
by yisanliu
Taj should have been dead long ago. Instead, he yearns. One hundred years after losing everything, Taj's soul is trapped in a Crystal device. He's consumed by memories of Song, the Army Commander Taj loved and lost. All Taj wants is to die, but he can't abandon Luna, the last descendant of his best friend Rowan. Luna inherited more than red hair. Born as a Dual, having both natural Ability and artificial Crystal energy, she's an anomaly in a world divided by warring energy systems. She also inherited Taj's Crystal device, which everyone is hunting for two reasons: his memories hold secrets from the early days of energy politics that could shift the current power balance, and his apparent immortality is a prize some will kill to possess. When Luna's arranged engagement forces them into the spotlight, hiding ends. Political forces close in; war looms. And then Taj discovers the impossible: Song's Crystal device might still exist, holding his consciousness. But Song's Crystal also holds weapon designs powerful enough to reshape the war. Can Taj resurrect Song without handing that power to those who would destroy everything? ˚✧ ◊ ✧˚ What to expect: ◊ Slow burn MM with a happy ending; MF romance (subplot), ◊ Multiple POVs (Taj, Luna, Si, Avery, Tian, Song, and others), ◊ Dual energy system: natural Ability vs. Crystal energy, ◊ ~300k words and author's hand-illustrated art throughout (no AI). ˚✧ ◊ ✧˚ The complete Taj and Song Trilogy, including Elements, the story that starts it all, is finished and available on Kindle Unlimited.
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 8 Oct 2026, 19:28 UTC
Entry forecast updated 8 Oct 2026, 19:28 UTC
Ranking model: rs-public-oracle-state-v1
Forecast model: rs-model-entry-v1
Chart history contains only this ranking model's runs; legacy points are not spliced in.
Rising Stars history is uncertain, so no precise projection is shown.
beats 59% of similar stories
beats 24% of similar stories
beats 1% of similar stories
Mid-pack, room on both levers
Traffic and conversion both sit mid-field for a story this size. Growth here compounds from consistency: steady cadence feeds traffic, and a sharper hook lifts what each view is worth.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 150+ chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.