It was not a kingdom. Not a fortress.
Not even a battlefield.
It was the husk of the universe’s final breath—an endless field of ash and blackened rock, beneath a sky that had long since died. Here, the last fragments of creation had been abandoned, and only one force still reigned.
Noel, the Harbinger of End.
Here, there were no armies. No cities. Only Noel… and his eight generals—each once a guardian of the universe’s Creator, now corrupted and reborn as his executioners.
No mortal had ever walked upon End.
No god had ever escaped it.
Until now.
“He’s coming,” Noel said quietly, gazing into a whirl of dark light. “The echo of what I once feared.”
The generals stood in silence.
“Who will strike first?” he asked again.
The silence broke.
Two voices spoke as one.
“We will.”
Adi and Hugo, bound by fate and flesh, stepped forward. Their bodies were one, their souls entwined. One side burned with white flame; the other shimmered with silver frost. They shared a single heartbeat—one driven by destruction, one by control.
Noel gave a slow, pleased nod.
“Go, twins. Track him. Test him.”
The twins bowed, vanishing in a spiral of light and dust.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
In the illusion-masked town beyond the flaming gate, Shadow and Varn stood in the heart of Todd’s impossible mansion. Gears rotated within walls made of fluid metal, and floating books whispered among themselves in forgotten languages.
Todd, the eccentric "mad scientist," moved like a man with too much time and too many thoughts.
“You have questions,” he said at last, adjusting his cracked spectacles. “Of course you do.”
Shadow didn’t move. “Who are you really, Todd?”
Todd smiled. “A former companion of the Grand Magus. We traveled together briefly—on a journey no one remembers but me.”
“I know who he was, and more importantly, who he became. But what surprises me… is you, Shadow.”
He walked slowly around them, his cane tapping against the strange floor.
“You carry more than power. You carry choice. And that… that’s something the Grand Magus lost long ago.”
Shadow’s fists tightened. “Then why did he choose me?”
Todd studied him for a moment. The mirth in his eyes faded to quiet reverence.
“Because he believed you could do what he never could: bring harmony between calamity and creation.”
He turned away, stroking a silver thread floating in the air like a memory.
“But I won’t say more. The truth is dangerous in the wrong frame of mind. You must remember it on your own.”
Shadow looked down, then raised his eyes again.
“Two questions.”
Todd raised a brow.
“Careful. I said I’d answer one.”
Shadow ignored the warning.
“Who is Axel? And the voice I heard… Sasha. Who is she?”
Todd grew quiet, truly quiet for the first time.
He gestured toward a floating prism that showed a distant echo of Shadow walking through a field alone.
“I can only answer one. Axel… that name is not just a weapon. It’s your soul sword. A living bond between your true self and your forgotten power.”
He paused.
“But if I told you more, your mind would shatter before it could rebuild.”
Shadow blinked. “So you’ll answer the other.”
Todd nodded gently.
“The voice you heard belongs to someone very important to you. Her name is Sasha. She once stood beside you… in a time before memory. She may be the key to unlocking who you truly are.”
Shadow’s gaze darkened, but not with fear—with clarity.
His path, scattered in pieces, was finally aligning.
“Then I’ll find her. I’ll find Sasha… and I’ll reclaim Axel.”
Todd grinned widely. “Good.”
He clapped once, and the room dimmed.
“Because the game has begun. And the enemies of your past are already awake.”