Alright — here's Chapter 4 of Affinity: The
Lucas woke to the sound of rushing water.
For a heartbeat, he thought it was still raining — until he sat up and realized Kaelen was standing at the mouth of the cave, staff planted firmly in the ground, summoning a miniature waterfall out of thin air.
"Up," Kaelen said without turning. "We begin."
Lucas groaned. "It's still dark."
"It's dawn," Kaelen said, as if that settled the matter. "And the men hunting you won't wait for a more civilized hour."
Lucas dragged himself to his feet, still sore from the night before. "Fine. What's the plan? You lecture me on the history of magical rocks while I try not to fall asleep?"
Kaelen's lips twitched. "Lesson one is simple. You survive."
He struck the staff against the cave floor. The air rippled — and suddenly the cave was gone.
Lucas stood on a flat stone platform suspended above a bottomless void. Floating chunks of rock drifted lazily around them, connected by narrow bridges no wider than his boots. Overhead, a sky of swirling clouds glowed in shifting colors — reds, blues, greens, all bleeding into each other like liquid paint.
Lucas turned slowly. "What… is this?"
"An echo-realm," Kaelen said. "A fragment of the Orb's memory. Here, we can call on the elements without destroying your world… though you can still die."
Before Lucas could respond, Kaelen raised his staff. "Fire."
A ball of flame roared into existence and hurtled toward Lucas. He yelped, throwing up his hands — and fire answered, bursting from his palms to meet Kaelen's. The flames collided in a shockwave of heat, forcing Lucas back a step.
Kaelen didn't pause. "Water."
A torrent erupted from nowhere, slamming into Lucas's chest. He gasped, flailing, but his hands moved instinctively — a curtain of water rose in front of him, splitting the torrent.
"Wind."
The air howled, threatening to throw him off the platform. Lucas gritted his teeth, spreading his arms — the wind bent, wrapping around him like a shield.
"Earth."
The stone beneath Lucas's feet cracked, jagged spikes shooting up. He stomped instinctively, and the spikes shattered into harmless dust.
One by one, Kaelen unleashed the rest — lightning, ice, light, shadow — each crashing against Lucas in quick succession. Each time, the right power answered, as if it had been waiting inside him all along.
Lucas was panting hard, sweat dripping down his face. "That… all you got?"
Kaelen's expression didn't change. "No. Now comes the hard part."
The air shifted. The colors above darkened, bleeding into deep purples and jagged streaks of black. The void beneath the platform seemed to hum, a low, bone-deep vibration.
Lucas's chest tightened.
Something moved inside him — not like the others, not warm like fire or fluid like water. This was different. Heavy. Hungry. It coiled and uncoiled like a living thing, pressing against the edges of his mind.
"What is that?" Lucas asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Kaelen's gaze was sharp. "The ninth."
The pressure spiked, and Lucas gasped. His vision fractured — flashes of battles he'd never fought, cities burning, oceans boiling, skies torn in half. His knees buckled.
"Control it!" Kaelen's voice cut through the chaos. "If you let it free without mastery, it will burn you before it burns your enemies!"
Lucas clenched his fists, forcing the pressure back, shoving it into whatever corner of his mind would hold it. The darkness hissed, almost… disappointed. Slowly, the purple sky faded back to swirling colors, the hum dying away.
Lucas collapsed to one knee, shaking. "What… was that?"
Kaelen didn't answer immediately.
Finally, he said, "Chaos. The element that should not exist."
Lucas looked up, breathless. "And it's inside me?"
Kaelen's expression was grim. "For now. But if you can't control it, Lucas… it won't stay yours for long."