Several months had passed since the fall of the Shadow King.
Peace had returned to Elyndor, but Aren could not forget the strange silver light he had seen in the sky during the festival.
Every night, he found himself looking toward the horizon.
Waiting.
Watching.
And then, one evening, it appeared again.
A single silver star flashed above the western sea.
This time, it did not disappear.
Instead, a beam of light shot downward, far beyond the cliffs of Elyndor.
Aren immediately knew something was wrong.
The next morning, he met Lyra and Kael.
"You saw it too?" Lyra asked.
Aren nodded.
Kael crossed his arms.
"I was hoping our adventures were over."
Aren laughed.
"So was I."
Three days later, they stood aboard a ship heading west across the Endless Sea.
Behind them, Elyndor faded into the distance.
Ahead of them lay unknown waters that no map could fully describe.
The journey was calm at first.
But on the seventh night, a storm unlike any they had ever seen surrounded the ship.
Silver lightning flashed across the sky.
The sea glowed with strange starlight.
Then, through the rain, they saw it.
An island.
A massive island that did not exist on any map.
At its center stood a shining tower reaching into the clouds.
"That's impossible," Kael whispered.
The ship drifted toward the shore.
As Aren stepped onto the island, the Fallen Star mark on his hand—thought to be gone forever—suddenly glowed again.
A sharp pain shot through his arm.
Then a voice echoed inside his mind.
"The First Kingdom awaits."
Aren froze.
"The First Kingdom?" Lyra asked.
Before anyone could answer, the ground beneath them trembled.
Ancient stone gates emerged from the earth.
Symbols of stars covered every surface.
The gates slowly opened.
Beyond them stretched the ruins of a forgotten civilization far older than Elyndor itself.
A civilization that had existed before the stars were broken.
Aren stared into the darkness beyond the gates.
Whatever secrets waited there could change everything they knew about their world.
And deep within those ruins, unseen eyes were already watching them.
To be continued in Part 16... ✨🌊⭐🏝️