AETHERIA, THE FRACTURED REALM
Long before Kael Veyrn drew his first breath, the world had been rewritten by a single catastrophic mistake.
Aetheria had once thrived on the natural flow of Aether brilliant rivers of energy that shimmered across the sky, feeding cities, sustaining life, and granting power as easily as drawing water from a well. But centuries ago, an ancient order its name now burned from every surviving record tampered with the deepest layers of reality.
Their experiment did not enhance the world.
It ruptured it.
The fusion they forced upon the Aether gave birth to Aether Force, an unstable, ever-evolving energy that reshaped everything it touched. It manifested differently in each person.some gained elemental mastery or enhanced strength, while others awakened powers unpredictable enough to tear apart the world around them.
What they created was not advancement.
It was a wound.
A wound called the Ruinborn Phenomenon.
Children born with unstable Aether signatures could distort space, collapse matter, or rupture reality itself. Terrified, the emerging Dominion vowed to control these children to prevent another cataclysm.
But "control" became hunt.
And "protect" became purge.
Not everyone followed the Dominion's descent into fear. A handful defected, choosing compassion over cruelty. They became known as The Forgotten a shadow network of rebels who protected the lives the Dominion deemed expendable.
But Kael Veyrn knew none of this.
Not yet.
He only knew the world as a wandering outcast sees it:
dusty roads, abandoned ruins, and a strange pressure in his chest like a second heartbeat trying to break free.
The sun dipped behind fractured cliffs, stretching long shadows across the forest path. Kael walked alone, scavenger jacket torn at the sleeves, boots battered from endless miles. His silver-grey hair marked by a lone black streak caught the dying light as his pale blue eyes swept over the silent woods.
Lately, the air itself felt heavier around him, as if reality were holding its breath.
Or as if something inside him wanted out.
Not again…
A tremor rippled through Kael's chest
a thump that didn't match his heartbeat.
He braced himself against a tree, jaw tight, waiting for the pressure to fade.
It always faded.
Eventually.
But every day, it grew harder to ignore.
He pushed forward toward the small village ahead, unaware that eyes had already found him.
A red flare streaked across the sky
a Dominion signal.
Armor rustled in the underbrush.
Kael froze.
"Freeze!"
Four Dominion soldiers stepped from the trees, rifles humming with blue Aether charges. Their armor bore the Dominion emblem: a broken circle bound in chains once a symbol of unity, now a mark of dread.
"Identify yourself!" the captain barked.
Kael lifted his hands slowly.
"I… I'm just passing through. I'm not"
The pressure in his chest spiked.
Hard.
Pain lanced through him.
Not now. Please not now.
One soldier stiffened. "Captain… his Aether field is unstable."
Another swallowed. "That signature… could it be"
The captain seized Kael's arm.
And in that instant
The pressure snapped.
Reality shattered like glass under strain.
A shockwave exploded from Kael in a perfect sphere.
The ground rippled.
Air twisted.
Trees bowed as though gravity itself had bent.
The soldiers were hurled backward, slamming into stone and roots.
Kael staggered, choking on breath he couldn't control. Blue-violet fissures flickered along his forearm cracks of light leaking through skin.
Then exhaustion consumed him.
He dropped to one knee, trembling.
"W-What… what did I just?"
A soldier scrambled upright, raising his rifle with shaking hands.
"Captain! He's Ruinborn! We need to terminate before he surges again!"
Kael tried to stand, but his legs buckled.
The soldier aimed.
kssh—CRACK!
His rifle fell apart cleanly sliced.
Kael blinked.
Someone had landed between him and the Dominion.
A girl around his age stood with twin resonance blades humming at her sides. She wore a tactical bodysuit woven with stealth Aether-tech, a torn high-tech scarf fluttering behind her. Short silver hair, streaked crimson. Cold, calculating crimson eyes enhanced that had seen far more battles than her youth suggested.
Iria Nox.
Member of The Forgotten.
And Kael's only chance at surviving the next ten seconds.
She lifted her blades, voice icy calm.
"Step away. Now."
The captain paled.
"Y-You… you're one of them."
Iria didn't respond.
She moved.
Fast.
A clean strike disarmed one soldier.
A sharp kick dropped another.
Her blade sang as it deflected an Aether shot, then she spun, sweeping the captain off his feet with a precise arc of energy.
Ten seconds.
Silence.
Iria exhaled, lowering her arm, then turned toward Kael.
He tried to stand
and collapsed.
She caught him before he hit the dirt. Her grip, despite the battle, was steady. Gentle.
"Easy," she murmured. "You pushed yourself too far."
Kael looked up at her, dazed.
"You… saved me."
Her gaze dropped to the faint Ruinborn cracks still glowing on his arm.
"That wasn't me," she said. "You released that rupture before I even arrived."
Fear twisted across his face.
"I didn't mean to. I don't want to hurt anyone."
Iria placed her hand over his, grounding him.
"You're not a monster, Kael Veyrn."
His eyes widened.
"You… know my name?"
"I know enough," she said softly, a shadow of conflict passing through her voice. "And I know the Dominion won't stop."
Her grip tightened
not a threat, but a promise.
"I'm taking you somewhere safe.
You're not alone anymore."
Kael's consciousness faded as Iria lifted him effortlessly into her arms.
Unseen, high atop a fractured stone column, a masked figure watched. His mask was split with pale lines unnerving, silent.
Cipher.
He whispered to the emptiness:
"…The Ruinborn awakens."
Then vanished into the shadows.