Prologue
A Deal in the Dark
3200 a.C - Heliopolis
The room was dim, lit only by the cold, flickering glow of the sun outside. Shadows clung to every corner as if the light feared to touch the truth hidden within the walls of Heliopolis. Oz, the guardian of this ethereal city, stood like a sentinel, his presence as imposing as the ancient pillars surrounding them.
“So, you’re leaving,” Oz murmured, his voice impenetrable and devoid of emotions. His eyes, darkly grey as the void between stars, studied the pair before him—Armand and Amaya. They looked resolute, but there was a tremor in the air, a tension that clung to their very breath.
“We are,” Armand replied, his tone steady, though his fingers tightened around Amaya’s hand. “It’s time we found our place in the world of men.”
Oz’s gaze drifted to Amaya, who met his stare with a silent plea. She had always been the heart, the light to Armand’s shadow, but even she was weary. The city of Heliopolis had become a gilded cage, and they longed for something real, even if it meant walking into the unknown.
“You understand what you’re asking for?” Oz said. “Once you leave, the memories of this place—of your lives here—will fade. Heliopolis will become nothing more than a whisper. You’ll be shadows of who you were, living among those who don’t know what it means to be divine.”
Amaya’s voice was barely a whisper but cut through the gloom like a knife. “We understand. We choose this.”
Oz studied them. He had seen countless souls make choices, and he knew that the road ahead was not one of simple consequence. Still, he could not deny them what they asked for.
“So be it,” he finally said. “But remember this—once you cross into their world, their darkness will cling to you, shape you. They’ll pull you down, and you may never find your way back.”
Armand and Amaya nodded in unison, their determination unshaken, though Oz’s words hung heavy between them.
Oz raised a hand, and the door to the world of men creaked open, a slit of darkness that seemed to swallow the light of Heliopolis whole. Armand took a deep breath, and with one last look at the city that had been their home, they stepped through the threshold.
"Stupid fools." They heard the words from Oz as the darkness swallowed them.
October 2015 - Nocturne
Armand's PoV
The night was cold; it seeped into the bones and wrapped itself around the heart. I stood alone, my breath misting in the air, gazing at the black waters of the ancient forest pool. Amaya was gone now, her light snuffed out by time and leaving me haunted by shadows.
I reached for the water, its surface unnaturally still, reflecting only the void of the sky above. The darkness whispered to me, promising answers or perhaps oblivion. I wasn’t sure which I wanted more.
“Do you seek the past or the future?”
The voice was soft, almost a caress, yet there was an edge to it that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I turned to find a woman standing there, her figure half-hidden in the shadows. Felicia. Her eyes gleamed with something cold and dangerous, a glint of power that had no place in the world of men.
“I seek the truth,” I said, my voice steady.
Felicia stepped forward, the shadows parting around her like a veil. “Truth is a double-edged blade, Armand. It cuts both ways, and once you hold it, you can never let it go. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
I stared at her, the weight of her words sinking into the emptiness within me. I was not the man I once was, but the shadows had already begun to claim me. There was no turning back now.
“Yes,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I am.”
Felicia smiled, though there was no warmth in it. She extended a hand toward me, the air between us thick with the scent of earth and decay. “Then take my hand, and we will walk this path together—into the shadows.”
I hesitated for only a moment before reaching out, my fingers closing around hers. There was no going back now. Saving the world, freeing her, or dooming us all. Those were my choices.
And I was not ready to let her go.
