OH MY YOUTHA Fantasy NovelChapter One: The Fading LightIn the city of Avelora, youth was not counted in years but in radiance.From the moment a child was born, a faint glow shimmered beneath their skin,a living spark called the Ember. It pulsed softly within the chest, visible only at twilight, when the sky turned violet and the world held its breath between day and night.The brighter your Ember, the stronger your gifts.Some could coax vines to bloom from stone. Some shaped wind into silver threads. Others whispered to rain and bent it into falling patterns like lace.Kaelara had none of these.At seventeen, her Ember should have been steady and warm, but hers flickered like a candle in a storm.She first noticed it the night of her birthday.The city gathered at the Skywell, a circular terrace carved from white stone overlooking the valley. Lanterns floated overhead like captured stars. Laughter filled the air. Youths displayed their growing powers for elders who nodded in approval.Kaelara stood at the edge of the terrace and pressed a hand to her chest.Her glow was dim.Not weak — fading.Across the platform, her best friend Ilyan lifted both arms and summoned a spiral of golden wind that danced around him like a living crown. Applause echoed. His Ember shone bright as sunrise.Kaelara forced a smile.She had always been ordinary, but this felt different.This felt like disappearing.When twilight deepened, she caught her reflection in the polished surface of the Skywell.Her reflection blinked.She did not.The mirrored girl tilted her head slowly, studying her with silver, unfamiliar eyes.Kaelara stepped back.The reflection stepped forward.And then it stepped out.Chapter Two: The Keeper of Lost YearsHe emerged from the mirror like mist parting at dawn.Not a girl.A boy cloaked in shadows, with pale hair and eyes like fractured starlight.Kaelara could not scream. The sound stuck in her throat as the world around them blurred into silence.“I have little time,” he said softly. “Your Ember is being siphoned.”“Siphoned?” Her voice trembled.“Stolen.”His gaze drifted to her chest. “The Withered King has marked you.”The name chilled her blood.Every child in Avelora knew the legend — a shadowed ruler beyond the Hollow Wilds who fed on youth to remain immortal. A myth told to frighten restless children.“You’re not real,” she whispered.“I am Cyris,” he replied. “A Keeper of Lost Years. I collect what he cannot finish consuming.”She stared at him.“You are fading faster than most. That is why I could cross the veil.”“Why me?” she demanded.His expression softened. “Because you were never ordinary.”Before she could question him further, the world snapped back into sound and motion. Lanterns drifted overhead. Laughter returned.Cyris was gone.But her Ember dimmed another shade.Chapter Three: The MarkBy morning, the city noticed.Children whispered when Kaelara passed. Elders avoided her eyes. A fading Ember was considered a curse — a sign of weakness or hidden corruption.Ilyan found her sitting by the river that wound through the lower quarter.“You’re scaring them,” he said gently.“I’m not doing anything.”“That’s just it.”He sat beside her and studied the faint glow beneath her skin.“Maybe the Council can help,” he offered.But deep down, they both knew the Council only strengthened bright Embers.They did not fix dying ones.That night, Cyris returned.This time, she did not scream.“Show me,” she demanded.Without hesitation, he extended his hand.The world dissolved.They stood in a wasteland of twisted trees and frozen twilight.The Hollow Wilds.In the distance, a black tower pierced the sky like a broken spear.“At its heart,” Cyris said quietly, “the Withered King feeds.”Kaelara felt something tug at her chest — a thread of light stretching from her Ember toward the tower.She gasped.“That is how he draws you,” Cyris said. “Slowly. Quietly.”“Why me?” she asked again.Cyris stepped closer. “Because you possess something he cannot control.”“What?”“Restoration.”The word hung between them.“You can reignite dying Embers,” he said. “You just do not know how.”She laughed bitterly. “Mine is dying.”“Yes,” he said. “And that is why you must learn quickly.”Chapter Four: Leaving AveloraKaelara did not tell Ilyan.She left before dawn, slipping past the gates while the city still slept.The Hollow Wilds loomed like a dark sea beyond the valley.As soon as she crossed into its shadow, time felt wrong.Leaves hung suspended mid-fall. A breeze brushed her cheek but did not stir her hair.Cyris appeared beside her.“You will see fragments,” he warned. “Memories made flesh. Do not linger.”They had not walked far when she heard crying.A young girl knelt beneath a tree, hugging herself. Her Ember glowed faint and cracked.“I cannot move,” the girl whispered.Kaelara recognized her — Lysa, from the southern district. She had vanished weeks ago.“Lysa,” Kaelara breathed.“She is caught between,” Cyris said. “Not dead. Not whole.”Kaelara knelt before the girl.