The council of the five crowns

The day after the prophecy, a silver bell rang out across the five kingdoms.

Only once.

Its echo traveled across mountains, oceans, and deserts.

For over three hundred years...

This bell had never tolled.

All the sovereigns understood immediately.

The Council of the Five Crowns had just been convened.

At the center of the continent rose an island that no kingdom claimed.

A sacred land.

It was called Elyndor.

It was there that the five great families had sworn an oath, centuries ago, to protect the world before their own kingdoms.

An immense circular hall dominated the island.

Five stone thrones were arranged within it.

Each represented an element.

Fire.

Water.

Wind.

Earth.

And at the center...

A fifth throne, entirely white.

That of the Grand Sage.

Silence reigned.

The Grand Sage entered slowly.

His face had aged by a decade in a single night.

The sovereigns immediately noticed his gaze.

He was afraid.

For the first time.

The King of Fire spoke first.

— What happened?

Without answering, the Grand Sage placed an old parchment upon the table.

Upon it appeared the prophecy.

No one spoke.

The Queen of Water was the first to break the silence.

— The Thousand Bodies...

This expression does not appear in any known book.

The King of Wind frowned.

— Then how do we know this prophecy is authentic?

The Grand Sage slowly raised his eyes.

— Because it is not the prophecy that worries me...

The four sovereigns looked at him.

— It is what it has awakened.

At that exact same instant...

In a forest located in the far north.

A team of hunters was advancing through the trees.

One of them stopped.

— Did you hear that?

Nothing.

Only the wind.

Then...

A stag appeared.

Its body seemed normal.

But its eyes were entirely black.

It observed the hunters without moving.

— What is wrong with it?

Suddenly...

The stag let out a piercing cry.

Its skin cracked.

A black smoke escaped from its body.

And, before the eyes of the hunters, it transformed into a creature that no one had ever seen.

Its antlers resembled dead branches.

Its skin was covered with luminous cracks.

Its four eyes shone with a white glow.

Then...

It disappeared.

As if swallowed by the shadow.

A few seconds later...

A cry resonated through the forest.

Then another.

The next day, the soldiers found the campsite.

No survivors.

But no bodies either.

Only torn clothes...

And an immense footprint engraved into the ground.

A footprint that did not resemble that of any known creature.

The Grand Sage closed his eyes once more.

— The first creatures have appeared.

The King of Earth clenched his fists.

— Then the prophecy has already begun...

The Grand Sage shook his head.

— No. All of this... is only the beginning.

Several hundred kilometers away...

A young girl was walking alone along an old stone path.

Her long black hair was stirred by the wind.

She wore a simple traveling cloak.

Bound to her back was an old sword wrapped in cloth.

She stopped in front of a wooden sign.

NYVARIS

The sign was broken.

The letters half-burned.

The young girl gently placed her hand upon it.

Her eyes filled with a strange sadness.

Then she resumed her journey.

Without a word.

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