Chapter 2 - Hope

Ravenna, her heart heavy with sorrow, knelt among the ruins of her once-lively kingdom.

All around her lay the silent remnants of what had been her cherished home - now transformed into a graveyard.

Tears streamed down from her cheeks, mingling with the dust and ash that covered her face. The weight of grief pressed upon her, echoing through the desolate landscape.

"Why?" Her voice cracked with anguish as she looked up to the heavens, searching for answers that seemed perpetually out of reach. "Why am I the only one left? Why did I survive when everyone else perished?"

Her mind replayed memories of her family - her loving parents, her brave brothers, the loyal servants who had cared for her since childhood - all now gone, their lives extinguished in the fires of war. She clutched at her chest, feeling the weight of their absence like a dagger pierce through her heart.

"Mother, father, brothers," she whispered brokenly, her voice trembling with grief. "Why did you leave me behind? Why did I not perish alongside you?"

The sky above offered no answers, its vast expanse indifferent to her cries and questions. She gazed upwards with tear-blurred eyes, hoping against hope for a sign, for some sign of an answer to her relentless questioning.

But there was only silence.

"What can I do now?" Her voice was a whisper, barely audible even to herself. "I am powerless. I do not know how to fight, how to lead. I cannot even lift a sword to defend what little remains of my kingdom."

In that moment of despair, Ravenna felt the burden of survivor's guilt heavy upon her. She was haunted by the unanswerable question of why fate had chosen her to endure when so many others had been dead.

Her once innocent and hopeful spirit now lay shattered, replaced by a deep-seated sorrow that seemed to seep into the very ground upon which she knelt.

As Ravenna knelt among the fallen, tears streaming down her cheeks, she noticed a faint light ahead. It glowed softly, floating in the air like a small circle, making swishing sounds as it moved.

Curious, her eyes fixed on the light. Her brow furrowed in confusion and uncertainty, she slowly rose to her feet. Stretching out her hand, she reached towards the light as if to grasp it. Its warm, flickering glow seemed to offer a gentle comfort to her grieving heart.

As she approached, thinking she could touch it, the light suddenly vanished and reappeared in a different part of the ruined castle. This pattern repeated several times, each time the light leading her deeper into the heart of the devastation inside the castle.

Ravenna followed, her steps hesitant at first, then each step she took filled with determination. She navigated through the rubble and debris, guided by the mysterious light.

It seemed to call her forward, its movements purposeful amidst the chaos that surrounded her.

Ravenna hurried through crumbling corridors and broken halls, chasing a mysterious light. For a moment, her mind shifted away from the overwhelming grief that burdened her.

Was this mysterious guide a source of answers, or merely a fleeting distraction from her sorrow? Regardless, she pressed forward, driven by a mix of hope and desperation in this ruin kingdom where she felt utterly alone and despair.

After chasing the mysterious light through her ruined castle for a while, Ravenna found herself led to an underground room she had never seen before.

Utter confusion washed over her, her eyes widening in shock as she realized she was standing in an unfamiliar chamber hidden beneath the castle she had called home all her life.

Born and raised within these walls, Ravenna knew every corner and secret passage, including the underground tunnel that led safely outside, away from danger.

It was through the same tunnel that she had escaped the horrors of war. Her mother, in a selfless act, had given her own life to safeguard the entrance from enemy forces.

Months later, when Ravenna emerged from the tunnel, she bore witness to the war's conclusion and the devastation it had inflicted upon her kingdom.

Yet this underground room, with its pitch-black darkness pierced only by the light emitted from the mysterious globe guiding her. The mysterious globe cast its gentle glow, illuminating a path for her through the room, leading her towards an unknown destination within the depths of the castle's hidden sanctum.

As Ravenna stepped into the underground room illuminated by the gentle glow of the mysterious globe, a narrow path appeared before her in the darkness.

The dim glow from the globe formed a narrow path of visibility, cutting through the surrounding darkness, its illumination flickering gently on the dark greenish rocks that formed the floor.

The room itself seemed to swallow sound, muffling even the echo of Ravenna's footsteps as she cautiously advanced along the illuminated path.

The walls around her were lost in shadow, unseen but felt as a chilling presence in the cold underground air. The air itself was frigid, sending shivers down Ravenna's spine and causing her breath to mist in the faint light.