Rain never remembered the sound of her mother's voice, only the trembling whispers of stories passed down by the old caretaker at the orphanage. They said her mother had eyes like molten gold, a face too kind for this cruel world, and a heart that dared to love a monster. It was this love that brought Rain into existence—a child born from shadows and sorrow, destined to tread a path no other could.
The first time Rain understood pain, she was six. The midday sun was unrelenting, and the other children danced under its warmth while she hid in the shade, her skin sizzling with every accidental step into the light. She tried to explain, but no one listened. She was "different," and to the world, different was dangerous.
By thirteen, she had learned to fight. Not with swords or fists but with silence. Silence could protect her, shield her from questions she couldn't answer and truths no one would believe. The carnival found her soon after—a haven for the strange, a sanctuary for those the world rejected. To the crowds, she was a marvel, "The Girl Who Dances with Shadows," her performances as hypnotic as the darkness she commanded. But beneath the applause lay whispers of fear, of the curse she carried in her blood.
It wasn't the carnival that made her a fugitive; it was the night they came. Pale figures cloaked in moonlight, their eyes red as fire, their teeth glinting with a hunger that promised death. They called her a "key," spoke of powers she didn't understand and destinies she refused to believe. Rain fought back, her shadow rising to defend her, and when the dust settled, she was the only one left breathing.
Now, she was running—not just from the vampires who hunted her but from the truth she had long buried. Her father was alive, and he was the monster they whispered about in the dark. Kagan. The ruler of an empire built on blood and terror.
Rain's journey would take her to forgotten ruins and dangerous alliances, to answers she wasn't ready to hear and choices she wasn't prepared to make. With every step, the line between hunter and prey, savior and destroyer, grew thinner.
And somewhere, far beyond the mountains, a storm brewed. A storm that carried her name.