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Dawn crawled up the mountains, pale and tired. Light did not rise in Afterlight anymore, it leaked. Thin. Uncertain. As if the world argued with the sun each morning before letting it climb.
Kael walked alone to the ridge. Frost cracked under each step. The cold did not bite, it pressed, steady and dull, like a reminder of time running out. His pulse thudded in his neck. His jaw felt tight. Too many decisions, not enough time to pretend any of them stayed safe.
Below, the valley stretched wide and wounded. Ether scars burned across soil like frozen lightning. Smoke rose from towns that once traded grain and song. Roofs now ash. Fields now bare. Trees looked brittle, stripped by past shockwaves. Birds had left this region. The wind moved with care, slow and thin, as if the air feared the ground.
Kael breathed in. The chill filled his chest and stayed. He let the sting steady him. He would not falter today.
Footsteps approached. Not rushed. Not loud. Measured, loyal, tired.
Lysara. Seris. Arin. The last who still stood near him without shaking. The last who chose duty over fear.
Lysara stopped at his side. "Messages arrived. Three provinces broke from the Accord. Two march toward us. The third arms ports in the south. They call you false heir. They call you spark of ruin."
Kael kept his gaze forward. "They fear truth more than danger. They refuse to face what hunts us."
Seris leaned on her staff. Crystal at its tip glowed faint blue like caged dawn. "Fear blinds faster than shadow. They fight you because fighting the unknown feels worse."
Arin's grip closed on his blade. Knuckles white. "Let them come. I already cut those who tremble behind lies."
Kael glanced at him. Voice calm. "We do not seek slaughter. We defend. We protect. We do not burn the frightened."
Arin exhaled hard but gave a short nod. His hand did not relax.
Kael raised his hand. Early light touched his palm. It flickered against his skin. Ether stirred. Movement under the flesh like quiet embers before wind. The power wanted release. Wanted command. Wanted action. He held it steady.
"Today," Kael said, "we choose identity. We refuse collapse. We guard Afterlight not with panic, but with will. No running. No bending. We stand. We fight. If we must hold light by force, we do so."
Lysara stepped beside him. "Speak the vow."
Kael spoke, each word clipped and sharp.
"By breath, by bone, by fire, by fate. We hold the world in this final hour. We bow to nothing. Not shadow. Not gods. Not the cradle of origin. The cosmos shakes. We endure."
They repeated it. Voices low. Voices steady. No cracks. No hesitation. The vow settled into the morning like stone into earth.
Silence followed. Not peaceful. Heavy. Waiting.
Arin looked toward the plains. "The armies gather. They reach the pass by nightfall. Scouts counted two hundred carriers and five Ether artillery towers."
Lysara lowered her hood. "More follow. Supply caravans trail them. They prepare for siege."
Seris tapped the ground with her staff. "We still hold the heights. The pass narrows. Their advance slows here. Balance remains possible."
Kael studied the horizon. Smoke plumes moved like thin threads. Formations shifted slowly. Banners showed differing colors, yet marched together. Fear forged unity against one target. Him.
"They think they stop a tyrant," Kael said. "They think they save peace. They do not see the real threat."
Seris turned her staff toward the east. "The Void stirs again. My visions repeat. Black seas. Empty sky. Cities swallowed like dust."
Kael's pulse tightened. "Signs?"
"Three last night." Her voice stayed level. "Wells turned to glass. A river paused for three breaths. Then flowed backward for one."
Lysara whispered, "Back again?"
"Yes."
Arin swore under his breath. "Then the Void breaks soon. They march against us while darkness advances."
Kael nodded. "Then every second matters."
Wind shifted. Cold rolled down the slope like warning. Frost gathered on Kael's hair. Ether shimmered along distant ridges, faint pulses like heartbeat signals across rock.
The land felt awake. Anxious. Watching.
Kael turned to his three allies. "We split force. Arin, hold the pass. Use the cliff charges. Delay without slaughter. Push them to doubt, not anger."
Arin straightened. "I obey. I hold the gate. None break through."
"Do not break them either. We fight for unity, not dominance."
Arin paused. Nod slow, controlled. "Understood."
Kael looked to Seris. "Strengthen wards around villages. Evacuation lines stay clear. No panic. You show presence in every town, even if only through projection."
Seris lifted her staff. "I reinforce shields by noon."
"Prepare healing stations. War wounds come soon."
Her eyes softened. "I already started."
Kael faced Lysara last. "You come with me."
She raised a brow. "To the summit?"
"Yes."
"We speak to the provinces?"
"No. We speak to the plane."
Lysara's expression tightened. "You risk connection again."
"We need warning. We need proof. The people must see the threat."
"That pressure tears mind and flesh."
"I know."
She looked at him, steady. "Then I witness. You will not stand alone."
Arin glanced over. "If he falls, I strike the world itself before I kneel."
Seris frowned. "Do not speak death over him."
Kael cut the tension. "We move."
He stepped off the ridge. Boots sank slightly into frost. He walked with purpose. Each breath left steam. His shoulders straightened as if weight settled and balance set.
The three followed. Their steps synced. No command needed.
Halfway down the path, air shifted. Light trembled. A faint ring pulsed across the valley. Like sound without sound. A ripple.
Kael stopped. Eyes narrowed.
The horizon bent.
Buildings in the far plains wavered like heat haze. Then snapped back. Ether flared in thin threads across rooftops. Sudden flares, short, sharp, unnatural.
Seris inhaled sharply. "It grows faster."
Kael clenched his jaw. "The Void pushes. Time shortens."
Arin touched his blade. "Then we shorten hesitation."
Lysara answered with steel in her voice. "And lengthen resolve."
Kael looked toward the summit. Toward the unseen edge between their world and the raw origin of everything.
"We ascend," he said. "Not seeking favor. Seeking truth."
The path steepened. Frost thickened. Wind rose. Cold sharpened until breath stung. Ether marks glowed faint under their skin like quiet runes.
Each step forward felt heavier. Yet none slowed.
At the last ledge, Kael paused. Dawn fully climbed now, weak but present. He looked back at the valley. Fires smoldered. The world strained.
He lifted his voice, not loud, but firm enough to carve into the air.
"We stand. We hold. We return light to a world that tries to forget sunrise."
He turned forward again.
The oath stayed behind him like a trail of iron.
And ahead, the first tremor of the Void waited.
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