he walked down the path, he saw fragments.
Broken glass…?
The thought slipped out instinctively.
There were strange shards scattered across the floor —yet when he reached down to pick one up,it passed straight through his hand.
It looked real,but the weight wasn't there.And still…he could feel the wetness behind it.
He swallowed.
He remembered this matter.How long had it been?How many years?Seven?Nine?
When he told his mother about the fragment he'd seen back then,she didn't look shocked or relieved or curious.
She had the same eyes.The same eyes the villagers had given him when they called him an abynt.
He didn't know why that memory made his heart sink —but the same glass was back.It formed a trail.
They vanished, yet he wasn't discouraged.If anything, something inside him shifted — quiet but certain.
He rose slowly, eyes tracing the faint glimmer scattered further ahead along the trail.The wind was still. The rain had long since stopped.Only those fragments gleamed in the dimming light — leading onward, higher up the hill.
He followed.
The climb was steep and silent, the ground damp beneath his boots. Moss clung to the stones, and the scent of rain lingered in the air — sharp, earthy, alive. Each step carried him further from the stillness of Lagos, further from the world he thought he knew.
And then he reached the top.
He froze mid-step. His breath caught. The world opened before him.
A cliff crowned with light — waterfalls spilling from the cliffs below, scattering mist that cooled his teeth and caught the sun like glass.Birds drifted through the haze, their wings slicing gold across the air.Caverns carved by time glowed faintly in the rock faces, and the wind sang through them like a quiet chorus.
It was breath-taking .
He stood there for a while, speechless, his heart struggling to decide between awe and ache.
Mother… so this is the world you abandoned us for.I see.
The sun kissed his skin.There was no anger in his voice — only wonder.If this was what she'd seen, what she'd found… he almost understood.For the first time, he couldn't blame her.
He smiled faintly, the wind brushing against his face as if to answer.
Although his brief sense of wonder was interrupted when he noticed someone in the distance.
And then he saw her.
A girl lay near the cliff's edge — shoulder-length hair drifting across her face, pale pink and uneven at the ends, as though the wind itself had shaped it.It framed her softly, each strand catching the light like threads of rose glass.
Her clothes looked rich and royal, fine fabric stitched with patterns he didn't recognise.Upon her head rested a small, delicate crown — bright and elegant, yet slightly too small for her, sitting awkwardly against her hair.
He froze.It was the first time he'd ever seen anyone beyond the city.And she looked as though she'd fallen from the sky.
He took a hesitant step forward.
The girl lay motionless near the edge of the cliff, her hair spilling across the stone like a soft blush against the grey.The faint glimmer of her crown caught what little light remained, scattering it in gentle arcs.
She looked… peaceful.Too peaceful.
Her breathing was steady.There were no scratches, no wounds — not even dust on her skin.She looked untouched, almost unreal, as if the world itself had placed her here with care.
And yet — there was something else.Even in her stillness, something about her face felt wrong.Not broken, not hurt… just quietly sad.The kind of sadness that doesn't come from pain, but from memory.
He couldn't explain it.He didn't even know why he felt it.But the longer he looked, the heavier that feeling became.
Why… are you sad?
The wind stopped.Not eased.Not slowed.Just… stopped.
The air froze.The mist from the waterfalls hung suspended, droplets of glass mid-fall.The world, for a single breath, refused to move.
He felt it — something waiting beneath.
Then the water shuddered.
Far below the cliff, the surface of the lake swelled outward, rising and falling as though something was breathing beneath it.The ripples turned black — not dark, but colourless — and from that blackness something vast began to rise.
At first, it looked like a shadow given shape, but the shape wouldn't stay still.It twisted, reshaping itself again and again — flesh and void fighting for form.A limb — or what might have been one — surfaced, then split, then reformed into something else entirely.The light around it bent and warped, unable to decide where the creature began or ended.
For a heartbeat, Kairo thought he was staring at the reflection of the sky.Then an eye opened within the dark — a single blue-white fracture that cut through the water like lightning.
He staggered back.His heart lurched into his throat.
"What… what the hell are you?" he trembled, forcing the words out louder than he intended.
Whatever it was, it dwarfed the cliff and the valley below, its shifting mass blotting out the light.Black tendrils rolled and folded in on themselves, reshaping again and again — a body that could not decide what it wanted to be.
A shapeshifting kraken — that was the only word his mind could find for it — yet even that felt wrong.The form refused to stay consistent, its anatomy rewriting itself faster than his eyes could follow.
It reeked of scents Kairo had never known before.It smelt like smoke, yet like honey.Like metal, yet like rot.Sweet and burning and poisonous all at once — as if every breath was being assaulted by a hundred clashing worlds.
The smell clung to his throat, metallic and sickly, filling his lungs until breathing felt like swallowing fire.The air no longer smelt of rain.
And then, through the flickering distortion, the creature seemed to notice him.
The black mass rippled again, as if trying to understand.Its surface convulsed, folds shifting, lines dragging themselves into place.Something like a face began to take form.
It struggled with itself — tendrils flattening, stretching, breaking apart, reforming — until the movements slowed.And then, slowly, painfully, it mimicked a human smile.
Ear to ear.Too wide.Too stretched.Too deliberate.A grin that didn't belong to any living thing.
It was trying to be human.
Kairo's stomach turned.His chest tightened.His breathing broke rhythm.He could feel his body rejecting what he was seeing.
The creature didn't move.Didn't breathe.Didn't blink.It simply kept smiling — as if proud of what it had learned.
Kairo's body moved before his mind could catch up.His breath hitched, his muscles tightened — primal, involuntary.Every nerve screamed run before he even knew he was afraid.
He bit his thumb — hard.The sting barely registered.His pulse was too loud, his breathing too fast.
His hand found the dull katana.The grip felt heavier than it ever had before.He was shaking.
He looked at the girl — still lying there, unmoving.At the thing — still smiling, still watching.At his hands — trembling, slick with sweat.
This is bad…
Then back at her.Then at the thing again.Then his hands again.Then her again.
The world spun in that rhythm — girl, thing, hands.Girl.Thing.Hands.
Until his vision blurred and his heartbeat drowned out thought.
This is really bad… Why now, of all times…?
He breathed through his teeth, trying to force his body to listen.It wouldn't.The air felt too thin.His chest refused to open.Every nerve screamed move while every muscle locked.
Then he looked at the thing one last time.The grin hadn't moved.It was still there — patient, waiting.
Kairo's jaw tightened.He raised the blade.The world held its breath with him.And he ran.
The creature — that shapeshifting mass of shadow and flesh — hadn't moved towards him.It wasn't even looking at him anymore.Its focus had shifted.Past him.To the girl.
He followed its gaze — his stomach twisting.It didn't move its feet. It didn't breathe.It simply tilted its head back, and its mouth began to open.
Mid-air, a small, burning sphere formed before it — blinding and silent.A light so bright it distorted the air around it.Fire, yet not fire.A star — crushed into the size of a heartbeat.
Kairo's body froze.Is that… fire?No. Magic. Stop shaking.
The sphere pulsed once.The air split.
He didn't think.He dropped his blade, dirt scattering beneath his boots as he turned and sprinted.
The girl lay motionless near the edge of the cliff — fragile, weightless, unreal.He grabbed her without hesitation, arms wrapping around her shoulders.Her body was cold, light as breath — so light it felt like even holding her might break her.
The light from behind him flared.He didn't look back.He ran.
The cliff vanished beneath his feet.The wind roared.Gravity took hold.
He held her tight. Wind tore at his back, cold and endless.The lake rushed up beneath them — and then the light behind him ignited.
The cliff vanished beneath his feet.
Then he jumped off the cliff, bracing for impact.
The crashing water waited below.
He tensed himself.
It wasn't fire. It wasn't even light. It was pressure — reality folding in on itself.
The star detonated.
Sound vanished first. Then came the ringing — sharp, constant, buried deep in his skull.The world became deafeningly silent.
Even as they fell, he felt the shockwave ripple through the air — not like wind, but like gravity itself had convulsed.The surface of the lake shuddered before they even touched it, waves curling inward instead of out.
Boulders were torn from the cliffs and dropped, yet not one made a sound when they hit.They struck the ground and broke apart in silence — no echo, no crash, nothing.
The ringing grew louder, unbearable.Smoke rolled across the sky — not black, not white, but a strange pale grey that shimmered as if it couldn't choose a colour.It poured upward, spiralling around the dying light, swallowing everything above.
Kairo couldn't tell if he was still screaming.His voice was gone. His breath burned. His arms tightened around the girl as the shockwave overtook them.
Even underwater, he could feel it — the vibration of something vast and wrong pressing against his bones.The lake twisted and recoiled, water pulled in every direction at once.It wasn't just an explosion. It was the world forgetting what sound, weight, and distance meant.
And through all of it — the smoke, the ringing, the silence —the only thing he could hear was his own heartbeat.
Her wet hair dripped onto his skin.It was so silent.So tight.He could smell the blood through her body.Hear his own heartbeat.Even hear the void of space.
He grabbed her shoulder and shook her slightly."Hey… wake u—"
The ground trembled.
From beneath the surface of the lake, something began to rise again.Not waves.Not foam.Something else.
It broke through the surface — a shape too large, too wrong.At first, it looked like a bear.But the longer he looked, the less sense it made.
Its body was pitch black, dripping with a substance darker than water.Limbs folded and unfolded the wrong way.The shape of its spine twisted and stretched, its anatomy constantly rewriting itself — as if the creature couldn't decide what it was meant to be.
The shapeshifting creature rose higher, dragging ripples that refused to spread.
Kairo's breath hitched. His knees nearly gave out.He could feel the air thinning, pressure closing around his chest.His vision blurred, and for a second, he thought he might pass out.
What was I thinking…
The creature leaned forward. The lake stilled beneath it.It opened its mouth.No teeth.No tongue.Only black tendrils spilling outward — twisting, curling, pulsing as if tasting the air.
I really thought I…
His hands clenched. He grabbed the top of his drenched white shirt, fumbling with the buttons.The fabric clung to him — heavy, suffocating.He tore it open, gasping for air.
…could just be happy.
The creature stilled.Its formless head tilted slightly, almost curious.For a long, unbearable moment, it simply watched him.
Then it crouched.Its wings began to form — or unform — transmuting through its own body, folding through flesh and void until they disappeared.
And then it jumped.Straight into the sky.
It moved with such impossible force that the air split apart.The shockwave tore through the lake, the trees, the valley itself.Waves erupted outward in spirals, the wind howled into existence, the birds screamed, the waterfalls resumed their endless fall — the entire world snapped back into motion.
The silence shattered.The universe breathed again.
Kairo dropped to his knees, gasping for air.His heart hammered so loudly he could barely hear himself think.
The silence had ended.But somehow, it felt worse than before.
He looked down.The girl still hadn't moved.