from zero: the dark descent

The moment we stepped through Myra's towering gates, something felt off. The city should have felt familiar, like a long-lost homecoming. But instead, there was an unease in the air, an undercurrent of something sinister just beneath the surface. The streets were as lively as ever—merchants calling out their wares, travelers moving through the cobbled roads, guards standing at their posts—but it was all wrong. The sounds were just a little too hushed, the glances from the people lingering just a little too long. Even the air carried a different weight, thick and stagnant, like the entire city was holding its breath.

Elaris stiffened beside me, her grip tightening around my hand. "Do you feel that?" she murmured. I nodded, my eyes scanning the buildings, the alleys, the movement of the people. Something was watching us. Alaria, however, seemed less concerned. "Huh. Looks the same to me," she mused, though I noticed her hand twitching slightly toward the hilt of her dagger. And then Veylara's voice slipped into my mind like silk wrapping around my thoughts.

"You sense it, don't you? Myra is no longer what it was. The balance has been disrupted… because of you." I swallowed hard, keeping my expression neutral. "What do you mean?"

"Your battle with the Vampire King did not go unnoticed, my dear. You did not simply kill him—you severed an ancient tether, a chain that had been locked in place for centuries. The creatures of the void feel it, the gods feel it… and now, so does Myra."

I stiffened. "You're saying I changed something?"

"Oh, Noctis, you did not change something. You broke something."

The weight of her words made my stomach tighten. My grip on Elaris's hand faltered for a moment, but she barely seemed to notice. "And now, they will come looking for you. They will want answers. They will want to know what you are." I was about to ask her what she meant when the sound of approaching footsteps broke my focus.

"Noctis Grevant!"

A group of adventurers rushed toward us, their faces full of urgency. They were all older, more seasoned—Silver-ranked at least, maybe even Gold—but there was no hostility in their expressions. Only curiosity. Only desperation. Before I could react, they grabbed me by the arms, practically dragging me away from Elaris and Alaria. "Whoa, what the hell?" Alaria snapped, her hands flying to her daggers. Elaris tried to step forward, but one of the adventurers turned and gave her a firm look. "Relax. We're not hurting him. We just need to talk to him."

"To talk about what?" she demanded.

I didn't resist. Something in me already knew what this was about. They pulled me toward the guild hall, through the heavy wooden doors and into the grand chamber, where dozens of adventurers stood waiting. The moment I stepped inside, the room fell into a hushed silence, and every eye turned to me.

The atmosphere was thick with expectation.

A man with graying hair and a long scar across his cheek stepped forward. He was massive, clad in dented armor that had seen its fair share of battles. His voice was gravelly, like someone who had spent years barking orders. "You," he said, his steel-gray eyes locking onto mine. "You're the one who killed him."

The weight of his words settled on my shoulders like iron chains.

I didn't need to ask who he was.

The Vampire King.

All around me, murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"He did it?"

"Impossible."

"The Vampire King has been one of the strongest for millennia."

"If it's true, then what does that make him?"

My throat felt dry, but I didn't speak.

Veylara, however, did. "Careful, Noctis," she cooed, her voice slithering through my mind. "Tell them the wrong thing, and they will turn on you. Fear is a powerful weapon."

I exhaled slowly. "What do I say?"

"The truth," she whispered, amusement dripping from her tone. "Tell them how you did it. Let them see." I lifted my chin, looking the grizzled adventurer dead in the eye. "Yes," I said firmly. "I killed him."

Silence.

Then—an explosion of voices. The room erupted with questions, demands, disbelief.

"How?"

"What magic did you use?"

"Who are you?"

"What are you?"

The scarred man raised a hand, and the voices died down. His gaze was calculating. "Tell us everything," he ordered. I inhaled sharply. I trusted Veylara, I told myself. I had to.

So I spoke.

I told them about the battle in the shrine, about the way my light magic shifted—how the glow of my blade had turned a muted gray, how I had bound him with twilight chains that stripped away his life force. I told them about Voidblight. How the decay spread through his body, consuming him until there was nothing left but dust.

I left out Veylara.

The whispers in the room grew louder. Some of them looked awed. Some looked fearful. The scarred man watched me closely, then exhaled, shaking his head. "Damn kid," he muttered. "I don't know what you've done, but I do know this—things have changed." His words sent a shiver down my spine.

Veylara purred in my mind. "Good, my dear. Very good."

I wasn't sure if it was good.

I wasn't sure about anything anymore.

The tension in the guild hall was suffocating. The air felt thick with curiosity, fear, and something unspoken—something lurking beneath the surface. They were all staring at me, watching, waiting. I could hear the whispers between them, the hushed conversations they thought I couldn't pick up.

"If he killed the Vampire King… what else is he capable of?"

"No one has ever done that before. Not even the strongest of us."

"His magic—did you see how he described it? Twilight chains? Voidblight? That's not normal."

"We need to watch him. He might be dangerous."

I swallowed hard, keeping my face unreadable. Veylara's voice curled around my thoughts like smoke, pleased and poisonous. "Do you see now? They fear you, Noctis. They should. You have become something beyond them." I forced myself to push her whispers aside. The grizzled adventurer, the one who had first spoken, folded his arms across his chest, eyeing me like he was assessing a threat. "You say you used twilight chains to bind him," he said, his tone measured. "That's not a common spell. Not even among high-level mages." I nodded. "It wasn't something I was taught. It… came to me during the fight." He frowned. "Came to you?"

I hesitated.

"Tell him, Noctis," Veylara whispered, her voice laced with amusement. "Tell him how you wield magic unlike any they've ever seen. Let them marvel at what you have become." I clenched my jaw. "Yes," I said carefully. "It felt like an instinct. Like something I was always meant to know."

The man's expression darkened, but he said nothing.

The murmurs in the room grew louder.

Then, the doors to the guild burst open.

Elaris and Alaria stormed in, both looking furious—though for different reasons. "There you are!" Elaris snapped, storming toward me, her lavender eyes flashing with worry. "Why the hell did they just drag you away like that?" Alaria was right behind her, her emerald eyes narrowing at the adventurers surrounding me. "You better not be trying to pick a fight with our little Noctis," she said with a smirk, though there was nothing playful about her tone.

The grizzled man turned to them, his expression unreadable. "We needed answers."

"Answers?" Elaris repeated, her voice full of disbelief. "So instead of asking, you pull him away from us and corner him like a criminal?" I could feel the guild hall shift at her words. Some of them looked away, guilt creeping in. Others—especially the older adventurers—stood firm, their fear outweighing their shame.

The scarred man sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "Listen, girl. This isn't personal. It's about what he did." He gestured toward me. "You don't just kill the Vampire King and walk away like it's nothing. The entire world just shifted because of this kid, and we need to know what that means." Elaris crossed her arms, standing protectively close to me. "He's not a kid," she said sharply. "And if you think interrogating him like this is going to get you the answers you want, you're wrong." Alaria scoffed, stepping forward with a smirk. "Besides," she added, "if he was some all-powerful threat, don't you think we'd all be dead already?"

The room went silent.

The guild leader sighed, shaking his head. "You're not wrong," he muttered, rubbing his temples. Then he turned back to me, his expression firm. "Listen, Noctis. Whether you like it or not, what you did in that shrine matters. You might not feel it yet, but the world is going to react to what happened. The creatures of the night? The ancient forces that lurked in the dark? They're not just going to ignore this." He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "You need to be ready. Whatever's coming… it's going to be looking for you." I felt Elaris shift beside me, her fingers brushing against mine as if trying to anchor me.

Alaria, for once, was quiet.

I met the guild leader's gaze. "I know," I said simply.

And I did.

I could feel it, the weight of something distant yet inevitable pressing against my soul. Veylara's voice curled into my thoughts, triumphant and whisper-soft. "The storm is coming, my dear. And when it does, you will finally see the truth."

I exhaled slowly.

I had already seen too much truth. And somehow, I knew—this was only the beginning.