Chapter 105 The Daughter of Dawn
Chapter 105 The Daughter of Dawn
Chapter 105
Sable's POV
No one spoke.
The words seem to echo through the palace again and again.
The Daughter of Dawn.
I had never heard that title before. Yet the moment the Devourer spoke it...
Something inside me answered.
The First Flame burned warmly.
The Second Flame shimmered like moonlight.
My heartbeat slowed.
It felt...
Familiar.
Almost as though I had carried that name my entire life without knowing it.
I looked around the throne room. The King stood frozen.
Sera had covered her mouth with trembling hands even Moros looked shaken.
Only Eden remained calm.
He sighed softly.
"I hoped we had more time."
Leonidas' POV
I walked to Sable's side.
Whatever "Daughter of Dawn" meant...
She wasn't facing it alone.
I made our fingers intertwined and she looked at me.
"What if they're talking about someone else?"
I smiled gently.
"Then we'll find her."
"And if they're talking about me?"
I squeezed her hand.
"Then we'll face it together."
A tear slipped down her cheek. She leaned her forehead against my shoulder for just a moment.
The world outside was falling apart. Ancient beings were awakening.
The sky itself had begun to crack.
But in that brief moment...
It was just us.
Just Sable.
Just me.
Just two people who had survived too much to let go now.
Sera's POV
I watched them quietly.
For the first time in thousands of years...
I understood.
This was why history had changed.
Not because Sable was stronger than I had been.
Not because Leonidas was more powerful than the First King.
Because they loved without allowing destiny to own them.
That...
Was something my generation had never learned.
The King stepped beside me.
"You were smiling."
"I was remembering."
"What?"
"The day we were like them."
He smiled sadly.
"I almost forgot."
Moros' POV
Enough sentiment.
Every passing second gave them strength.
I couldn't allow it.
The Devourer had recognized Sable and that changed everything including plans.
If she truly was the Daughter of Dawn...
Then the prophecy wasn't broken.
It had simply been delayed.
I slowly backed away from the others.
No one noticed.
Good.
There were still pieces of my plan hidden throughout Elysium.
If I couldn't control the Heart...
Then I would destroy every path leading to it.
Even if I had to burn the world myself.
Eden's POV
I watched Moros leave.
I let him.
Sometimes...
The only way to end a story...
Is to let the villain believe he still has one.
I looked toward Sable.
"The title frightens you."
She nodded.
"I don't want to become someone else."
"You won't."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's true."
She looked at me.
"So tell me."
"What is the Daughter of Dawn?"
For the first time...
I answered without riddles.
"The Daughter of Dawn..."
I said quietly,
"...is not someone who was born."
"It is someone who chooses to become the world's first light..."
"...after its darkest night."
Sable frowned.
"So anyone could become her?"
Eden smiled.
"No."
"Only someone who keeps choosing hope..."
"...even after losing everything."
Sable fell silent.
Because deep inside...
She knew.
That description sounded painfully familiar.
Sable's POV
The throne room slowly became emptied—not because the danger had passed. Because everyone needed time
to think.
The Guardian Kings left to strengthen the city's defenses. Marcus and Kael went to inspect the damage across Elysium.
Noctis disappeared into the ancient archives, searching for anything that mentioned the Daughter of Dawn.
Only a handful of us remained.
Leonidas.
Sera.
The King.
Eden.
And me.
The silence wasn't uncomfortable.
It was heavy.
The kind that settles after the truth changes everything.
I walked to one of the shattered windows.
The floating islands drifted quietly beneath a pale sky.
For the first time since arriving in Elysium...
The city looked tired.
Broken bridges connected islands that no longer aligned. Gardens once filled with silver flowers had withered. Ancient towers leaned slightly, their glowing runes fading.
This place had carried the weight of thousands of years.
Just like its people.
"Beautiful..."
I whispered.
"But lonely."
A voice answered behind me.
"It has been lonely for a very long time."
Sera.
She joined me at the window.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
We simply watched the city.
Sera's POV
"I used to stand here every morning."
Sable looked at me.
"Really?"
I nodded.
"I believed if I watched the sunrise every day..."
"...I'd never forget why I became Queen."
She smiled faintly.
"Did it work?"
"For a while."
My smile faded.
"Then the wars began."
"The meetings."
"The betrayals."
"The responsibilities."
"I stopped looking at the sunrise."
I turned to face her.
"And somewhere along the way..."
"I stopped seeing people."
The confession hurt.
Even after seven thousand years.
"I don't want that to happen to you."
Sable reached out and gently held my hand.
"It won't."
"How can you be so sure?"
She smiled.
"Because I have people who remind me who I am."
Her eyes drifted toward Leonidas.
"He never lets me carry everything alone."
I followed her gaze.
Leonidas was speaking quietly with the King across the room.
I laughed softly.
"The First King was exactly like that."
The King's POV
Leonidas reminded me painfully of myself.
Not because of his strength but because of the way he looked at Sable.
Like she was worth saving even if the world wasn't.
I had once looked at Sera that way.
Perhaps...
I still did.
Leonidas broke the silence.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Were you ever afraid?"
I almost laughed.
"Every single day."
He looked genuinely surprised.
"But everyone speaks about you like you were fearless."
"Then everyone remembers the wrong man."
I rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Courage isn't the absence of fear."
"It's deciding that someone else matters more than your fear."
His expression softened.
He glanced toward Sable.
"I understand."
"I know you do."
Noctis' POV
Dust covered everything.
The Hall of Records had remained untouched for centuries.
Thousands of scrolls floated around me, suspended by ancient magic. Most crumbled the moment I touched them.
Too old.
Too damaged.
But then I noticed one scroll remained intact.
Its seal bore a symbol I had never seen.
A rising sun wrapped in silver vines.
My heart skipped.
Slowly, I broke the seal.
The parchment opened by itself.
Only one sentence was written.
"When Dawn returns, Night must decide whether to fade... or to stand beside the light."
I stared at the words.
Night.
That was my title.
Keeper of the Void.
Guardian of Night.
The prophecy...
Mentioned me.
Moros' POV
The hidden chamber hadn't changed.
Deep beneath Elysium...
Beyond forgotten tunnels...
It still waited.
The Chamber of Echoes.
Only I knew it remained.
Rows of crystal pillars stretched endlessly into darkness.
Inside each crystal...
A soul slept.
Kings.
Queens.
Warriors.
Mages.
Thousands of them.
The greatest champions of the First Age.
Frozen between life and death.
I smiled.
"So..."
"You've all been patient."
I placed my hand on the central pillar.
Dark energy spread through the chamber.
One by one...
The crystals began to glow crimson.
A thousand eyes slowly opened in the darkness.
Sable's POV
A sudden pain shot through my chest.
The First Flame flared.
The Second Flame answered.
I gasped.
Leonidas was beside me instantly.
"What happened?"
I looked toward the floor.
Toward the depths beneath the palace.
"I don't know..."
"But something just woke up."
At that exact moment...
The ground beneath Elysium trembled from below.
A low, ancient horn echoed through the city.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The King closed his eyes.
His face turned pale.
"No..."
Sera whispered,
"He found them."
Outside, bells began ringing wildly. Guards shouted from every tower.
The streets filled with panic. Deep beneath the Palace of Creation...
The Army of the First Age had awakened.
Leonidas' POV
The horn echoed through Elysium again.
It wasn't loud.
It was ancient.
It was the kind of sound that didn't just reach your ears but also reached deep into your soul.
All around the palace, alarms erupted, guards raced across the bridges connecting the floating islands while messengers shouted orders around.
The peaceful silence that had settled after the Messenger's departure vanished in an instant.
Marcus burst through the throne room doors, breathing heavily.
"Your Majesty!"
The King turned immediately.
"What happened?"
Marcus swallowed.
"The underground gates..."
"They're opening."
The King's POV
Impossible.
Those gates had been sealed by my own blood.
No one should have been able to unlock them.
Unless...
I looked toward Moros.
He was gone.
My stomach sank.
"Seal every bridge."
Marcus nodded.
"Already done."
"No one enters the palace without my permission."
Kael rushed in behind him.
"It's worse than that."
Everyone looked toward him.
"The soldiers..."
"They're not attacking."
Confusion spread across the room.
"What do you mean?"
Kael hesitated.
"They're marching."
"Like they're following orders."
I had buried them myself.
Every warrior.
Every general.
Every commander who fought in the First War.
Not because they were evil.
Because they deserved peace.
After the war ended, they refused to leave their weapons behind.
They believed another battle would come.
I promised them it wouldn't.
I lied.
No...
I hoped.
Seven thousand years later...
Moros had broken that promise for me.
Leonidas' POV
The horn echoed through Elysium a fourth time.
Then a fifth.
Each blast was deeper than the last, vibrating through my bones.
The palace floor trembled beneath our feet.
Cracks spread across the marble like veins.
Outside, I could hear people shouting.
Children crying.
Warriors barking orders.
The city had survived wars, betrayals, and the return of ancient kings.
But this...
This was different.
This was fear.
Not fear of an enemy.
Fear of history repeating itself.
I looked toward the King.
"What army?"
His jaw tightened.
"The army we swore would never walk this world again.
Sable's POV
The First Flame pulsed painfully. Something below the palace was calling to it.
Something with recognition.
I closed my eyes for just a second and I heard whispers.
Not thousands.
Just one.
"Come..."
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Broken.
Lonely.
My eyes snapped open.
Leonidas noticed immediately.
"What did you hear?"
I looked toward the marble floor.
"Someone is alive down there".
I could feel them.
Thousands of heartbeats.
Slow.
Ancient.
Each one pulsing beneath the city.
The Second Flame flooded me with fragments of memory.
A battlefield.
Golden banners.
Silver wolves charging beneath a crimson sky.
A woman crying as she watched soldiers march away.
A little boy chasing after his father.
"Please don't go!"
The soldier knelt.
He smiled through tears.
"I'll come home."
The memory shattered.
He never did.
I clutched my chest.
These weren't monsters.
They had once been people.
People who loved.
People who hoped.
People who were never allowed to finish living.
Noctis' POV
I arrived with the ancient scroll still clutched in my hand.
"There isn't time."
Everyone turned toward me.
I unrolled the parchment.
"The prophecy continues."
The King frowned.
"It was incomplete?"
"I only found the second half."
The room fell silent as I read aloud.
When Dawn returns, Night shall walk beside her.
When the First Flame remembers love...
The Forgotten Army shall rise.
Not to destroy the world...
But to choose its final ruler.
Silence.
Marcus blinked.
"So...They're not Moros' army?"
"No."
Sera answered quietly.
"They belonged to the Crown".
The prophecy continued.
Hidden words appeared beneath the first sentence.
Ink spread across the ancient scroll by itself.
I watched in disbelief.
"The Daughter of Dawn shall not stand alone."
"Night shall walk beside Dawn."
"The Wolf shall guard the Light."
"The Forgotten King shall kneel not to a throne..."
"...but to hope."
Then...
One final line appeared.
My blood turned cold.
"Beware the heart that still loves Moros."
I froze.
Someone...
Someone close to us...
Still loved him.
Which meant...
Someone would betray us.
Again.
Moros' POV
The chamber shook as the last crystal shattered.
One by one...
The greatest warriors of the First Age stepped forward.
Their armor still gleamed.
Their weapons remained untouched by time.
They looked exactly as they had on the day they died.
The first general knelt before me.
"My King."
I smiled.
"No."
"The true King abandoned you."
"They did not."
"They lied."
"They forgot."
"I remembered."
The warrior slowly stood.
His empty silver eyes burned crimson.
"What are your orders?"
I looked upward.
Toward the pal
ace.
"Bring me the Heart."
Slowly the last crystal broke at their head stood a woman wearing black and silver armor.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Commander Lyra.
Captain of the Eternal Guard.
The strongest knight the First Kingdom had ever known.
She looked at me.
Then at the broken seals surrounding the chamber.
"You..."
Her voice was cold.
"...are not my king."
My smile faded.
"No."
"But I awakened you."
She slowly drew her sword.
"And if you are not my king..."
"Then I owe you nothing."
The remaining warriors followed her example.
Thousands of swords left their scabbards at once.
Not against Elysium.
Against me.
I laughed bitterly.
"So even now..."
"...you remain loyal."
Commander Lyra's POV
Seven thousand years.
That was how long darkness had surrounded us.
Yet the moment the seal broke...
I felt it.
The Crown.
It had awakened.
Not the old one.
A new one.
A better one.
I turned toward the palace above us.
"She's here."
Every knight knelt.
Not to me.
To the unseen Queen waiting above us.
Moros' face darkened.
"You don't even know her."
I smiled.
"I don't need to."
"The Crown chose."
"That is enough."
Sable's POV
The First Flame burst into brilliant gold. The Second Flame glowed deep blue.
A third pulse echoed through my soul.
Different.
Stronger.
Almost...
Waiting.
The Third Flame.
It hadn't awakened.
But it had noticed me.
A sudden vision filled my mind.
Thousands of armored warriors were kneeling beneath the palace.
Not to Moros.
To me.
I gasped.
"They're waiting."
The King stepped closer.
"For whom?"
I looked into his eyes.
"They're waiting for their Queen."
Leonidas' POV
The palace doors opened.
Not by force.
By command.
A woman in ancient armor slowly walked into the throne room.
Behind her...
Thousands of knights filled the grand staircase.
Every one of them carried a weapon.
Every one of them could have conquered kingdoms.
The room held its breath.
Commander Lyra walked toward Sable.
She removed her helmet.
Then...
Without hesitation...
She dropped to one knee.
The sound echoed through the throne room.
One by one...
Every Eternal Knight knelt with her.
Thousands of voices became one.
"Our Queen..."
Sable stood frozen while tears filled her eyes.
She had never asked for a throne.
Never wanted a crown.
Yet the people who had protected the First Kingdom since the beginning of history had accepted her without question.
Commander Lyra looked up.
"We have waited seven thousand years for your command."
Before Sable could answer—
A thunderous explosion shook the palace.
The crimson eye in the heavens disappeared.
In its place...
A massive crack split the sky from horizon to horizon.
From within that crack...
A single colossal black wing slowly emerged.
The Devourer...
Had begun to cross into their world.
Sera's POV
I looked at Sable and immediately knew.
The Second Flame was showing her their memories.
Good.
She needed to understand.
If she only saw soldiers...
She would fight them.
If she saw the people they had once been...
She might save them.
That was the difference between us.
I fought wars.
She healed wounds.
Perhaps...
That was why the world had waited for her.
Sable's POV
The palace doors burst open.
A wounded guard stumbled inside.
His armor was covered in blood.
He dropped to one knee before the King.
"My King..."
"They're everywhere."
"The eastern district has fallen."
"The western gates are breaking."
"The people can't hold them back."
Another guard rushed in.
"The northern bridges have collapsed!"
A third.
"The lower islands are surrounded!"
The palace exploded into motion.
Generals began shouting orders. The Guardian Kings rushed outside.
Marcus spun his axes.
"Finally."
Kael glared at him.
"You enjoy fighting far too much."
Marcus grinned.
"I know."
Leonidas turned toward me.
"I want you to stay here."
I immediately shook my head.
"Absolutely not."
"It's dangerous."
"So is breathing lately."
Despite everything...
He laughed.
Then his face became serious again.
"I can't lose you."
I stepped closer until our foreheads touched.
"You won't."
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
"I'm making one I'll fight to keep."
He closed his eyes for a moment. Then he kissed my forehead.
"I love you."
"I know."
"I was hoping you'd say it back."
I smiled through my tears.
"I love you too."
Behind them, Sera quietly looked away, giving them their moment.
The King smiled faintly.
Even after thousands of years...
Love still had the power to make warriors forget war.
For just a heartbeat.
Then—
A deafening explosion shook the palace.
The eastern wall collapsed inward. Dust filled the throne room.
Out of the smoke...
A towering warrior stepped inside.
He wore ancient golden armor stained with age.
A broken crown rested upon his head. His crimson eyes locked onto the King.
Then he slowly smiled.
"My brother..."
The King's face drained of all color.
"No..."
Sera whispered in disbelief.
"It can't be."
The ancient warrior raised his sword.
"You should have let me die."