Chapter Text
Hush now, little ones. I have a story for you.
A story of shadows and secrets.
A story of monsters and outcasts.
But mostly, a story about love.
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there was a land called Terbisia. Its people lived in harmony with the spirits of the earth, and in return the spirits bestowed upon the kingdom their protection, their goodwill, and, most precious of all, their magic.
Terbisia was one of the few places in the world where magic was as natural as breathing. It was neither feared nor shunned, but revered. Magic flourished throughout the realm, and every man, woman, and child contributed in their own way to the prosperity of the kingdom.
The kingdom was ruled by a king and queen who watched over their people with the same devotion their family had shown for generations: King Pieter Crownguard and Queen Augatha Crownguard. They governed with kindness, wisdom, and genuine joy, and although their realm prospered under their rule, earning them the love and respect of every subject, there remained an emptiness within their hearts that nothing could fill.
They were unable to conceive a child who could one day inherit their legacy of protecting and serving Terbisia.
They exhausted every remedy within their reach to make their dream a reality. Physicians and healers were summoned from every corner of the kingdom, and even from neighboring lands. Their plea became so desperate that it eventually reached the ears of a powerful sorcerer dwelling in one of the continent's most remote regions.
His name was Sylas of Dregborne.
Sylas promised the royal couple that he could grant them the family they had long yearned for. The king and queen would indeed have a child, a son who would inherit the throne and inherit their legacy of protecting and serving Terbisia. But he warned them that all magic came with a price, and that his gift would be no exception.
Sylas's price was unmistakably clear.
Their second child would be touched by the Arcane and thus one day they would serve to continue Sylas's own legacy as his protegee.
To this day, no one knows what drove the king and queen to heed the sorcerer's honeyed words. Perhaps it was the depth of their sorrow. Perhaps they believed they could somehow outwit the terms of his bargain before the time came to pay it. Or perhaps the love they already felt for the children they had yet to meet clouded their judgment, blinding them to the poison hidden beneath Sylas's gentle smile.
Whatever the reason, they sealed a magical pact with him.
When the contract was complete, Sylas performed a spell unlike anything Terbisia had ever witnessed. The skies darkened overhead as every trace of magic throughout the kingdom seemed to converge upon the throne room, drawn toward the queen like rivers flowing into the sea. The torrent of Arcane power descended upon Augatha in a blinding cascade, and she collapsed before her husband's horrified eyes.
Unmoved by the king's horror, Sylas merely assured the king that the Queen would recover soon. From that day forward, he declared, her womb would be capable of nurturing a new life.
Satisfied with his work, the sorcerer announced that he would return in a few years' time, when the Arcane within their second child awakened, to collect what he was owed.
Then, without another word, he departed the kingdom.
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It did not take long for the royal couple to discover that Sylas had spoken the truth.
Before long, news of Queen Augatha's pregnancy spread throughout Terbisia, filling the kingdom with celebration. Months later, the birth of their firstborn son, Garen Crownguard, was commemorated as though it were a national holiday.
Yet even amid the festivities, Augatha could not forget Sylas's bargain.
The thought of bearing another child haunted her. She feared that the moment she did, the sorcerer would return to claim what he believed rightfully belonged to him.
Pieter tried to soothe her fears, promising that if Sylas ever came for their children, he would stand in his way.
But his reassurance was not enough.
Determined to ensure she would never conceive again, Augatha secretly sought out herbs, potions, and remedies meant to prevent another pregnancy. Yet every attempt failed. Whatever Sylas had done to her body seemed to protect it from any poison she tried to inflict upon herself.
Heartbroken, she confessed everything to her husband.
Pieter embraced her and vowed that, in time, he would find a solution. Until they knew how to deal with Sylas, he promised, they would abstain from sharing a bed, if only to spare her the constant fear that another child might be conceived.
For a time, they kept that promise.
But as the years passed, life slowly reclaimed its place. The fear dulled, the urgency faded, and what had once been a solemn vow gradually slipped into memory.
Then, five years later Queen Augatha discovered she was with child once more. And in time, she gave birth to a little girl.
The little girl was unlike her brother.
Though smaller than Garen had been at birth, she seemed to radiate with a light all her own. At once, the words Sylas had spoken years before resurfaced in the minds of the king and queen.
"The child will be touched by the Arcane."
Only then did they understand what he had meant.
The infant overflowed with spiritual magic, and from every corner of Terbisia the spirits of the earth gathered to witness her birth. They regarded her with wonder and curiosity, drawn to her as though she were one of their own.
The king and queen named her Luxanna, for the brilliant light that seemed to emanate from the very depths of her soul. And before long, she became the most beloved and fiercely protected child in all of Terbisia, spending her early years within the safety of the royal palace, never far from the watchful eyes of guards stationed to protect her should Sylas ever return.
But he never did.
The infant grew into a cheerful little girl, and as the years passed without any sign of the sorcerer, it seemed as though Sylas of Dregborne had abandoned his claim.
Then, when Luxanna was only nine years old, the Arcane slumbering within her finally awakened. A pillar of radiant light erupted from her body, blazing across the skies of Terbisia like a beacon.
And, just as Sylas had promised… he returned a few weeks later.
The sorcerer appeared before the king and queen with the calm certainty of a man returning to collect a long-overdue debt.
"The time has come," he declared, his voice devoid of anger or triumph. "I have come to claim what is mine."
King Pieter refused him without hesitation.
The exchange of words quickly gave way to violence. Sylas raised his hand, the Arcane surging around him as he prepared to strike down anyone foolish enough to stand in his path. But the king had not spent those long years awaiting the inevitable in idle fear. Ever since sealing that cursed bargain, Pieter had quietly assembled some of the most gifted mages in Terbisia and devoted himself to studying the Arcane, searching for any means of resisting its power and suppressing those who wielded it.
The battle that followed shook the kingdom to its very foundations. Magic clashed against magic as the palace became a battlefield, and by the time the fighting finally came to an end, countless lives had been lost. Yet the sacrifice had not been in vain. Sylas lay defeated, gravely wounded. His power was stripped from him and he was bound by powerful enchantments.
Defeat, however, did nothing to extinguish the hatred burning within the sorcerer.
If he could no longer take revenge upon the king...
He would make him watch as he lost the one thing he loved most.
With the last remnants of his strength, Sylas turned toward the young princess. The Arcane within Luxanna erupted violently out of control as every fragment of darkness, hatred, and malice festering within the sorcerer's soul poured into the child's tiny body. Before her parents' horrified eyes, the little girl collapsed, her cries dissolving into agonized screams as her body began to unravel. Flesh gave way to writhing shadows that crawled across her skin, twisting and reshaping her into something no longer entirely human, a creature born of darkness and death.
Pieter's sword was in his hand in an instant.
He crossed the distance between them with every intention of ending Sylas's life where he stood.
But before the blade could fall, Lord Eldred stepped into his path.
"If there is any hope of breaking the curse," he pleaded, "then Sylas must remain alive."
Every instinct urged the king to ignore him.
Yet reason prevailed.
With visible reluctance, Pieter lowered his sword, and Sylas was condemned instead to spend the rest of his days imprisoned within the deepest and most isolated cell in all of Terbisia, surrounded by powerful anti-magic wards that would ensure he could never escape.
As the guards dragged the defeated sorcerer away, Queen Augatha rushed to her daughter's side.
She fell to her knees, cradling Luxanna in her arms as she desperately begged the spirits of the earth to save her child. The young princess writhed in unbearable agony. Her body flickered endlessly between flesh and viscous, unnatural shadow while bloodcurdling screams echoed throughout the palace halls.
The spirits answered Augatha's desperate plea, but even their combined power could not unravel the magic binding her child. The curse Sylas had placed on her was simply too powerful.
Then, from among the countless spirits gathered around the princess, one drifted quietly forward. It was a tiny wandering spirit, a shooting star that had happened to pass over Terbisia, drawn by the extraordinary light radiating from Luxanna's soul. Moved by the queen's grief and the child's suffering, the little spirit approached without fear.
And without hesitation… it offered up its own life.
The spirit dissolved into countless motes of light that drifted toward Luxanna, wrapping around her trembling body before sinking beneath her skin. Wherever the light touched, the writhing shadows recoiled. Luxanna's cries subsided, her body returned to its human form, and at last the little princess opened her eyes once more.
She had been saved, but only for a time.
As the star's light began to fade, the dying spirit warned the king and queen that its power was sustained by light itself. So long as the sun shone upon the world, it could suppress the curse dwelling within Luxanna. But once night fell, its strength would fade with the daylight, and the darkness buried inside the young princess would awaken once more, transforming her into the very monster Sylas had created.
Augatha's heart shattered at the spirit's words.
Yet even as tears streamed down her face, she gathered her daughter into her arms and held her close, gently stroking her hair as though she could shield her from the fate that awaited her.
"It will be all right," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I promise."
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In the months that followed, the king and queen spared no effort in their search for a way to lift the curse that afflicted their daughter. Yet every remedy they attempted ended in failure. The only person who possessed the knowledge to undo it was Sylas himself and though they questioned him time and time again within the depths of his prison, he answered only with silence or mocking laughter.
Eventually, the king and queen were forced to accept a painful truth: If the curse could not be broken, then it would have to be contained.
From that day forward, Luxanna was forbidden from leaving her chambers after sunset. Every evening, before darkness fell, she was escorted back to her room, where she would remain restrained throughout the night to ensure she could harm neither herself nor anyone else should the curse awaken.
So the years passed.
Then, one day, Lord Eldred returned to the palace bearing dreadful news.
During his search for a cure, he had sought the counsel of a powerful seer, hoping she might glimpse a future in which Luxanna's curse had been broken.
Instead… She showed him the future of Terbisia.
In her vision, the young princess stood at the center of a kingdom consumed by fire. She had assumed her monstrous shadowed form, surrounded by the soldiers of Terbisia, while the capital burned around them.
The seer reached only one conclusion.
If Luxanna's curse could not be brought under control… she would one day become the instrument of Terbisia's destruction.
The moment Eldred uttered the words "brought under control," King Pieter knew precisely what his trusted counselor meant and he rejected the very idea. He would never subject his daughter to the same treatment Sylas of Dregborne had endured.
The argument that followed grew increasingly heated.
Before long, several of the kingdom's nobles sided with Eldred. No matter how beloved the princess was, they argued, it was far too dangerous to keep a child possessed by unstable dark magic within the capital.
The king found himself trapped between two impossible duties.
On one side stood the love he bore for his daughter. On the other rested the weight of the crown. He could not choose Luxanna if doing so meant abandoning the people he had sworn to protect. Terbisia had always stood as a kingdom built upon unity, where every member of the community worked together for the good of all. To force his own wishes upon the rest of the realm, no matter how deeply personal they were, would betray everything he had vowed to uphold when he accepted the throne.
Seeing the king's turmoil, Eldred offered a compromise.
The princess would leave the capital.
Instead of remaining within the palace, she would be secluded in a distant tower on the farthest reaches of the kingdom, where an uncontrolled transformation could claim no innocent lives before Terbisia's soldiers had time to respond.
Eldred personally vowed to oversee the girl's upbringing. She would want for nothing and would continue to receive every opportunity to learn and grow.
The matter, he insisted, would remain an absolute secret. With Sylas imprisoned and every person aware of the bargain sworn to unwavering loyalty to the crown, no one beyond the royal family and a trusted handful of confidants would ever have reason to seek out the missing princess.
King Pieter remained unconvinced.
Yet after long deliberation, he accepted that it was the most reasonable course left to him. His decision came despite the desperate protests of Queen Augatha and the young Prince Garen, both of whom begged him not to send Luxanna away.
But the king's judgment did not waver.
And so, the young Princess Luxanna Crownguard vanished from the kingdom's sight, spending the years that followed imprisoned within a lonely tower, where the world slowly forgot she had ever existed.
But not everyone forgot.
To this very day, the people of northern Terbisia tell stories of a lonely tower hidden deep within the forest. They say that if you wander beneath its boughs after sunset, you may catch a glimpse of its highest window. Others swear that if you listen closely enough, you can hear a young woman's voice carrying through the trees as she prays for the spirits to keep her curse at bay, always repeating the same six words.
"A shadow thrives beside the light."