The War That Woke Up
The sky of the Broken Realm was never fully dark. It was filled with cracks of glowing white, purple, and silver light—like a shattered mirror holding the sky together. Leo and Max stood on the floating cliff beside Lyra as strange winds moved upward instead of sideways.
Lyra closed her glowing book slowly.
"You two should understand something," she said. "Your arrival didn't only alert the Hunters of Ruin."
Leo frowned. "Who else knows?"
Lyra pointed at the sky.
"The entire Broken Realm felt your entry."
Max blinked. "That sounds bad."
Lyra nodded. "It is."
She tapped her book. The pages flipped on their own, stopping on a page that showed a drawing of a young man with glowing silver eyes—Leo.
Max gulped. "Wait… why is Leo in your book?!"
Lyra avoided Leo's eyes. "The sky changed when you arrived. New cracks opened. Your energy… it awakened something that has been sleeping for thousands of years."
Leo felt that same pressure again—the strange force that had been watching him since he touched Ella's photo.
"Something woke up… because of me?"
"No," Lyra said. "Because of the mark you carry."
"The mark… from the strange voice?" Leo asked.
Lyra nodded.
"That voice is feared here. Anything connected to it wakes the Realm."
Suddenly—
BOOOM!
The cliff shook. Cracks spread across the floating rocks.
Max stumbled back.
"AH—what now?!"
Lyra grabbed Leo's arm and pointed to the sky.
A massive shadow rose from the clouds below. It wasn't human. It wasn't beast. It was something else—something made of bones, smoke, and broken chains.
Leo stepped back.
"What… is that?"
Lyra whispered with fear,
"A War Wraith. A guardian of the old Broken Realm. They only wake when someone powerful arrives."
Max yelled,
"SO WE DID WAKE IT?!"
The creature roared, shaking the entire floating landscape. Its voice boomed like twenty storms.
"THE MARKED ONE… HAS RETURNED!"
Leo's heart dropped.
"Returned? What does that mean?!"
Lyra didn't answer.
Instead she pushed both boys aside as the War Wraith swung a massive claw at them.
Leo rolled away, pulling Max up.
"RUN!"
The ground under them cracked and split apart. Floating rocks rose like stairs into the sky.
The Wraith chased them, smashing pieces of the realm behind them.
Lyra shouted from ahead,
"Leo, your power! Use it!"
"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT!"
"You don't need to know," she said. "Just trust your instinct!"
Leo gritted his teeth and raised his hand. Silver light flickered around his palm.
The Wraith roared again and launched a blast of dark fire.
Leo pushed his hand forward.
FWHOOOM—!!
A wave of silver energy exploded out, meeting the dark fire and breaking it apart like dust.
Max yelled, "BRO!! YOU DID IT!!"
Leo stared at his own glowing hand.
"That wasn't me… it moved on its own."
Lyra's eyes widened.
"No… something inside you reacted."
The Wraith was already gathering another attack.
Lyra tightened her grip on her book.
"We can't kill it. It's too strong. But we can seal it!"
"How?!" Leo shouted.
"Your mark," Lyra said. "The mark on your chest responds to cracks in this realm. You just awakened it."
"I did?!"
Leo looked down. A faint silver symbol glowed through his shirt.
Lyra raised her book high.
"When I say NOW, hit the Wraith with your energy!"
The Wraith shrieked and charged.
Lyra shouted—
"NOW!!"
Leo lifted his hand. The mark burned. Power burst out like a silver storm.
BOOOOOOM!!
The blast slammed the Wraith backward. Lyra opened her book and chains of light shot out, wrapping around the creature, forcing it inside a glowing crack in the sky.
The sky sealed.
Silence returned.
Max collapsed on the ground.
"Never again… never… again…"
Leo breathed hard, staring at his hands.
"I didn't even control it. It acted itself."
Lyra closed her book.
"That's because your power doesn't belong to you yet."
Leo looked up.
"What does that mean?"
Lyra stared at him seriously.
"It means something else… someone else… is connected to you."
Leo blinked.
"Someone… like who?"
Lyra's voice turned cold.
"The Unknown One."
Leo froze.
Max stared.
"The who??"
Lyra continued,
"The Broken Realm believes the Unknown One is the most dangerous existence ever created. A being so powerful even time refuses to touch him… and you are marked by him."
Leo felt a chill down his spine.
She stepped closer, pointing at his chest.
"And now that the War Wraith awakened, the entire Broken Realm will come for you."
Leo swallowed.
"The entire Realm…? Why?"
Lyra whispered:
"Because you are the beginning…
or the end."
The sky cracked again—this time smaller, sharper.
More eyes were watching.
More forces were moving.
Leo finally realized:
His real journey had just begun.
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