The disappearance of the sun was not a gradual fading; it was a violent theft. One moment, the sky was a bruised purple of magical fallout; the next, it was a terrifying, airless black. The stars didn't twinkle; they stared down like cold, indifferent eyes. Without the sun’s gravity, the very atmosphere of the Ridge began to groan, the air thinning as the temperature plummeted.
Elara’s breath hitched, coming out as a cloud of crystalline ice. Beside her, Kaelen shivered, his snow-white hair stark against his pale skin. He looked down at the small, golden key in his palm—the only thing left of their son.
"He’s gone," Kaelen rasped, his voice sounding brittle, like breaking glass. "Aurelius... he took the light to keep it from Kaden. He’s in a time that doesn't exist yet."
"Then we find a
