Aelion

The air trembled. Like a stone falling into an invisible lake, reality itself rippled. Between two ancient oaks, covered in glittering lichen, a glow opened. A floating oval of light slowly rotated, and on the other side, a world very different from this silent forest was glimpsed.

Aelion Thalor, the guardian of the starpass, felt the change even before he saw it. His silver gaze lifted to the sky, where a star flickered with unusual intensity.

"...A human," he murmured in a deep voice, as if the stars had whispered a secret to him.

The portal emitted a soft hum, like an ancient melody. And then, she appeared.

The figure of a young woman emerged from the light. Her dark hair fell like a midnight veil over her shoulders, and her dress—already transformed by the portal's magic—fluttered gently as if breathing with the forest. Her skin seemed more luminous beneath the floating spheres of energy that glowed around her.

She looked confused… amazed… and beautiful.

Aelion stepped forward, his dark blue cloak billowing behind him, his boots barely crunching the leaves littering the ground. He didn't draw his sword, but his hand rested near it.

"You... are not of this world," he said, his voice soft as the night breeze, but with a warning tone. "Who are you, traveler from the other side?"