Page 203 of A Reign of Chromes & Shadows

“Welcoming a millennium of weakened star blood,

Until a Rainbow emerges beside the snow

Where the last seed of hope will reside.”

This part was no longer cryptic.

It was him.

And Snow.

Their names, once strange, once mocked, had been spoken by their ancestor a thousand years ago. Their destinies entwined long before their births.

The last seed of hope.

Rain exhaled shakily.

It was one of the kinder titles he’d been given… but the word seed lingered.

Shadowed seed.

Seed of hope.

Two sides of the same coin.

He hated the parallel; hated the thought of being compared to a child who never had a chance to live.

With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself out of bed and stumbled into the shower. Hot water pounded over his tense shoulders, steam filling the small room. He pressed his forehead to the cool tiles, letting the heat ground him as the remnants of the vision clung to him like morning fog.

The baby’s face; hollow, mummified, pleading, hovered behind his eyelids. He fought the urge to blink, terrified the dream would drag him back under.

He forced his thoughts elsewhere.

The red citizens.

After leaving the bar, he’d taken to the rooftops, shadowing the clusters of Red travellers weaving through the city. He followed them to several hotels near the station; all packed, all buzzing with excitement.

Tournament tourists, Elijah had said.

But the tournament wasn’t for two more days.

And Red hadn’t qualified this year.

Their presence made no sense.

Yet none of them had acted suspiciously. Their emotions were genuine; joy, anticipation, drunken camaraderie. Nothing sinister. Nothing hidden.

Still…

The unease gnawed at him.

Something about their timing, their numbers, felt wrong. Like a puzzle piece forced into the wrong place.

Or like he was missing something crucial.

Then again, maybe he was searching for danger where there was none. His mind had been spiralling all night.

He shut off the water and stepped out, wrapping a towel around his waist.