The day the sun went cold
The sky was the color of fresh blood.
Today was my eighteenth birthday. In the Divine Spear Empire, this was the day of Ascension. It was the day I was supposed to become a God.
I stood on the Great Altar, surrounded by thousands of cheering citizens. My father, Emperor Magnus Thorne, stood before me. He held the Golden Spear, the symbol of our bloodline.
"Lucius Thorne," my father’s voice boomed. "Are you ready to receive the full light of the Thorne lineage?"
I knelt, my heart pounding with pride. "I am, Father."
To my left stood my younger brother, Julian. He was smiling, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was the look of a predator watching a trap spring shut. To my right was Seraphina, my fiancée. She looked beautiful in her silk robes, but her eyes were cold.
"Then receive your destiny," Magnus said.
He didn't place his hand on my shoulder to bless me. Instead, he lunged.
THUD.
The Golden Spear didn't glow with light. It pierced my chest.
The world went silent. The cheering stopped. I looked down at the spear sticking out of my ribs. Blood—bright, divine gold blood—soaked my white tunic.
"Father?" I gasped. My lungs were filling with fluid. "Why?"
Magnus leaned in close. His face showed no regret. "You were born with the Divine Core, Lucius. It is the greatest battery of power this world has ever seen. But you are too stubborn. Too independent."
He twisted the spear. I screamed, a sound of pure agony.
"Julian is much more... obedient," Magnus whispered. "He will take your core. He will lead this Empire. You? You are just the vessel that kept it warm for him."
"No..." I clawed at his arm, but I was getting weaker.
Julian stepped forward. He placed his hand on the spear’s shaft. "Don't fight it, big brother. You always said you'd do anything for the family. Today, you're giving me your life. That’s very generous of you."
Beside him, Seraphina stepped over my pooling blood. She didn't even look at my face.
"A coreless prince is just a peasant with a title, Lucius," she said, her voice like ice. "I don't marry peasants."
Magnus roared an ancient incantation. "The Grafting Rite: EXTRACT!"
A blinding light erupted from my chest. I felt my soul being ripped in half. The Divine Core—a glowing orb of pure white energy—was pulled out of my body. It hovered for a second before Magnus slammed it into Julian’s chest.
Julian threw his head back and laughed as my power surged into him.
I fell to the floor, a hollow shell. I could feel my life fading. The "light" was gone. But as the light left, something else began to stir in the deepest part of my gut. Something dark. Something hungry.
"Throw him into the Abyssal Rift," Magnus commanded the guards. "Let the monsters have what's left of the failure."
The guards grabbed my arms. They dragged me to the edge of the altar, where a massive, swirling black hole waited—the Rift.
"See you in hell, brother," Julian sneered.
They tossed me in.
I fell into the endless black. My core was gone. My family had betrayed me. My fiancée had mocked me.
As the darkness swallowed me, a voice whispered from the depths of my own mind. A voice that sounded like a thousand shifting shadows.
[The Seal is broken. The Void is hungry. Shall we begin?]
My eyes, once gold, turned pitch black.
"Yes," I whispered into the void. "Let's eat."
