CHAPTER ONE

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[Human World - Decades after the crowning of Lhathron]

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This dream again, Casden thought. He knew the moment he heard the chantings, it was that dream again.

Casden has had the same recurring dreams for the past four nights. The dreams all end the same way with him trying to wake up but finding it too difficult.

Each time Casden closed his eyes to sleep, he was pulled into the deep dream. Casden was finding it harder and harder to wake up with each passing day because of that dream.

But tonight was different from the other times.

Casden was sitting on his bed reading before lights went out, when he felt a faint pull, tempting him to close his eyes. No matter how hard Casden fought to keep his eye's open and resist the pull, he ended up falling into a deep sleep.

The place he found himself at this time was different. Even more vivid than the rest and this time casden had a feeling that he wouldn't wake.

The voice that always lured him into these dreams was calling again. A truly alluring sound that whispered the same words over and over again.

This melodious voice pulled him deeper and deeper into the abyss of no return.

"...Facio, Voco, Ferre..."

"...Arise thine son, the Empire is ours to claim. It is time, arise thine child the moon awaits thee..."

"..Facio, Voco, Ferre..."

"W-who’s there?"

Casden called out in the darkness but no one answered.

"..Facio, Voco, Ferre..."

Casden took off running through the darkness that surrounded him, sweat dripping from his slender body and soaking through his clothes. Casden’s whole body started to burn up and it made him want to claw at his skin to release the heat.

Casden was following the voice that seemed to take over his entire body and soul. He wanted to know why they kept bringing him here.

"...Facio, Voco, Ferre..."

It was guiding him, causing him to be wholly transfixed by it. Even if he tried too, Casden couldn't turn away from this enchanting sound.

The sound was coming from up ahead. He couldn't see a thing but Casden knew that he was near where he needed to be.

The chantings suddenly stopped when Casden was only a few meters away.

Casden stood still, waiting - for what? Not even he knows. He looked around at his current surroundings making him even more aware of the darkness that surrounded him. Everything had fallen eerily silent and the darkness that surrounded him made his skin crawl. Casden had this feeling that something was lurking, watching and waiting for him in the darkness. And deep down Casden was drawn to whatever that something was.

The ground began to tremble beneath his feet. It was so sudden that it caught Casden by surprise and he couldn’t react in time.

Gasping, Casden held out his hand into the nothingness around him, trying to find something, anything to steady himself. A flash of light and the ground beneath his feet finally gave way.

His hand slipping through the air, Casden fell and a scream ripped its way from his lungs.

Casden closed his eyes, praying that today was not the day he meet his death but he wasn’t holding much faith in that prayer himself.

Yet due to some miracle, Casden’s prayers seemed to be answered.

Casden was caught in his decent, pulled from out of the cold darkness that had surrounded him like hungry leeches and abruptly wrapped in something warm and comfortable.

Even the burning feeling he had felt moments ago was gone, chased away by this warmth.

Casden knew he wasn't falling anymore and that made him feel relieved. He could also feel that he lay on something soft with a cool breeze blowing gently around him.

Casden opened his eyes to see where his dream had brought him to this time.

Shocked by what he was seeing, Casden gasped.  "This...is still a dream...right?"

Everything around him stood out so vividly, making him doubt whether all this was still just a dream. But then where else could such a beautiful and stunning place be found except in a dream? It was simply too unbelievable.

Casden was lying in a bed of lush green grass, the softness of the grass acting like a blanket against his skin. Casden looked up into the sky above him and his breath whooshed out of him. Never would he have thought to witness such wonders.

The sky was the brightest blue he has ever seen, but that was not what had Casden frozen in place
The sky was the brightest blue he has ever seen, but that was not what had Casden frozen in place.
It was the two planets that sat pregnant in the sky. His eyes couldn't look away because he felt that if he looked away it will all disappear. That is how enchanting it all was.

Yet, it didn’t stop there.

Shock after shock, Casden saw that before those awe inspiring planets, there was a huge city floating in the sky. It was a city he thought would only exist in his fantasy books. These books that Casden loved to read, he will also sometimes pretend to be inside of them and now it's real? Or he feels it's real.

Casden forced his head away from the spectacular sight when he heard the sound of gushing water. It sounded like a waterfall, flowing hard and strong in the distance, only he couldn't see it. He wanted to seek out this water source but felt more compelled to take a closer look at the city in the sky instead.

He felt more than knew that maybe he was meant to be here - maybe all this wasn’t just a dream.

It could be that something is waiting for me up there...the owner of that voice...Casden thought.

Just as this thought entered his mind, his body began to float off the ground and ascend towards the sky causing Casden to panic again.

Now he was hoping it was just a dream because this was becoming too scary once again...what if he fell? He didn’t want to look down. That’s how high he knew he was, and yet higher he continued ascending.

" Wake up! Wake up!” He yelled at himself, slapping his face as hard has he could.

Casden winced at the pain it brought, but nothing changed as he was still floating higher and higher into the bright blue sky. He even began pinching his arms, trying anything to wake up from this beautiful nightmare. But Casden just couldn't wake himself up and his body just kept on going up.

Then that voice from before suddenly reappeared, sounding even more revered and clearer this time.

"The moon is within our reach, do not fight it….Facio, Voco, Ferre..."

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"Casden, p-please wake up!

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