"Look, Mama! She's opening her eyes!" came the excited voices of Kaelen and Lura, my two eldest children, who had somehow crept into the room without me noticing. Six-year-old Kaelen, with his dark purple hair and ruby-red eyes, stood beside his younger sister Lura, her blonde hair shimmering in the soft light of dawn.  

Zaleria gasped softly, her eyes filling with tears as we all gazed upon our daughter’s first look at the world. Her eyes—shimmering amethyst, like twin purple moons reflected on a tranquil lake—seemed to freeze time itself. The air grew still, and the room's temperature dropped ever so slightly. I felt an overwhelming sense of awe, but also a creeping dread. What kind of power lay hidden in my newborn daughter?  

"She's… beautiful," I whispered, tears brimming in my own eyes. Yet beneath that beauty lay a question that terrified me: What had we brought into this world?  

Zaleria kissed our newborn daughter glowing forehead, her lips trembling with love. "Our little star," she whispered tenderly. "Our Seira."  

-------------------------------  

(Zaleria's Pov)  

A few weeks had passed since I gave birth to my second daughter, Seira.  

The weeks that followed had been peaceful, but an underlying tension hung heavy in the air. The storm that had torn through the countryside had left behind more than just destruction and shattered lives. It had left whispers in its wake—whispers that traveled quickly, spreading like wildfire throughout the land. Talk of celestial interference, divine omens, and strange, unexplainable energies that seemed to have shaken the very earth beneath our feet, disturbing the natural balance in ways no one could fully comprehend.  

I stood by the window, cradling Seira in my arms, feeling her tiny, warm body against mine as I gazed out at the townspeople passing by. Their faces were drawn, their eyes full of suspicion and concern, and I could hear their conversations—soft, hurried murmurs that spoke of the day when the skies had gone mad.  

"They say a child was born the very day the storm struck," one villager muttered to another, his voice low. "A child of the gods, no less. It's unnatural, I swear. Nothing good can come from something like that."  

"They've been saying the same thing in the village over the hill," the other villager responded, his voice just as wary. "Some believe it's a sign of things to come, others think it's a curse. A warning, perhaps. Who knows what's next?"  

My heart clenched painfully at their words, and I had to swallow down the rising tide of anxiety in my chest. I turned away from the window, refusing to let their unfounded fears take root in my mind. "They don't know anything," I whispered to myself, pressing Seira closer to me as if I could somehow shield her from the weight of their gossip. "They'll forget soon enough. These are just senseless, baseless rumors. Nothing more."  

But Myrin, standing quietly by the door, did not share my calm. He had seen too much, felt too much—he could sense the power emanating from our daughter, even in her infancy. These rumors weren't going to disappear. If anything, they would only grow louder, spreading further with each passing day.  

"They've reached the very edges of the Empire," Myrin said quietly, his voice laced with concern. "I've heard whispers from travelers passing through, too. These rumors... they're spreading faster than we ever expected."  

I met my husband's gaze, my heart filling with a deep, gnawing fear. The weight of it pressed heavily on my chest. "What will happen if they find out?" I asked, my voice barely more than a trembling whisper. "If they learn the truth about her?"  

Myrin was silent for a moment, his face grim as his eyes fixed on the floor. The tension in the room seemed to grow thicker, more oppressive, as though the very air itself was holding its breath. Finally, he spoke, his voice tight with an emotion I couldn't quite place. "I don't know," he admitted softly, his gaze meeting mine with a look of determination that steadied me, even as my own fear threatened to swallow me whole. "But there's one thing I do know—we'll do whatever it takes to protect her. We'll love her, no matter what. Even if the whole world turns against us. Against her."  

I nodded in response, though I didn't feel the reassurance his words were meant to provide. I held Seira closer, as though I could protect her from all the dangers of the world simply by wrapping her in my arms. But I knew deep down that this was only the beginning. The storm of rumors was just the start. We were not the only ones who had taken notice of the strange, inexplicable events surrounding our daughter's birth. Cruel, monstrous individuals had already caught wind of what had transpired, and they were not interested in protecting her or us.  

And worse still, they were coming.