Prologue
Darkness clung to his failing body like a lover unwilling to part. Blood pooled beneath him, staining the ancient ruins where he had made his last stand. Zephyr Ravencrest, once a powerless failure, lay dying under the eerie glow of the twin moons.
He had nothing—no strength, no blessings from the gods, and no reason to live. Yet, in his final moments, fate whispered to him in the form of a shattered chalice filled with obsidian liquid. A voice, deep and ancient, resonated in his mind.
Drink, child of fate… embrace the abyss, and you shall be reborn.
With the last of his strength, Zephyr grasped the chalice and let the dark ichor slide down his throat. It burned like molten fire, yet a cold abyss devoured his pain. His vision blurred, shadows writhing around him like living entities.
Then—nothing.
Chapter 1: The Three Days Before Fate
Zephyr gasped awake, his chest heaving as if he had just surfaced from the depths of an endless ocean. His heart pounded, his mind fogged with memories of blood and betrayal. He reached out, expecting to feel the cold stones of the ruins—
But instead, his fingers met the familiar warmth of silk sheets.
His breath hitched. This was his room. The same cramped chamber within the Ravencrest estate. The scent of aged wood and candle wax filled the air. The faint glow of dawn peeked through the curtains.
"Impossible…" Zephyr muttered, his fingers trembling as he reached for the ornate mirror beside his bed.
A youthful face stared back at him—his own, but twenty one years younger. His once war-worn expression was replaced with soft, unscarred skin. His silver eyes, once dulled by years of hardship, now burned with intensity.
"I… regressed?" His mind raced. Three days. He had three days before the Ceremony of Ascension, the day when all children of noble birth—at the age of seven—would receive their divine gifts from the gods.
In his past life, he had received nothing. A disgrace to the Ravencrest name.
Would history repeat itself, or had drinking that unknown being's blood changed his fate?