Chapter 1
Niala's POV
The sky was broken.
Niala stood frozen beneath it.
For months she had dreamed of freedom.
Fought for it.
Bled for it.
Watched people die for it.
Yet now that it stood before her—
She wasn’t sure she wanted it anymore.
Beyond the shattered Dome stretched an entirely different world.
Not Earth.
Not home.
Not anything she recognized.
Massive floating islands drifted through golden clouds. Rivers of silver light flowed between mountains suspended in the sky. Ancient cities floated in the distance like forgotten kingdoms abandoned by time itself.
It was beautiful.
And terrifying.
The crack above the Dome continued widening.
More sunlight poured through.
Real sunlight.
Not the artificial glow they had lived beneath for so long.
People cried around her.
Thousands of survivors gathered throughout the broken city.
Some fell to their knees.
Others laughed.
Others simply stared.
Nobody knew what to do.
Nobody knew what waited beyond.
Niala’s gaze remained fixed on the impossible world above.
A strange feeling settled inside her chest.
Recognition.
The sensation made no sense.
She had never seen this place before.
Yet somehow—
Part of her remembered it.
A sharp pain suddenly shot through her head.
Niala gasped.
The world blurred.
The broken Dome disappeared.
The voices vanished.
And suddenly—
She wasn’t standing in the ruined city anymore.
She stood inside a palace.
Gold pillars stretched endlessly toward the heavens.
Ancient banners flowed from marble walls.
A throne sat before her.
Not one throne.
Five.
Four occupied.
One empty.
The kings.
They stood below the throne platform.
Powerful.
Terrifying.
Ancient.
And all of them were looking at her.
Not Niala.
Someone else.
A woman sitting upon the central throne.
A crown rested upon her head.
Silver hair flowed across golden robes.
Her eyes glowed like stars.
Beautiful.
Powerful.
Lonely.
Then the vision shifted.
The woman turned.
And Niala saw her face.
Her own face.
Niala staggered backward.
“No…”
The palace vanished instantly.
Reality returned.
The broken Dome.
The survivors.
The sunlight.
Everything came rushing back.
“Niala.”
A familiar voice.
Strong hands caught her before she could fall.
Niko.
The North King steadied her immediately.
Concern filled his face.
“What happened?”
Niala struggled to breathe.
“I…”
Her head throbbed.
The vision remained burned into her mind.
The throne.
The woman.
The kings.
Her.
“Niala?”
Niko squeezed her shoulder gently.
His touch grounded her.
The panic slowly faded.
“I’m okay.”
It was a lie.
A terrible one.
Because she wasn’t okay.
Not even close.
The vision felt real.
Too real.
As though she had remembered something rather than imagined it.
Before Niko could ask another question—
A roar echoed across the broken sky.
Everyone froze.
Thousands of heads turned upward.
The world beyond the Dome moved.
Massive shadows crossed the clouds.
Something enormous flew between floating islands.
Creatures.
Huge creatures.
Larger than Titans.
Larger than Behemoths.
Larger than anything they had ever faced.
The crowd immediately began panicking.
Niko stepped closer to Niala.
Instinctively protective.
“We need to move.”
Niala nodded.
But her attention remained fixed on the sky.
Something else moved among the clouds.
Not a creature.
A structure.
An enormous city floating in the heavens.
Ancient towers.
Golden walls.
Silver bridges.
The sight made her chest tighten.
Recognition again.
Impossible recognition.
As though she had once lived there.
The feeling terrified her.
A sudden gust of wind swept across the broken Dome.
The crowd gasped.
The crack widened further.
Stone shattered.
Entire sections of the Dome collapsed.
Then—
A voice echoed from beyond.
Not through speakers.
Not through technology.
Through the world itself.
Ancient.
Powerful.
Endless.
“The Queen has returned.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The words rolled across the landscape.
Every survivor heard them.
Every ruler heard them.
Every creature heard them.
Niala’s blood ran cold.
Because somehow—
She knew the voice.
And somewhere beyond the broken sky…
Someone was waiting for her.
⸻
Far away.
Beyond the floating islands.
Beyond the ancient cities.
Beyond the clouds.
A man stood alone upon a cliff overlooking an endless sea of stars.
Silver eyes watched the crack forming in the Dome.
A slow smile spread across his face.
After thousands of years.
After centuries of waiting.
After countless failed worlds.
She had finally returned.
“The Queen.”
The man closed his eyes.
Remembering.
A woman laughing in a garden.
A child.
Blood.
Death.
A warrior named Rexus dying beneath a burning sky.
The smile vanished.
Soon.
Everything that was stolen would be returned.
Soon the kings would come.
Soon the Queen would remember.
And soon—
The world would burn.
The ancient ruler opened his eyes.
A storm gathered behind them.
“Bring her to me.”
Across the floating kingdom, four ancient thrones slowly began to glow.
The Kings had awakened.
And the war for the Queen was about to begin.
