Sign In To The Body Of Chaos At The Start

The sun had long since passed its zenith, casting long amber rays through the crystalline windows of the Dragon Clan's upper halls.

The gentle warmth of afternoon bathed the high stone walls in golden hues. Damon had just stepped into the inner courtyard after talking to Talia, the massive doors closing behind him.

Despite the tranquil appearance of the space, his senses remained sharpened. He knew that since he returned, it was only a matter of time before Antares & Varus put whatever sick plan they concocted into action, so he needed to be aware.

The stone beneath his boots pulsed with subtle runes of power, ancient protections woven into the very structure of the sanctum. This was no simple castle, this was a living fortress of dragonkind, where time whispered through the wind and the walls breathed history.

Damon took a seat on one of the stone benches near a wide pond of luminous spirit-lilies, letting the silence fold around him. His gaze lingered on his reflection in the glassy surface of the water.

Even his eyes had changed.

The shadows within them no longer flickered uncertainly, they settled with conviction, yet behind them, vast reserves of power churned like restrained chaos. The remnants of the Primordial Era still echoed through his body.

He could feel the gravity of what he had gained. The biggest gains was undoubtedly the experience of battling much harsher and punishing opponents.

Mistakes he didn't even know he used to make in combat had now been fixed because those enemies in the Primordial Era had punished him. Now, he was a much more refined fighter, and able to adapt during battle much easier.

He sat and meditated, thinking about the future, but before he could meditate for long and dwell on the weight of what he'd need to do in the future, he felt a ripple in the atmosphere. It wasn't hostile. It was… familiar.

He felt his own soul reacting to that ripple, and he stood up, immediately knowing what it meant.

A moment later, she arrived.

Astralene moved through the courtyard as if she belonged to another realm altogether. Her robes were as fluid as light, cascading around her in translucent folds that shimmered with the faint hues of starlight.

Her hair floated gently behind her, catching the late sunlight in glimmering strands. She didn't speak at first. She merely approached, her eyes fixed on him with quiet knowing. There was something in her gaze that stopped him from speaking too.

When she finally stood before him, her lips curved into the softest of smiles.

"I felt you return," she said.

Damon inclined his head, "I didn't make a grand entrance this time."

"You didn't need to. The echoes of your power sang through the ley lines and I felt it in my soul," She studied him more closely now, her expression turning serious. "You've changed."

"I had to."

Astralene reached out and gently touched his arm. The moment her fingers brushed against his skin, her eyes fluttered closed, and a rush of images flooded her senses: bloodied battlefields beneath ancient skies, the roar of abyssal monstrosities, the scent of scorched time and collapsed space. Damon, standing alone, wreathed in Void and Shadow and Chaos, refusing to kneel.

She opened her eyes slowly.

"You stood at the edge of creation," she whispered, "And came back whole."

"Not whole," he replied, voice low, "But enough."

She withdrew her hand, a flicker of sorrow passing through her gaze.

"It wasn't meant to happen so soon," she murmured, "We'd only just met, and you'd been sent off to the Primordial Era, if you died, I don't know how I'd react, thank god you're safe, the Primordial Era...it's not just a battlefield. It's a memory of war so ancient the stars don't remember it."

Damon gave a short nod, "It changed me. But it also clarified things."

"Oh?" Astralene raised a brow, curious.

"I saw the Abyss at its purest. Not just the monsters, those are symptoms. I saw the idea behind it. The hunger. The truth that there's no negotiation with it. It won't be satisfied until it swallows everything… including us."

A long silence followed his words.

Astralene walked slowly toward the pond and stood at its edge, gazing at her reflection. The ripples bent her image into fragments.

"We once thought we could contain the Abyss back then," she said softly, "Seal it. Bury it beneath forgotten stars. We were fools."

Damon stepped beside her, "You've seen more than I thought."

"My parents were part of the ones who tried," she said, voice thick with memory, "However needless to say, they never stood a chance, no-one did, we didn't understand the Abyss enough back then compared to now." She looked at him now, eyes hardening, not with anger, but with resolve.

"I see in you the same defiance I once carried. But more than that... I see evolution. You're not bound to the old systems. You're building something new, even if you don't realize it yet."

"I believe you are the only one who can decide how this era ends." She said as she looked directly at him.

He let out a breath "That's a hell of a burden."

"True power always is," she replied. "And yours is still growing. I can feel the resonance in your blood, your power is growing faster than expected. You'll need guidance soon."

"From you?"

"No," she said quietly. "From something deeper. The Wellspring of Aether, the oldest one. It's an ancient dimension that shifts in time & space, I've used the Book of Destiny and it should be reappearing soon. You must go there soon."

"What is that?" Damon asked, never hearing of the Wellspring of Aether before.

She turned slightly, her robes of starlight brushing the pond's edge, sending delicate ripples through the water.

"The Wellspring of Aether," she began, her voice as calm and deep as the void between constellations, "is not a place… not in the conventional sense. It's a manifestation. A tear in existence that predates the gods and the worlds we know. It is both origin and memory, the source of all raw Aether from which Spirits, Magic, even the Laws of Reality first flowed."

Damon frowned slightly, taking in her words, "So… it's the true source?"

She nodded once. "Yes. Long before elements, before time, before even the Chaos of your body came into form, there was the Aether. Pure, infinite, formless… and the Wellspring is the only place where it still exists unfiltered."

She paused then, her expression darkening, "But it's also a place of peril. Because the Aether does not only empower. It reflects. It sees the soul."

He arched a brow, "Reflects what, exactly?"

"Your desires. Your fears. Every choice you've made… and those you could have made. The Wellspring knows all possibilities, and it doesn't just show you visions, it drags them out of you and wraps them in dream and illusion. Even a God who enters may never leave, lost in a paradise or torment of their own making." Her voice had dropped to a whisper, as if the very idea summoned the memories of those who had vanished within.

"It's why the Wellspring only reveals itself in one place," she continued. "The Valley of Dreams."

The name itself seemed to weigh on the air. Damon felt a sudden pressure around his temples, like something ancient had heard the name spoken and stirred slightly in response.

Astralene looked at him gravely. "It's a realm that overlaps with reality in unpredictable ways. A cursed place. A sacred one. When the veil grows thin, it appears for a single week every millennia. Spirits of dead gods walk it. Time folds. Hallucinations made from thought walk and talk like they're real. And if you fall into one of those dreams, even for a moment…"

"You don't wake up," Damon finished quietly.

"No," she confirmed, "At least, not as the same person. If your mind isn't sharp enough, if your spirit isn't anchored, you'll become one of the echoes. A phantom. And this time, the Valley will be even more unstable. The Abyss is stirring beneath it, hungry to reach what lies within the Wellspring."

Damon crossed his arms, his face unreadable, "And you think I can handle this?"

"I know you can," she replied, stepping closer. "You've returned from the Primordial Era with the mark of evolution. You understand Shadow, Space, and Chaos in ways that no dragon, no elf, no god ever has. But this trial, this Wellspring, it will not test your strength."

She placed her hand on his chest, directly above his heart.

"It will test your identity. You must be ready to see every version of yourself. Every path you could have walked. The ones where you gave in. The ones where you never met Artemis. The ones where the Abyss was your salvation. And you must still choose to walk forward as who you are."

Damon looked away briefly, eyes cast down toward the glistening lilies on the pond's surface. "And when does this happen?"

"In three nights," she said. "The Valley of Dreams will open beneath the shattered moonlight. It lies beyond the Veiled Hollow, at the edge of this realm's furthest winds. I will prepare a passage for you, but once you enter, your path is your own."

Damon's voice was quiet but resolute,"I'll be ready."