The rain began just after midnight.
Not ordinary rain.
Black rain.
Thin streaks of darkness slid down the windows of Vale House like spilled ink, staining the glass without leaving a trace. Thunder rolled across the city in slow, hollow waves, and every light in Lira’s room flickered at once.
She sat upright in bed.
Breathing hard.
The nightmare still clung to her skin.
The throne.
The broken moon.
The voice whispering her name from somewhere beneath the world.
Shadowbound.
Lira pressed trembling fingers against the glowing marks on her wrist. The silver veins beneath her skin faded slowly, but not completely.
They were growing brighter every night.
A soft knock sounded at her bedroom door.
“Lira?” her aunt called gently. “You awake?”
Lira quickly pulled her sleeve down.
“Yeah.”
The door opened, revealing Aunt Selene wrapped in a long gray cardigan, dark curls tied loosely over one shoulder. She looked exhausted.
Worried.
“You screamed again,” Selene said quietly.
Lira forced a smile. “Bad dream.”
“That makes five this week.”
“I’m fine.”
Selene didn’t answer immediately. Her gaze drifted toward the window where the black rain crawled down the glass.
For the first time, fear crossed her face.
“Stay inside tomorrow,” she whispered.
Lira frowned. “What?”
“Just… stay home from the academy.”
“That’s not like you.”
“I know.”
The lights flickered again.
This time the room went completely dark for three seconds.
In those three seconds—
Lira saw someone standing outside her window.
Tall.
Still.
Watching her from the rain.
Then the lights returned.
Nothing was there.
Her breath caught.
Selene noticed immediately. “What happened?”
“Someone was outside.”
Selene crossed the room fast and pulled the curtains shut.
Too fast.
Like she already expected something to be there.
“Lock your door tonight,” she said.
“Aunt Selene—”
“Promise me.”
Lira stared at her.
“…I promise.”
Selene nodded once before leaving the room.
But as the door closed, Lira heard her whisper something under her breath.
A prayer.
Or maybe a warning.
The next morning, the city felt wrong.
No birds.
No traffic.
Even the air seemed heavier.
Students filled the halls of Noctis Academy speaking in nervous whispers while teachers avoided eye contact altogether.
Three students had disappeared overnight.
No explanation.
No bodies.
Just empty bedrooms and shattered mirrors.
Lira gripped the strap of her bag tighter as she walked through the crowded corridor.
Something cold brushed past her shoulder.
She turned sharply—
And froze.
A boy stood at the end of the hallway.
Tall.
Dark clothes.
Messy black hair falling over unreadable eyes.
Everyone around him unconsciously kept their distance.
Not because they noticed.
Because something inside them feared him.
Lira’s breath stopped.
No shadow stretched beneath his feet.
None.
The overhead lights touched everyone else normally—
—but around him, the floor remained empty.
Like darkness itself refused to claim him.
The boy slowly lifted his gaze toward her.
And the moment their eyes met—
Pain exploded through Lira’s wrist.
She gasped.
The silver marks beneath her skin ignited violently.
Students nearby turned in alarm.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Her arm—”
The boy’s expression changed for the first time.
Recognition.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
As though he already knew her.
Then suddenly—
Every light in the hallway shattered.
Glass rained from the ceiling.
Students screamed.
Darkness flooded the corridor in a violent wave, swallowing the walls whole.
And from inside that darkness—
Something moved.
Tall.
Twisted.
Not human.
A creature crawled from the shadows with far too many limbs and a hollow white face split open into a grin.
The Hollow had arrived.
Students panicked instantly.
Some ran.
Some froze.
The creature lunged straight toward Lira.
Too fast.
Too close.
She couldn’t move—
Then black flames erupted across the hallway.
The creature slammed into the wall with a shriek.
The boy stood between Lira and the monster now.
Expression cold.
Eyes glowing faint silver.
Shadows spiraled violently around his hands.
The Hollow hissed at him—
And stepped back.
Afraid.
Impossible.
Lira stared in shock.
The boy tilted his head slightly, gaze never leaving the creature.
Then he spoke for the first time.
Low.
Calm.
Dangerous.
“She found me sooner than expected.”
The Hollow screamed and launched again—
But the boy raised one hand.
The shadows obeyed instantly.
Darkness tore through the hallway like a living blade.
And the creature vanished.
Silence crashed down afterward.
Smoke drifted through broken lights.
Students stared in horror.
Nobody understood what they had just seen.
Except Lira.
Because deep inside—
The voice from her dreams whispered again.
The shadowless prince has awakened.
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