📖 Chapter One
The Boy in the Library
The Royal Library of Elarion was silent — the kind of silence that pressed against the ears and made even breathing feel disrespectful.
Tall stained-glass windows filtered golden light across endless rows of ancient books. Dust floated lazily in the air like drifting spirits. Shelves stretched upward so high they disappeared into shadow.
And at the center of it all sat Aiden Vale.
He adjusted his glasses — a nervous habit — and carefully brushed dust from a cracked leather tome older than his grandfather's grandfather.
Most people in Elarion trained with swords.
Others trained with magic.
Aiden trained with pages.
At twenty years old, he was already one of the youngest archivists ever assigned to the restricted wing of the Royal Library. His mind was sharp, precise — he could remember entire passages after reading them once.
But bravery?
That was something books couldn't teach.
From outside the open balcony doors, he could hear the distant clang of swords in the courtyard. Knights training. Laughing. Competing.
Aiden glanced toward the sound for only a moment before lowering his gaze again.
"I don't belong out there," he muttered softly.
He belonged here — among ink, parchment, and forgotten stories.
Or so he believed.
The Forbidden Section
The restricted wing was not meant for apprentices to explore freely. But tonight, something unusual had caught Aiden's attention.
A book had been misplaced.
That almost never happened.
Every manuscript had its precise location. Aiden knew them all. But this one — an old volume bound in deep crimson leather — had been tucked behind a false shelf.
His heart pounded slightly.
"Strange…"
He pulled it free.
No title.
No author.
Only a symbol burned into the cover — a crown surrounded by flames.
The moment his fingers brushed the symbol, warmth pulsed through his hand.
He almost dropped it.
The air in the room shifted.
He hesitated… then opened it.
The Ember Crown
The first page was written in ancient Elarian script — a dialect few could still read.
Fortunately for the kingdom, Aiden could.
He leaned closer, whispering as he translated.
"When shadow devours the horizon and kings fall to fear,
Seek the Crown born of living flame.
Hidden where fire meets stone,
Guarded by oath and blood.
Only the worthy shall command its power."
Aiden's throat tightened.
The Ember Crown.
It wasn't just legend?
Every child in Elarion knew the bedtime story. The artifact forged by the first Flame King. The relic that once balanced light and darkness across the realm.
But historians considered it myth.
A metaphor.
Not real.
And yet… here was documentation. Specific. Detailed.
His pulse quickened.
If this was real — if the Crown truly existed — it could explain the recent strange events across the kingdom:
Crops failing near the northern borders
Villages swallowed by unnatural mist
Creatures appearing where none had been for centuries
Darkness was rising.
And the Crown had vanished long ago.
The Hidden Compartment
As Aiden turned another page, something thin slipped from between the parchment sheets.
A folded piece of vellum.
His fingers trembled as he opened it.
A map.
Not of the kingdom as it stood today — but older. Marked with faded ink and strange symbols. At the bottom corner was the same flame-crown insignia.
One location was circled.
The Ashen Veil Mountains.
A place no one dared to enter.
A place whispered about in taverns as cursed.
Aiden swallowed hard.
This wasn't just an old legend.
This was a trail.
And somehow… it had found him.
Footsteps in the Dark
A sudden sound echoed behind him.
Footsteps.
Not light and hurried like a fellow apprentice.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Aiden quickly folded the map and slid it inside his vest.
The crimson book followed.
He turned just as Master Corvin stepped into the lantern light.
The head archivist's silver hair shimmered like moonlight. His sharp eyes missed very little.
"Aiden," Corvin said calmly. "It is well past closing hours."
"I— I lost track of time, Master," Aiden replied, trying to steady his voice.
Corvin's gaze lingered on the empty shelf behind him.
"Indeed."
The silence stretched.
For a terrifying second, Aiden wondered if Corvin knew.
If he had been testing him.
Finally, Corvin spoke again.
"Be careful what knowledge you pursue, my boy. Some stories are buried for a reason."
Aiden's stomach tightened.
"Yes, Master."
Corvin turned and disappeared back into the darkness of the corridor.
But his words lingered in the air like smoke.
The Decision
Alone once more, Aiden's hands shook.
He pressed his back against the shelf.
This was madness.
He was an archivist. A scholar.
Not a hero.
Not a warrior.
Yet…
If the Crown was real…
If darkness was returning…
If no one else knew…
Then maybe…
Maybe this was his chance.
His chance to be more than the quiet boy in the library.
His chance to prove himself.
Aiden slowly reached into his vest and unfolded the map again.
The circled mark over the Ashen Veil Mountains seemed to glow faintly in the candlelight.
He inhaled deeply.
Then whispered the words that would change his life forever:
"I'm going."
Outside the library windows, clouds rolled across the moon.
And far beyond the kingdom walls…
Something ancient stirred.