Chapter 1
Jacob fled to Nocthollow—his mother's homeland, where darkness thrived and power flowed in silence. Unlike water tribe (ice tribe), Nocthollow welcomed him.
They had been waiting.
The seers of the Dark Tribe had spoken long ago of a child born from water and shadow. A rare vessel. A key. With rituals and forbidden spells, they awakened the force within Jacob. The darkness did not fight the water—it consumed it, reshaped it, and made it obey.
Jacob returned not as a prince, but as a storm.
In one night, he struck the Water Kingdom. His brother, Azuu, was dethroned and thrown into the very dungeon that once held him. But Jacob did not grant death—he called it mercy. And mercy was a gift he never gave again.
He seized the throne. He ruled not with justice, but with fear.
When he heard his father had gone into hiding, he scoffed.
"He retired like a god," he sneered. "Let him fade in silence. I will leave these waters and carve my name into the shadow. My legacy will command the kingdom he abandoned."
But the shadows could not conceal every secret.
Jacob soon discovered that Azuu had fathered two children in secret—a boy and a girl—with a woman of the Earth Tribe. The children were powerful—more than they knew. A threat.
Eric.
Jacob summoned his men. "Find the boy. There's no need for the girl. Girls are nothing. Once the boy is gone, the girl will live in fear forever."
But they were too late.
Old Azuu, knowing what was coming, had warned his wives: "Protect the children. Hide them before the storm breaks." And so, guided by ancient wisdom,Esther—a woman of flame, the Fire Queen, wife of Azuu the First, mother to Azuu the Second, and grandmother to Eric—acted.
She stood tall, her age-lined face glowing in the portal's flickering light. Though the years had silvered her hair, the fire in her spirit burned as fiercely as ever. Cradling her grandson, her heart heavy with sorrow and hope, she whispered ancient words—incantations of the Fire Tribe, passed down through queens and guardians.
"You will rise where they cast you down.
You will return when your name is nearly forgotten.
You are more than your blood…
You are the balance."
And with that final, trembling breath, she cast Eric through the portal—into Tryzo, the green world between stars. Far from the reach of Jacob's wrath, yet forever
bound to the destiny of Aethelgard.