The Storm Tower | Vol.4, The Eldenarian Artifacts ✓

prologue.

Distant horns blared through the night air like fire pouring from a dragon's open maw.

Karuma Kasai—the leader of House Doragon and the fire elementalists—was usually asleep at this late hour. But there was no way she would have been able to sleep through this.

She was stood on the balcony of the highest floor of her multi-storied, Japanese pagoda. It towered over the magical, hidden town of Sunsu, the central headquarters for House Doragon in Japan. The woman had a clear view of the lands she ruled over and what surrounded them; oriental-styled houses and shops were nestled in between the ocean to the west and the lush forest consuming much of the east.

Her hands gripped the wooden banister until her knuckles turned white. Bone-chilling roars and screeches tore through the night. They came from the trees and were getting closer by the second. Clenching her jaw, she watched the faint silhouette of a small army rushing toward her city.

Thorian Thauvin, head of House Tenebris and the Order of the Black Lotus, lead the charge. Their two houses established an alliance months before; they both wanted to see magicians return to the forefront of humanity. It was their rightful place in the world. The Ordinaires had taken that from them centuries ago. Cowering in the shadows away from the non-casters would soon be a thing of the past.

But as the days passed, Karuma wondered if she had made the right decision pledging her loyalty to the Order of the Black Lotus. The prophecy had warned them all about Thorian. If the oracle was true and he truly was the fabled Black Lotus, then his quest to collect all the Eldenarian Artifacts would surely plunge the world into eternal darkness.

And she would be considered an accomplice.

Prophecies rarely came to fruition. Dozens of them had come and gone without ever coming true.

The Prophecy of Eight was different, though. As much as she tried, she couldn't ignore it. A new piece of the premonition reared its ugly head every couple of weeks it seemed. Soon, the prophesized war among the magicians would begin.

In some ways, it had already been going on for years.

Kaen, her youngest son, burst through the curtain hanging over her bedroom doorway. Sweat dripped down his face as he stumbled into the room. Fear was present in his deep, brown eyes.

"They're almost here," he announced breathlessly. "What do we do?"

Karuma kept her gaze on the dark magician advancing on her home. Despite being several stories away, the two of them had made direct eye contact. She resisted the urge to scowl.

She knew exactly what he was here for. It wasn't for a fight, but if she refused his request, a fight was what she was going to get.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have shied away from a fight with House Tenebris. Their house might have been full of capable dark magicians well versed in the Obscurin arts, but House Doragon housed plenty of talented magicians itself. They had fire wielders and dragon shifters on their side.

And, on their home ground, she would've fancied them in a fight.

But Thorian hadn't brought his housemates with him. None of his knights or Shades were at his side.

No, he was accompanied by the undead. Reanimated souls invigorated by evil magic originating from the dark pits deep within Nordor—the underworld. She wasn't sure how he had managed to pull that off, but questions would have to wait for later.

For now, she had to answer to him.

"Let's greet our guest downstairs," she told Kaen.

With her son in tow, she tied her red and gold kimono tighter around her thin frame and made her way down to the base level of her pagoda. Fires crackled in pots along the side of the dimly lit staircase she traveled down. She emerged from the stairs and passed by her servants and housemates, who all looked to her for guidance. She gave them reassured glances, promising that everything would be alright. Their safety was her utmost priority. Going back on her alliance with House Tenebris would only cause the unnecessary deaths of her people.