Chapter 1

  Eile?n

  Eleusia

  Year 2020 on Earth

  Year 519 in the Arcane

  Winning the leader’s trust. Rising to the head of the resistance. Freeing the people from their chains.

  These were the three precepts Aaronn Karselfeni had to follow in order to complete the trial his father had given him—on top of the mission he had to carry out here, on Eleusia.

  “Are you sure you want to start with the royal palace?” Aaliyah warned him, her tone tinged with concern. “You’re forgetting that Father imposed limitations on you. The armament protecting it could cost you your life.”

  Aaronn only half-listened to his elder sister’s warnings. He was stretching his arms and legs, preparing to enter Eleusia’s atmosphere. Both of them hovered just above the planet, protected from the interstellar void by their spatial technology. It projected a bluish energy shield that followed the contours of their bodies. Integrated into their suits, a radio transmitter allowed them to communicate.

  Below them, the oceans shimmered in a brilliant cyan blue, overflown by vast white clouds. Above one of the two continents—opposed like twin lungs—a floating landmass hovered nearly five kilometers above the surface.

  “I want to see what this is all about with my own eyes,” Aaronn replied, resuming a relaxed stance. “Father places great importance on this mission. The amarite mines are crucial, and integrating Eleusia into the Arcane even more so. Besides—”

  “Yes, I know,” Aaliyah cut in, rolling her eyes. “It’s the final phase of your initiation rite to the Will. I’m just saying it’s far too dangerous in your current condition.”

  Aaronn smiled at his sister’s concern. She surely thought him reckless, but he felt deep down that beginning with the royal palace was essential. And the only way to discreetly breach the planetary shield was with the help of a powerful user of the Will.

  “I’m allowed to ask for your help three times during this mission. Father ordered you to get me through the shield, so that doesn’t count. What I’m asking is for you to protect me until we get past their defenses.”

  Aaliyah exhaled, a faint mist escaping her lips. The determined gleam in her brother’s emerald-green eyes was not going to fade. She resigned herself.

  “Very well…”

  “Thank you, Aaliyah.”

  Inside her energy shield, Aaliyah wore a light black armor. Its metallic contours traced the silhouette and curves of her body. Her burgundy-red cape, fastened to her chest by a golden clasp, billowed behind her as though lashed by wind. Her straight brown hair flowed down to the middle of her shoulder blades.

  She raised her hand gracefully before her face. Tiny fragments of metal materialized in the void, converging at the center of her palm. Only Aaliyah could hear the metallic clicks that pierced her shield. She grasped the forming object and brought it to her head, as though donning a protective mask. Thin plates assembled around her skull, and two wings with natural feathers unfurled from her temples.

  “Still as elegant as ever,” her brother remarked with a faint smirk.

  “Thank you,” she replied lightly. “I make a constant effort to keep my cape floating with my aura. So I hope it looks good.”

  She took a few steps forward, each one leaving behind a translucent imprint. Through their mastery of the Will, she and her brother could walk through empty space. She placed her hand against the shield encasing the planet. A thin yellowish layer, crossed with hexagonal prisms, activated.

  “Can you do it?” Aaronn asked.

  “Of course. Step back.”

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  He obeyed. Just as she had with her helmet, Aaliyah materialized a sword and took an attacking stance. A white, translucent aura enveloped her body, then surged in intensity. Her cape whipped violently as she drove her blade into the shield, carving a straight line with a powerful shoulder motion.

  She dematerialized her weapon and slid her hands into the opening she had created. With a firm motion, she forced it apart, widening the passage. Cracks spread outward from the point of entry.

  “Go, hurry!” she ordered.

  They both slipped through the opening. Aaronn then climbed onto his sister’s back.

  “Just like the old days,” she laughed.

  “Yeah… yeah… let’s go.”

  She grew serious, bent her knees, and prepared to sprint. Their objective: the royal palace. Protected by her aura, Aaliyah burst forward at super speed, plunging into the planet’s atmosphere. Clouds and land rushed toward them at a dizzying pace, the air igniting as they broke through.

  They rapidly lost altitude, the landscape streaking past. Once through the first cloud layers, Aaronn could vaguely make out their destination in the distance: the floating island of Eile?n.

  A trail of aura replaced the burning air in Aaliyah’s wake. She accelerated again—a supersonic boom thundered across the sky. The island came clearly into view. A vast desert of grayish sand stretched toward a city built at the foot of a mountain. At its summit stood the royal palace.

  “Drop me at the palace!” he said.

  Before his sister could respond, the royal defenses opened fire. The roar of the palace’s energy cannons echoed, and salvos of plasma surged toward them.

  “They’ve already spotted us!” she shouted.

  She veered sharply to evade them, circling the palace in search of a blind spot. But another barrage of projectiles streaked toward them. She dodged as many as she could with abrupt changes of direction—until one struck her head-on.

  They were violently hurled through the air. The impact was so severe that they lost all sense of orientation. Carried by the force of the blast, they crashed brutally into the desert below.

  Their bodies slammed into the sand and were dragged by their momentum. The sound of impact was quickly replaced by Aaronn’s groans of pain. As he struggled to regain his senses, his name cut through the high-pitched ringing in his ears.

  “Aaronn, Aaronn!”

  Through blurred vision, he saw a dark silhouette with a wind-whipped cape approaching. His sister was already back on her feet. He couldn’t believe she had been hit mid-run. Had he taken that strike directly, he wouldn’t have survived.

  “Aaronn, are you okay?” Aaliyah asked, as the ringing in his ears finally began to fade.

  She extended her hand.

  “Y… yeah. I’m fine. Thanks.”

  Pain coursed through his body, but with her help he managed to stand. He took a few more moments to catch his breath, his thoughts clearing along with his vision.

  “I did everything I could to shield you with my energy,” she said. “It’s been a long time since I was stopped mid-run. Those cannons managed to intercept me at Mach 2. The exploration team’s report wasn’t wrong. Their weaponry is no joke.”

  “You’re not hurt?”

  “No, I’m fine. And you know it doesn’t really matter…” Her tone darkened. “I still say you should start with the world below.”

  “No. I can handle this. I’ll be careful.”

  Aaliyah frowned.

  “Someone’s coming.”

  “Then it’s time for you to leave,” Aaronn said immediately. “From here on out, this is my affair.”

  “But… are you sure?”

  “Yes. Go!” he ordered. “Everything will be fine.”

  She stepped back, hesitant to leave him alone.

  “Don’t make me regret this,” she said, almost accusingly—then vanished in a supersonic flash.

  Aaronn already regretted his choice. He hadn’t realized his abilities had diminished so much. Turning back toward the palace, he noticed a silhouette flying toward him.

  Likely a man. He wore smooth white armor adorned with gold at the joints. Light thrusters built into his back allowed him to hover. His pale cape danced gracefully in a gentle wind. He held a sword in his right hand, and his helmet sloped downward like an eagle’s beak, leaving his jaw exposed. Two dark apertures marked where his eyes lay.

  “Who are you? And how did you survive a direct hit from our energy cannon?”

  The translation chip rendered the stranger’s words flawlessly. The exploration team had done solid work.

  “My name is Aaronn Karselfeni. I cannot yet reveal how I survived. But I come on behalf of my father: Arthéis Karselfeni. We wish to establish an amicable relationship with your planet.”

  The soldier landed and walked toward Aaronn, inspecting him from head to toe with slow, analytical movements. He lifted the tip of his sword beneath Aaronn’s chin and raised his face.

  “Emerald-green eyes. Brown, mid-length hair with a mullet. You expect me to believe you come from elsewhere? I can recognize someone from the world below when I see one.”

  “Clearly not,” Aaronn replied, struggling to hide the condescension in his voice.

  “Watch your arrogance. I could decapitate you before you even realized it. Still… your attire does seem of unusual quality for someone from below. And you don’t appear to be a Half-Chosen. Nor part of the resistance.”

  Aaronn wore a suit nearly identical to his sister’s: a light black armor with a brown hooded cape.

  “So where do you really come from?”

  “I told you. From elsewhere. I originate from another planet.”

  The man sheathed his sword at his belt. With a noble gesture, he raised his palm toward the sky. Golden manacles burst forth in a flash of light.

  “You’re coming with me,” he declared authoritatively. “Your story—and your presence here—do not please me.”