Lord Of The Stories

The train hummed beneath his boots, its polished steel floor vibrating with perfect rhythm. No bumps… No stutters…. Just a clean, controlled glide through the heart of Daylight City.

Nathan sat near the exit, one hand resting on his knee, the other adjusting the silver insignia clipped to his chestplate. The symbol shimmered faintly in the overhead light, an open eye with a sword through the pupil.

The Guardian emblem.

He glanced at his reflection in the window. The city outside rolled by in streaks of gold and white, spires, domes, airships tethered to watchtowers. Light crystals lit every street corner. Civilians walked with purpose, heads high, knowing nothing could touch them. 

Not here… Not in Daylight.

Nathan tapped his thumb against the hilt of his blade. The one forged from windsteel. A rare mineral only granted to Guardians who passed the final tier of loyalty. He'd earned it, years of service, zero blemishes. He followed every rule.

Except one.

He let the memory flicker… then buried it again.

The train slowed. A gentle chime rang out.

"Central Spire. High Command."

Nathan stood, stepping off the train into the heart of the city. The plaza was spotless. Birds circled the sunlit towers. Guards in gold-threaded uniforms stood at each corner, unmoving.

Everything in Daylight looks perfect.

But Nathan knew better.

He entered the command hall, a spiraling structure carved from white stone and polished glass. At the center sat a throne, not for royalty, but for military control. A large table surrounded it, with ten seats. Only one was occupied.

General Emerald.

She didn't look up as he entered. Just flipped a page in her ledger.

Nathan saluted.

"You lost the target," she said flatly.

"Yes, General."

She looked at him now, sharp gray eyes behind thin spectacles. Hair braided tight in coils over her shoulder. Her uniform was flawless. Her tone wasn't.

"I read the preliminary report. Stone trap failed. Wind offset compromised. And interference by a rogue?" she said. "You were trained better."

"That would be the problem of your knight," Nathan didn't flinch. " Though I didn't expect resistance. He was unmarked with no trace and no background."

Emerald tapped her pen. "That makes him a threat."

Nathan hesitated. "Permission to ask… why he matters?"

The General stopped writing. The silence hung too long.

"You're not paid to question directives."

Nathan nodded, but something shifted inside him.

Emerald stood slowly. "Twilight has been quiet for too long. A new player appearing without a mark and surviving your hold means something is moving beneath the surface."

Nathan said nothing.

The General's voice dropped. "Your new orders… find the boy. Discreetly, bring him in alive."

"And if I fail again?"

She smiled thinly. "Don't."

Nathan narrowed his eyes. "You're not going to say anything about the Twilight bodies."

The General's expression went cold. "That's your business to deal with… Guardian Black." 

She paused and gave a wide smile. "Or should i call you Detective Black."

Tch…

Nathan turned and walked out

****

Later, Nathan sat on the balcony of his private quarters overlooking the city's south edge. The sun never set here. Lightstones ensured a permanent state of daylight. Some said it was a blessing from Aria herself.

But Nathan knew better. The gods gave light but men shaped it into cages.

He looked to the horizon, where Daylight's border curved into shadow.

Twilight.

The other half of Lunaris. The half they didn't talk about in the academies. Where the Normies lived… those without Abilities. The forsaken, the bitter, marked as an anomaly.

Despite being born in Twilight, Nathan had grown up in Daylight, trained in its ways, rose through its ranks. He believed in order and discipline. The righteous cause of protection.

But more and more, that cause felt like control.

He pulled out the portable trace crystal from his belt, placed it on the table, and watched the faint blue glow spiral.

"Leo Samuel," he said.

The light shimmered.

No result.

Nathan narrowed his eyes. "Still invisible…"

He leaned back, his eyes on the clouds. One hand resting on his blade again.

Who are you, Leo? And why does the General care about you?

Suddenly a missive arrived in a flash of pale gold, delivered by a spectral hawk conjured from light.

Nathan caught the scroll mid-air, already knowing what it meant. He broke the wax seal:... House Leywin.

He swore under his breath. Of course.

It wasn't enough to report to Emerald. Now he had to justify his failure to the people who believed they ran Lunaris… and maybe did.

The Estate of House Leywin sat on the third ring of Daylight, an elevated plateau where only the oldest noble houses were permitted to build. Their grounds stretched wider than an entire district in Twilight.

Tall obsidian gates bore the family's crest… a twin-headed beast, one head breathing fire, the other snow. Elemental mastery in honor of their most prominent member.

Nathan stepped past the guards. No one searched him. No one even acknowledged his presence. That was the kind of power the Leywins had. unapologetic, inherited, unquestioned.

The main hall was gilded, warm, and fragrant with the scent of bloodlilies. Paintings lined the marble walls, generations of Leywins standing over slain monsters, rebels, or kneeling Normies.

A servant appeared. "Guardian Nathan. Lord Alaric will receive you."

The nobleman waited in a private sunroom. He wore a high-collared robe embroidered with runes of fire and frost, his eyes sharp and assessing even as he poured tea.

"Guardian," Lord Alaric said smoothly. "General Emerald speaks highly of your efficiency. Unfortunate that your last assignment… slipped."

Nathan stood at attention. "I've resumed tracking, my lord. I have leads."

"Oh, I'm sure you do," Alaric said, not looking up. "We've had whispers from our own informants. The boy from Twilight, no mark, no file, no origin."

He sipped the tea. "Very unusual."

Nathan said nothing.

Alaric glanced at him. "You know what I despise, Guardian? Disruption. It's always the insignificant ones, quiet, unremarkable types… who end up turning wheels they shouldn't even be near."

"Permission to speak plainly, my lord?"

Alaric raised an eyebrow.

"I was told to retrieve him. I will. But if you believe he's a threat, why not send your own Enforcers?"

Alaric's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Because when we act directly, it makes headlines. When the military acts, it's just policy."

Nathan nodded, jaw tight.

The door behind them opened.

A woman stepped in.

She looked nothing like her father, tall, lean, with crimson hair cascading like a flame down her back. She wore a dark coat over light armor, and a silver pendant shaped like a shard of ice.

Crimson Leywin.

Nathan had heard the stories: how she took down a fire-wolf at fourteen, froze a rebel battalion in a single breath. But the way she walked, measured and unbothered told a different story. A tired one.

"Still barking about order and bloodlines, Father?" she said, crossing the room without bowing.

Alaric didn't even blink. "Your timing is always theatrical, my dear."

She looked at Nathan, studying him.

"You're the one chasing the Twilight ghost," she said.

"Leo Samuel," Nathan replied. "Yes."

She didn't respond immediately. Her gaze lingered then shifted back to her father. "I don't know why you trust a normie like him, don't expect him to follow the rules. If he's anything like what they say"

Alaric cut in, voice cool. "Speculation has no place here."

Crimson turned slightly. "Does truth?"

Alaric's nostrils flared. "You're dismissed."

She left without another word.

Nathan waited a beat, then bowed. "I'll resume the mission."

"Do," Lord Alaric said, already turning away. "Before this turns into something far more… inconvenient."

Outside the estate, Nathan paused.

Above, a daylight cruiser floated by, banners trailing with the royal crest. Below, the streets buzzed with polished civility. But somewhere far beneath it all, in the shadow of this shining kingdom, a boy from nowhere had made the entire system twitch.

He tapped the crystal again.

Still no trace.

He stared toward Twilight's direction..

Power in Daylight wasn't earned, he thought. It was bred.

And for the first time in years, Nathan wasn't sure which was more dangerous:

Those without power… Or those with too much.