The world did not break with a sound.
It broke with a silence.
For three long seconds, every wave froze mid-crest, every leaf hung motionless, and even the rain stopped midair. Then, the light from the Eclipse surged outward like a tidal wave of fire and shadow.
A tear split the heavens. It was not lightning, nor was it storm. It was something older. Something cosmic.
Liora staggered across the cliffside, her lungs burning as she stared upward. Above her, the once-familiar sun was being devoured. A black disc slid over it, rimmed in molten crimson. The Eclipse.
Her grandmother had whispered of it, long ago. The Shattered Sky, the end of ages. She had dismissed it as folklore, a tale to frighten children. Now, the air itself trembled, vibrating with a soundless hum that pressed against her bones.
The sea turned black. The stars bled.
She clutched the shard she carried, its jagged surface glowing faintly as though resonating with the madness above. The shard pulsed against her palm, alive, as if eager.
Behind her, the earth cracked, and people screamed as villages split apart. Some fell into chasms. Some turned to ash. The Eclipse was not an event. It was a predator, feasting on the world.
"Liora!" A voice tore through the chaos.
She turned—Eryndor, his crimson cloak torn, his blade drawn. His eyes reflected the cosmic fracture in the sky. "The Shattered Sky has begun. We must move before it devours everything."
The shard pulsed harder, burning her hand. She nearly dropped it but held firm. Something within told her: this was the key.
A storm of obsidian fire rained from the heavens, cutting the horizon into pieces. Liora could barely breathe.
Eryndor grabbed her arm, pulling her into motion as the cliffside collapsed behind them. "The Eclipse will not stop. It never does."
Liora's breath hitched. "You've seen this before?"
"Not seen. Remembered." His tone was grim. "It has happened in cycles. Forgotten by mortals, but not by those who linger."
The shard seared her hand again. She swore she heard whispers inside her head, voices speaking in a language older than the wind.
Find the rest. Find the Core.
The silence broke. A thunderclap like the death of the world erupted, and the ground split apart, swallowing the sea. The Shattered Sky had opened.
And nothing would ever be the same.