Chapter 1: The Call of the Unknown

The scent of ink and aged parchment lingered in the air, mingling with the faint, acrid sting of candle smoke. Elara Veyne sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor of her chamber, carefully rolling up scrolls, her slender fingers tracing the arcane symbols inked upon them. Piles of books surrounded her, some open to pages filled with intricate diagrams of long-forgotten spells, others dog-eared from years of relentless study.

This was the only life she had ever known—the Grand Archives of Veldorim, a fortress of knowledge, a prison of comfort. It had been her sanctuary since childhood, the place where she had devoured texts of magic, history, and lore that the outside world had either forgotten or forsaken. Yet, as she tied the scrolls with thin strands of enchanted silk and placed them carefully into her satchel, she knew.

Tonight, she was leaving.

Her heart twisted, not with fear, but with something far more insidious—uncertainty.

She exhaled, shaking off the creeping doubt as she reached for a...