The light of the sky was losing its intensity, as the sun was already on the horizon, radiating a warm reddish and yellow light that struck the buildings and the castle, forming soft-shaped shadows.

  But all this natural beauty went unnoticed by two people who were inside the royal vault of the castle.

  “I… want to see the sky first,” said Ketsual, while holding the stone close to his chest. His voice trembled, showing doubt and fear.

  “You want to see the sky? Why?” commented Her Highness Maya, confused.

  Ketsual waited a few seconds to reflect before answering. “It’s just that I think that if I once saw that horrible circle in the sky… maybe I can see something else with the stone with me.”

  “Son… don’t take it so seriously. Maybe the circle you saw was most likely just a hallucination. It could even be that the stone you’re holding is just an ordinary stone, that the legend is nothing more than—”

  “Mother!” Ketsual interrupted his mother’s monologue, which had become fast and desperate in Maya’s voice.

  She looked at her son’s face, which showed concern—not for the situation, but for her.

  “I’m sorry, my son, but… the idea that you might be involved in something horrible and dangerous terrifies me, and I don’t want that for you.” Maya lowered her gaze, hiding her glassy eyes, filled with tears.

  Ketsual looked at his mother sadly, stepped closer to her, and gently took her hand. Maya lifted her gaze to look at him.

  “Don’t worry, Mother. You might be right about the story and the circle, but I can’t ignore the possibility that it’s real—that humanity could be in danger and that I would simply ignore it.”

  Maya’s expression softened. “You’re right, my son… we can’t ignore any possibility. Very well, let’s go outside and look at the sky.”

  .

  .

  .

  Ketsual and Maya were already outside the royal vault. They passed by the guardians at the vault’s entrance and moved away from the area.

  As they walked through the corridors, they could see through the corridor windows how late it was, with the sun about to disappear beyond the horizon.

  Ketsual looked up at the sky through the glass panes, finding nothing in sight, so he decided to leave the castle to get a wider view.

  Ketsual walked at a slightly hurried pace, while Maya followed close behind. Before long, they reached one of the castle’s exits.

  As he stepped outside, Ketsual had to narrow his eyes at the last rays of light lingering on the horizon. Turning his head to a side where the light would not bother him, he looked up, finding a dark blue sky.

  Seeing nothing unusual, he decided to take the stone from his pocket and pull it out, hoping it would make some kind of difference.

  But nothing happened. There was nothing there, and nothing changed.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  He lowered his gaze to look at the stone, searching for any sign that it had changed in some way, but just like the sky, nothing had happened.

  It was then that Ketsual began to wonder whether what he was holding was a special stone or just an ordinary one; whether the story he had been told was only that—a story; and whether what he had dreamed were nothing more than nightmares, and the thing he had seen in the sky nothing but a hallucination.

  “Ketsual, I think that’s enough. Let’s go back to the castle—it’s already getting dark,” Maya said, trying to keep a calming tone, though a slight tremor could be heard in her voice.

  Ketsual was about to turn toward her, but he glanced to the side when he noticed the light there fading, and saw that the sun was already about to disappear.

  And on the hills where the sun was setting, he could make out the distant lights of houses. Seeing that, an idea came to his mind.

  What if there was nothing—not because there was nothing there, but because he could not see it under this light?

  “Mother, let’s wait a little longer, until it gets darker.”

  Maya looked around her. She seemed somewhat tired, but then she looked back at Ketsual and nodded, accepting her son’s request.

  They stayed there a little longer, waiting for the sun to disappear completely. After a while, the sun had already set further, allowing the darkness to take over, and with it, the appearance of a few stars in the sky.

  Ketsual gazed at the sky, searching for something different, but still found nothing.

  He felt lost once again. He gripped the stone tightly, staring at the sky, but in his desperation, he hadn’t realized he was walking.

  “Ketsual, be care—”

  Maya stopped mid-sentence as she saw Ketsual take a step and stumble forward, falling with a cry of pain.

  “Ketsual!” Maya shouted, terrified, running toward her son, noticing that he was holding his right hand, which had begun to bleed.

  Maya knelt beside him, tore a piece of fabric from her dress, and pulled her son close to her.

  “Ketsual, show me your hand.”

  Ketsual obeyed, opening his hand to reveal a long wound that covered much of it.

  Maya was horrified at the sight and quickly began to bandage it. While she did, Ketsual turned his gaze away from the injury, looking to the side, and a gleam caught his attention.

  A gleam from the ground, a pure white light—and the source of it was the stone they had taken from the vault.

  Ketsual was astonished by what was happening. He stood up, his hand already bandaged, and walked toward the glowing stone.

  His eyes never left the stone, and strangely, the light did not bother them. He got close enough to crouch down and pick it up, which he did, and the moment he touched its surface, the light began to flow out of the stone, forming a small sphere with the same intense glow as before.

  Then it slowly rose until it reached the level of Ketsual’s head, and immediately after that, it shot upward toward the sky.

  Ketsual watched its path until it traveled so far that it became the same size as the stars, then stopped, shone even more intensely, and grew to a size greater than that of any star.

  “Wow,” Ketsual exclaimed—a natural reaction to everything he had just witnessed.

  “Ketsual, my son, what’s wrong?” Maya asked in confusion, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  “Huh? Mother, didn’t you see the stone glow? And how it floated all the way up to the sky? There—it’s right there,” Ketsual said, pointing toward the light in the sky.

  Maya looked where he was pointing. “…I don’t see anything, and the stone never glowed at any point.”

  “Really? But it’s right there.”

  “You’re tired, my son. It’s been an exhausting day. Come, let’s—”

  “Your Highness Maya!”

  At the castle’s entrance, a large, sturdy man stepped out, wearing a uniform that marked him as a military officer—specifically, a high marshal.

  “Marshal Lio, what is it?” Maya asked.

  The marshal approached Her Highness. “It’s serious. We’ve been notified that the Kingdom of Kali is attacking our borders.”

  “What? Are you certain of this?”

  “Yes. A few minutes ago, a Worlik dragon arrived—messenger class—coming from the border of the Kingdom of Kali.”

  “And when did the messenger depart from its world?”

  “According to its counter, it was 154 hours ago.”

  Maya reflected. An attack from the Kingdom of Kali was unthinkable. Their diplomatic relations were not the most friendly, but at the very least, they had been stable.

  Additionally, the Kingdom of Kali is a realm rich in population and resources, due to possessing several mining worlds and others dedicated to food production.

  “Have you already informed the other high commanders?” Maya asked.

  “Affirmative, Your Highness. They are waiting for you in the meeting hall.”

  “Very well, let’s—”

  Before taking a step, Maya looked back at Ketsual, who was watching her with concern.

  “Marshal Lio, please go ahead. I need to speak with the prince.”

  With a nod, Lio left, leaving Maya and Ketsual alone.

  Maya approached her son.

  “Ketsual, let’s forget about today. Everything you saw was only because of your lack of sleep and exhaustion. I will call the royal doctors to treat your hand and give you something to help you sleep, all right?”

  She said in a maternal tone, smiling at Ketsual.

  Ketsual nodded to his mother.

  Maya asked him to enter the castle and go to his room, and he obeyed.

  Once in his chamber, the doctors arrived. They examined his hand, treated the wound, and wrapped it carefully. They also gave him a herbal drink to help him sleep.

  After the doctors left, Ketsual—now dressed for bed—looked toward the window. There, he could clearly see the glowing sphere that had emerged from the stone earlier. Seeing it made him remember his mother’s words.

  He had not believed her even a little. He felt that everything was real—the glowing sphere was real, the story his mother had told him was also true… even his nightmares and that horrible circle were real.

  And he knew that, after everything he had seen, he had to do something.