1 Chapter 1: Dreamer

In the heart of Helios, there was a cabin that housed Ray'Daniel, a young boy on the brink of adulthood, surrounded by whispering woods. One stormy night, while the world outside raged, Ray'Daniel's mind wandered into the realm of dreams. In this surreal experience, he witnessed a catastrophe that would be forever etched in the history of Alos.

Suspended in the air by a battlefield that extended endlessly across Helios, Ray'Daniel surveyed a scene of chaos and ruin. The sky appeared to grieve as it unleashed torrents of rain mixed with the blood of innumerable warriors beneath. The land of his birth was unrecognizable, turned into a crucible of conflict where the forces of magic and steel battled fiercely.

The air was thick with the scent of magic and metal. Arcane energies crackled across the battlefield, unleashed by sorcerers whose chants rose above the din of battle, their gestures weaving spells of destruction and protection. Warriors in gleaming armor charged through the mire, their blades meeting with the flash of enchanted shields, while mythical beasts summoned from the depths of imagination roared, lending their might to the fray.

Amid this chaos, a figure of singular purpose and power carved a path through the enemy lines. This warrior, clad in armor that shimmered with a light otherworldly, wielded a sword that danced with flames, each strike cleaving through the darkness and sowing light in its wake. Around this beacon of hope, the tide of battle shifted, yet with every foe defeated, the sorrow of loss grew heavier, a testament to the warrior's solitary burden.

As a silent observer, Ray'Daniel felt a pull towards the warrior, a connection that transcended the bounds of his dream. As he descended towards the melee, the very fabric of the battlefield seemed to respond to his presence. The ground beneath the combatants quaked, and vines erupted from fissures in the earth, entwining soldiers in their grasp and halting their advance.

But before he could set foot upon the sodden earth, a voice, deep and resonant, echoed through the chaos, halting him in his spectral descent. "Remember, Ray'Daniel of Helios, what you witness here. This dream is a shadow of what may come, a warning of the darkness that seeks to engulf your world."

As the clash of swords and the screams of the fallen faded, the image of the brave warrior slowly dissolved into the misty veil of the dream world. Ray'Daniel felt himself being gently drawn back to reality, the vibrant battlefield details gradually giving way to the soft embrace of the waking world.

He awoke startled, the tranquility of his cabin a stark contrast to the stormy vision of war that had consumed him. The storm outside had subsided, leaving only the gentle patter of rain against the window, a soothing counterpoint to the turmoil of his dream. Ray layed there in the dim light of dawn, the echoes of the dream lingering in his mind, a haunting prelude to a destiny yet unwoven.

Ray'Daniel was sure that his dream was not just a product of his imagination. He believed that it was a call to action, urging him to follow a path that was connected to the fate of Helios and the surrounding realms.

As Ray'Daniel struggled to shake off the remnants of the dream, the rain outside intensified, its rhythm against the cabin growing more frantic, as if reflecting the turmoil within his heart. In the midst of this escalating storm, the door creaked open, and a figure stepped inside, the silhouette of his brother, Ra'Hashmel, cutting through the dimness of the early dawn.

Ra'Hashmel, one year older than Ray, bore the weight of their shared lineage in stark contrast to Ray. Where Ray's hair shimmered with the light of platinum blonde, reminiscent of the sun's embrace, Ra's locks were as dark as the night, a mirror to the depth of his eyes and the shadows that lingered in his past. The brothers, born of the same father but to different mothers, were a study in contrasts, not only in appearance but in the worlds they carried within them.

"Another storm, Ray?" Ra'Hashmel's voice, edged with the cool detachment that had grown between them over the years, cut through the silence. His gaze, though concerned, was guarded, maintaining the distance born from the traumas that had ensnared their family—traumas that had left Ra colder, more reserved.

Ray'Daniel nodded, attempting to mask the turmoil that the dream had stirred within him. "Just a dream, but it felt...real. Like a warning," he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper, betraying his attempt at nonchalance.

Ra'Hashmel's expression shifted, a flicker of curiosity breaking through his usual reserve. "A warning?" he echoed, skepticism lacing his tone. "You're letting the storm get to you. Dreams are just that, Ray—dreams. They hold no weight in the waking world."

Ray couldn't help but feel the chasm between them widen at his brother's words. "It was about Helios, Ra. A war that could tear everything apart," he pressed on, the urgency in his voice impossible to ignore. "I think...I think it might mean something."

Ra'Hashmel sighed, the weight of their father's absence—a specter that haunted both their lives—momentarily softening his demeanor. "Ray, ever since Dad left, you've been looking for signs, for something to make sense of it all. But not everything is a prophecy or a call to action. Sometimes, a storm is just a storm."

The room fell silent, save for the relentless downpour that seemed to echo the distance between the two brothers. Yet, in that moment of stillness, a bond, frayed but not broken, persisted. They were, after all, each other's only family, united by a shared father, his mysterious disappearance, and the untold stories of their separate mothers.

Ray'Daniel looked into Ra'Hashmel's night-dark eyes, a mirror to the storm outside, and saw not just the skepticism and the scars of the past but also the unspoken fear of losing what little they had left of each other. "I know, Ra. But what if there's truth to it? What if we're meant to do something more than just survive these storms?"

Ra'Hashmel's gaze lingered on his brother, the walls he'd built around himself wavering in the face of Ray's earnestness. "Then we'll face it together, like we always have. But for now, let's just focus on getting through this storm," he conceded, a rare admission of their shared bond and the uncharted waters that lay ahead.

As the brothers settled into a fragile peace, the storm outside raged on, a reminder of the challenges they would face together. In the heart of that storm, Ray'Daniel held onto the dream, a beacon that promised a destiny greater than the confines of their cabin in the woods, a destiny intertwined with the fate of Helios and the mysterious prophecy that had whispered to him in the night.

Ra'Hashmel crossed his arms, his slender frame casting a long shadow in the dimly lit cabin. "You always have your head in the clouds, Ray. Always dreaming, always looking for signs. It's like you're not even here with me." His voice carried a note of disappointment, tinged with concern for his younger brother, who seemed ever distant, lost in visions and dreams of another world.

Ray'Daniel looked up at his brother, his own physique more muscular and compact, a stark contrast to Ra'Hashmel's taller and leaner build. Despite their physical differences, there was an undeniable bond between them, one that had weathered countless storms both literal and metaphorical. Ray's silver eyes, a rare inheritance from the mother he never knew, reflected the soft glow of the candlelight, their luminous quality lending him an otherworldly appearance.

"Ra, I know it seems like I'm always lost in thought, but it's only because I believe there's more to Dad's disappearance than we've been told. There are answers out there, and I can't help but feel that my dreams...our dreams are a key to finding them," Ray'Daniel replied, his voice gentle yet firm, infused with an unwavering conviction. "I'm not trying to escape our reality; I'm trying to understand it, to find our place in it."

Ra sighed, his skepticism warring with the part of him that yearned to believe in something more, something that could explain the void left by their father's mysterious absence. "And what about the life we have here? With Sister Althea? She's taken care of us since...since Mom died, Ray. We owe her our loyalty, our faith in Val'Dromas."

Ray'Daniel nodded, acknowledging their debt to the nun who had become their guardian. Sister Althea, a devout worshipper of Val'Dromas, the god of dragons and beasts of the sky, had provided them with a home, schooling them in the ways of faith and survival. "Sister Althea has been good to us, and I'm grateful for everything she's done. But don't you ever wonder if Val'Dromas has a greater plan for us? Maybe our dreams, the prophecies, and even Dad's disappearance are all connected. Maybe they're leading us to our true destiny."

Ra'Hashmel looked into his brother's silver eyes, searching for the certainty that eluded him. "And if we follow these dreams, these prophecies, where does that lead us, Ray? Away from everything we know? Why would you be so selfish. We have our lives here and a good one at that. Many have been raided and killed as of latetlyxor worse. We have to protect the littke we have"

Ray'Daniel reached out, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder, a gesture of reassurance and solidarity. "Wherever it leads, we'll go together. We're not just the sons of a man who vanished or the wards of a devout nun. We're more than that, Ra. And I believe that together, we can uncover the truth about our past and shape our own future. But we have to be willing to take that first step, to believe in the possibility of something more."

The conversation lingered in the air, a testament to the crossroads at which the brothers found themselves. As the storm outside continued to rage, it served as a reminder of the inevitable journey that lay ahead, a journey that would take them beyond the confines of their simple life, towards the unknown horizons of their destiny.