The storm hadn't passed—it had evolved. The black clouds above Grellwatch twisted unnaturally, as though obeying something ancient and intelligent. The scent of ozone clung to the air. Aether trembled in its lines, warning of what approached.
Kael Darven stood atop the battlements, his storm-blue cloak flaring in the wind. His eyes glowed faintly with pale azure light, and lightning danced along his gauntlets in sporadic pulses. Soldiers nearby gave him space, not out of fear—but awe.
Alaric climbed the last of the stone steps beside him, Lysera just behind. She glanced up at the writhing clouds.
"That's not natural," she whispered. "Void-touched wind. Something's stirring it."
Kael didn't look at her. "They're testing us."
Alaric folded his arms. "Or provoking you."
Kael smirked. "Same thing."
Then, the forest at the eastern ridge exploded.
Figures in sleek black armor—void-corrupted raiders—poured out like ink, dozens at first, then hundreds, trailing behind a beast stitched together from chimeric flesh and bound bone. Its eyes glowed green, its limbs unnaturally long, dragging scythe-like claws that cut grooves into the ground.
Aether-beasts of this scale weren't supposed to cross the inner border. This was an act of war.
"They're not hiding anymore," Alaric said grimly.
Kael took one step forward, raising his hand to the sky.
Wind spiraled around his feet, twisting into a pale green funnel. He launched himself into the air, carried by aether-infused gales, and then crashed down before the beast, sending a shockwave that flattened the first row of raiders.
"Stormbreaker Form," Kael muttered, eyes alight.
With a roll of his shoulders, lightning surged from his arms, crawling across his armor like a living creature. He flicked his hand, and the storm responded.
A crack of thunder split the sky, and a bolt of lightning arced directly into Kael's raised palm. He twisted, redirecting the energy, and hurled it like a spear into the beast's torso. It screeched, its form flashing violently as its barrier shattered.
The wind around him thickened into cutting blades. Dozens of Void-touched raiders rushed him. Kael exhaled once, calm amidst chaos.
Then he moved.
He spun, wind blades cleaving through limbs and armor. Each step launched him in a burst of pressure, and every movement weaved lightning and gale. To them, he was a blur of roaring air and blinding arcs. Grace and violence personified.
From the battlements, Lysera watched in stunned silence.
"He's—" she began.
"A force of nature," Alaric said, nodding.
But his eyes narrowed. Not at Kael. At the beast recovering, limbs stitching unnaturally as dark glyphs burned across its back. Its heart hadn't been shattered by Kael's bolt. Something was feeding it.
From the far rear, cloaked figures raised staves—Voidbinders.
"Behind the hill!" Alaric shouted. "They're reinforcing it with rites!"
Kael turned toward the hill—and the beast surged forward, maw wide, claws aimed at his unguarded back.
"Kael!" Lysera shouted.
Alaric moved without thought. He blinked forward using Chronoaether, warping across space in a streak of red-gold. At the last second, he slammed his stone-forged fist into the beast's flank, redirecting it just enough for Kael to spin away.
Kael landed with a snarl, eyes flashing.
"You could've warned me sooner."
Alaric grinned. "That would've ruined the drama."
Kael huffed and raised both hands to the sky.
Then, he bellowed a single command word.
"Tempestris."
The storm above responded like a living god.
Five massive bolts of lightning struck down in unison, spearing the void priestesses behind the hill. The glyphs on the beast's back flickered, dimmed, and then shattered.
"Now!" Kael roared.
Alaric leapt high, fire burning at his heels. He drove his stone-forged blade—formed mid-air from summoned earth—straight into the weakened core of the beast.
With a final, bone-rattling roar, the monster imploded into fragments of withered flesh and corrupted crystal.
The raiders fled, the storm began to break, and silence fell over the battlefield.
Later, in the keep's hall, Kael wiped blood from his gloves, staring into a basin of water. "That wasn't a random attack."
Alaric nodded. "It was a message."
"Or a test," Lysera added. "They wanted to see how strong we are. How you are."
Kael met Alaric's gaze. "Then we should give them an answer."
Outside, the skies cleared—but all three knew this peace was borrowed.
Voidbinders had moved their pieces. The war was no longer distant.
It had arrived.