Kael’s boots crunched through frozen pine needles as he trudged up the slope, the weight of his pack pressing against his shoulders. The air reeked of frost and old smoke, a scent that clung to his skin like a second layer. He hadn’t spoken in days, not since the village burned, but the silence had never felt so heavy. The sky above was a bruise of violet and iron, the stars bleeding through cracks in the heavens. He paused at the ridge, squinting at the distant silhouette of the mountain. It loomed like a sleeping beast, its jagged peaks clawing at the dying light.
A voice cut through the wind, sharp as a blade. “You’re late.” Kael turned, his hand drifting to the hilt of his dagger. A woman stood at the edge of the clearing, her cloak tattered, her boots caked in mud. She held a staff of black iron, its tip glowing faintly. Her eyes were the color of stormwater, unblinking.
“I wasn’t invited,” Kael said, his voice hoarse from disuse. He studied her, searching for the lie beneath her calm. She was older than she looked, her face etched with lines that hadn’t been there when he’d last seen her. “What’s out here?”
She stepped closer, the staff humming as it touched the ground. “The sky’s breaking. You know what that means.” Her tone was flat, but there was something else beneath it—urgency, maybe. Or fear.
Kael exhaled, the breath visible in the cold. “I left that behind.” He gestured to the valley below, where the ruins of the village smoldered. The fire had died hours ago, but the air still reeked of charred wood and ash. “Whatever this is, it’s not my problem.”
The woman tilted her head, as if considering him. Then she lifted the staff, and the ground trembled. A low rumble rolled through the mountains, shaking loose stones from the ridge. Kael staggered, his boots slipping on the ice. “You think you can walk away?” she said. “The sky’s not just breaking—it’s *falling*. And if you don’t help me stop it, there won’t be anything left to run from.”
The wind howled, carrying the scent of ozone and something metallic, like blood. Kael clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. He’d sworn never to fight again, not after what happened in the war. But the memory was a shadow at his back, relentless. He looked at the woman, then at the mountain, its peak disappearing into the bruised sky. “What do you need?”
She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she turned and began climbing, her steps sure despite the treacherous terrain. Kael followed, his boots crunching against the frozen earth. The air grew colder as they ascended, each breath a sharp sting in his lungs. Above them, the stars flickered, their light dimming as if something vast and unseen was swallowing them.
“You’re not the first to come looking for me,” the woman said, her voice carrying over the wind. “But you’re the last one who can do this.”
Kael didn’t ask who she meant. He didn’t need to. The weight of her words pressed against his ribs, a silent demand. He kept climbing, his boots scraping against stone, his mind replaying the fire, the screams, the way the sky had split open like a wound. He didn’t know what awaited them at the summit, but he knew one thing: he couldn’t turn back.
The path narrowed, forcing them to move single file. Kael’s fingers brushed against the rock, cold and unyielding. The wind screamed through the crevices, a sound that echoed in his skull. He thought of the people he’d left behind, the ones who’d trusted him. Had they been right to hope? Or had he been a fool to think he could escape his past?
A sudden tremor shook the mountain, sending a cascade of stones tumbling down the slope. Kael dropped to one knee, his heart pounding. The woman didn’t falter. She kept moving, her staff glowing brighter now, casting long shadows across the rocks. “Stay close,” she said, her voice barely audible over the storm.
Kael nodded, though she wasn’t looking at him. He followed her into the heart of the mountain, where the air was thick with the scent of earth and something older, something ancient. The path twisted downward, leading them into a cavern that reeked of damp stone and decay. The walls pulsed faintly, as if alive, their surfaces etched with symbols that shifted when he looked away.
“This place is a tomb,” the woman said, her voice low. “But it’s also a gate.”
Kael frowned. “A gate to what?”
She stopped, turning to face him. The glow of her staff illuminated her face, revealing the exhaustion in her eyes. “To the end of everything. The sky’s not just breaking—it’s *unraveling*. And if we don’t stop it, there won’t be a world left to save.”
The words hung between them, heavy and unspoken. Kael felt the weight of them in his chest, a truth he wasn’t ready to face. He looked around the cavern, at the symbols that seemed to writhe in the dim light. “What do we do?”
The woman’s lips pressed into a thin line. “We find the heart of it. And we stop it before it’s too late.”
Kael nodded, though his mind was still reeling. He didn’t know what awaited them, but he knew one thing: the past had caught up to him, and there was no running from it now.
