The world exploded into light and heat.
Kael didn't remember crossing the distance between himself and the child. One moment he was at the alley's edge, the next his arms were wrapped around the little girl, pulling her against his chest as the creature's massive claw slammed into the cobblestones where she'd stood. The impact sent shockwaves through the ground, knocking Kael sideways. He rolled, cradling the child, feeling the sharp sting of stone cutting into his shoulder.
The girl was screaming, her small fists clutching his soaked shirt. Her eyes were squeezed shut, tears streaming down her dirt smudged cheeks. She couldn't have been older than his youngest memory, that hazy recollection of his mother's embrace before the world turned cold.
"I've got you," Kael gasped, though he had no idea if that was true. "I've got you."
The creature roared again, and the sound was like glass shattering in his skull. It turned toward them, those burning eyes fixing on Kael with an intelligence that made his blood freeze. This wasn't just a monster. It was hunting. It was thinking.
Kael scrambled backward, still holding the girl, his boots slipping on the wet stones. The wall of flame behind them crackled and hissed, cutting off any retreat. They were trapped.
The amulet burned white hot against his chest, the pain so intense he could barely breathe. But with the pain came something else. Power. It surged through him like lightning, making his muscles seize and his vision blur with white light. Images flashed through his mind. Battles long forgotten. Warriors wielding magic like living weapons. Creatures like this one, thousands of them, pouring through rifts in reality.
And a woman. Dark hair, fierce eyes, hands wreathed in purple flame. She was fighting, screaming, dying.
The mage. She knows. She remembers.
The vision shattered as the creature lunged. Kael threw himself to the side, barely avoiding the claws that would have torn them both in half. He landed hard, the girl rolling from his arms with a cry. She scrambled toward the shadows of a doorway, and Kael felt a surge of relief that she might escape.
But the creature wasn't interested in her anymore. It wanted him.
Kael pushed himself to his knees, his right arm screaming in agony. He'd dislocated something in the fall. Blood ran into his eyes from a cut above his brow. He should have been terrified. Should have been paralyzed with fear.
Instead, he felt only rage.
Rage at a world that had taken everything from him. Rage at being thrust into a destiny he never asked for. Rage at the thing in front of him, this abomination that dared to hurt innocent people, to threaten a child who'd done nothing but exist.
"Come on then!" Kael shouted, his voice raw. The amulet flared brighter, and suddenly his hand was glowing with the same terrible light. "Come on!"
The creature charged. Time seemed to slow. Kael could see every detail. The cracks in its obsidian skin. The drool dripping from its fanged maw. The malice in its burning eyes.
He raised his glowing hand, not knowing what would happen, not caring.
The light erupted.
It hit the creature like a battering ram of pure force, stopping its charge mid stride. The monster shrieked, a sound so piercing that windows shattered in the buildings around them. It staggered backward, its chest smoking where the light had struck.
Kael stared at his hand in shock. The glow was fading, but he could still feel the power there, coiled and waiting. Hungry.
The creature regained its footing, shaking its massive head. When it looked at him again, there was something new in those eyes. Not just hunger. Respect. Maybe even fear.
Good, Kael thought through the haze of pain and exhaustion. Be afraid.
Because for the first time in his miserable life, Kael Thornwood wasn't the prey. He was the predator.
The standoff lasted only seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The creature's chest heaved with labored breaths, smoke still rising from the wound. Kael's own breathing was ragged, his entire body shaking from the exertion of whatever power he'd just unleashed. The amulet had cooled slightly, but he could still feel its presence, a warmth that had become part of him.
Around them, the square had descended into chaos. People were fleeing in every direction, their screams mixing with the roar of flames. Buildings groaned and collapsed, sending plumes of ash and ember into the rain drenched sky. The city guard would be coming soon, though Kael doubted their swords and spears would do much against this thing.
The little girl was still huddled in the doorway, her wide eyes fixed on him. She should run. Should get as far away from here as possible. But she was frozen, caught between terror and awe, watching the boy in rags stand against a nightmare made flesh.
"Go!" Kael shouted at her, not taking his eyes off the creature. "Run!"
She flinched at his voice but didn't move. Stubborn child. Or maybe just too scared to make her legs work. Kael understood that feeling.
The creature took a step forward, testing him. Kael raised his hand again, and the glow returned, weaker this time but still there. The creature hesitated.
That's when Kael heard it. A voice, clear as crystal despite the chaos around them.
"Step aside, boy."
A figure emerged from the smoke and flame, walking with the casual confidence of someone who'd seen death and decided it wasn't worth worrying about. A woman, wrapped in a dark cloak that seemed to drink in the light. Her face was partially hidden by a hood, but Kael could see the glow of her eyes. Purple. Like the flames in his vision.
The mage.
She didn't wait for him to move. With a gesture so fluid it looked like a dance, she swept her arm forward. Purple fire erupted from her palm, not wild like normal flames but controlled, precise. It wrapped around the creature like chains, binding its limbs. The monster roared and struggled, but the fire held.
"Impressive," the woman said, glancing at Kael. "Most people wet themselves before they die. You actually fought back."
"Who are you?" Kael demanded, though his voice came out more breathless than commanding.
"Someone who's about to save your life. Again." She turned her attention back to the creature, her expression hardening. "This one's young. Weak. Which means the seal is only beginning to break. We don't have much time."
"Time for what?"
"To prepare for war." She closed her fist, and the purple flames intensified. The creature's screams reached a fever pitch, then suddenly cut off as the fire consumed it entirely. When the flames faded, there was nothing left but ash and the acrid smell of burnt sulfur.
Kael stared at the empty space where the monster had been. Just like that. Gone. This woman had destroyed in seconds what he'd barely survived.
The mage turned to him fully now, pushing back her hood. Her face was striking, all sharp angles and fierce intelligence. Her dark hair was streaked with silver despite her relative youth. Scars marked her neck and jaw, old wounds that spoke of battles survived.
"You're the one, then," she said, not a question. "The last of the bloodline."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kael lied, though they both knew it was futile.
She smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "The amulet around your neck says otherwise. So does the fact that you're still breathing. That power you used, it should have killed you. Would have killed anyone else." She stepped closer, and Kael fought the urge to back away. "The elder found you before he died. Told you about the prophecy. About what's coming."
"He told me to find you," Kael admitted. "Said you would know what to do."
"Did he now?" The woman laughed, but it was bitter. "That old fool. Even dying, he couldn't resist meddling." She looked around at the destruction, at the fires still burning, at the bodies scattered across the square. "We can't talk here. The guard will have questions we don't want to answer. And there will be more of those things coming. Many more."
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere safe. Relatively." She started walking, not waiting to see if he would follow. "And along the way, boy, I'm going to tell you the truth. About Eldoria. About the Guardians. And about why you're either our salvation or our doom."
Kael looked back at the little girl. She was being pulled away by her mother now, reunited in the chaos. Safe. At least for the moment. He wanted to feel relief, but all he felt was the weight of inevitability settling on his shoulders.
He followed the mage into the smoke and shadows, leaving behind the only life he'd ever known. There was no going back now. The world had changed in the span of minutes, and so had he.
Whatever came next, he would face it. Not because he wanted to. Not because he believed in prophecies or destinies. But because somewhere in the fire and fury of tonight, he'd discovered something he'd thought long dead.
Hope.
And sometimes, hope was the most dangerous thing of all.