Darkness. Cold chains. The weight of fate pressing down like an iron shackle.


    Kael had long since lost track of time. Locked deep beneath the temple, where sunlight never reached, he had come to accept the whispers of the world above. Monster. Forsaken. Curse.


    Even now, the distant echoes of the city told him what was coming.


    His execution.


    Boots thudded against the stone floor as temple guards approached. The heavy door groaned open, flooding the cell with torchlight. A priest in golden robes stood at the entrance, eyes filled with both hatred and fear.


    “It is time,” the priest declared.


    Kael did not resist as they dragged him to his feet. His wrists, bruised and raw from the chains, ached with each movement. He had been born for this moment, they said. His existence—his very breath—was a sin.


    But deep inside, buried beneath the years of suffering, something still burned.


    Something waiting to be set free.


    The Execution


    The city square was packed with spectators. Nobles watched from the marble balconies above, their faces calm and composed. Below, commoners stood in uneasy silence. Some whispered prayers, others avoided his gaze entirely.


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    And at the center of it all—standing atop the grand temple steps—was the High Priest of the Gods.


    “People of Elaria!” The priest’s voice rang through the air. “This abomination stands before us as proof of the gods’ judgment! He is Forsaken, tainted by the cursed Eclipse. Today, we cleanse our land of his existence!”


    A roar of approval followed. But Kael remained silent.


    He had no strength left to fight. No reason to.


    The priest raised a golden blade, its edge gleaming under the midday sun. “May the gods purify your soul in death.”


    The blade fell.


    And then—


    The sky shattered.


    A shockwave rippled outward as a deep, unnatural eclipse swallowed the sun. Daylight twisted into an eerie twilight. Gasps and screams erupted from the crowd as the sky bled black and gold.


    Then, Kael felt it.


    A pulse. A power he had spent his entire life suppressing.


    His chains disintegrated into nothing, consumed by an invisible force. The air crackled around him as his body surged with raw energy—his veins pulsing with liquid fire.


    The High Priest stumbled back, eyes wide with terror. “Impossible—!”


    Kael exhaled, and in that instant, the world shifted.


    Time itself fractured.


    The temple guards lunged forward, but they were too slow. Kael was already behind them. A gust of wind followed his movement, and before they could react, his hand shot forward. A single touch. That was all it took.


    Their bodies collapsed into dust.


    The power coursing through him was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was neither divine nor mortal—it was something else entirely.


    Something that should not exist.


    From the temple steps, the High Priest’s voice cracked with panic. “Kill him! Kill the Forsaken!”


    More guards rushed forward, but Kael didn’t wait. His feet barely touched the ground as he moved—faster than thought, faster than sight. The first soldier had no time to react before Kael’s palm met his chest. A shockwave of golden-black energy tore through his armor, sending him flying into the stone walls.


    More came. More fell.


    Then—


    A presence.


    Kael spun just in time to see a figure walking toward him through the smoke. He was dressed in black, his silver hair gleaming under the eclipse’s glow. His golden eyes met Kael’s, filled with something between amusement and understanding.


    “Now you finally understand,” the man said, voice calm amidst the chaos.


    Kael stared at him, his body still pulsing with unstable power. “Who are you?”


    The man smirked. “Just someone like you. A Forsaken who stopped pretending to be human.”


    He extended a hand.


    “Come with me, Kael. Your real battle is only beginning.”