The sky above was a patchwork of bruised purples and fiery oranges, the storm clouds thickening as Kael stood at the edge of the cliff. The wind howled through the peaks of the Norse mountains, a wail of forgotten gods. It was a call—a summons. Kael had heard it all his life, a voice in the wind that had both terrified and exhilarated him. It was the voice of Aeropex, the Air Dragon, the ancient being whose spirit now resided in him.
The wind rippled his cloak, his long silver hair whipping around his face as the storm began to gather speed. Kael stood tall, his heart beating in time with the sky's restless energy. He could feel the pull of it deep inside him, the rush of power building in the currents, the raw, untamed force that called to him like a lover's whisper.
A breath.
The wind gusted.
Another breath.
A roar.
The first crack of thunder split the sky.
Kael closed his eyes, exhaling slowly, feeling the air move around him like a living thing. He had always known that his connection to the wind was more than just a gift—it was a part of him, a living force that ran through his veins and guided his every movement. When he had been young, his mother would often speak of the old stories—how Aeropex had been the mightiest of the dragons, the master of the skies. His wings had been so vast that they could carry entire storms across the heavens. His breath could stir the air into a tempest, his rage could level cities.
Kael's own connection to Aeropex had been more complicated. As a child, he had been wild—reckless, even. The wind was his closest friend, but also his greatest enemy. It was with him always, but it had no loyalty, no warmth. The air did not love him—it was indifferent, as indifferent as the sky itself. It had taken him years to learn how to temper it, how to control it, how to not let it consume him.
Now, standing on this cliff, with the storm closing in like a wild beast, Kael felt the familiar, electric thrill of the wind coursing through him. But this time, it was different. The storm was not just a thing outside him. It was a part of him, as much as his own breath. It was Aeropex himself, speaking through the storm, telling Kael something he could not yet understand.
"Kael," the wind seemed to whisper, the voice sharp as the jagged cliffs beneath his feet. "The time has come."
His heart stilled. He opened his eyes and scanned the horizon. There, far to the north, the sky pulsed with a strange energy, the clouds swirling in unnatural patterns. Something was happening. Something was coming.
The wind howled again, and Kael's breath caught in his chest. He could feel the tremor in the air, the disruption in the natural flow of things. The wind was not as it should be. It was shifting, restless, pulled out of balance. His senses screamed, and he instinctively reached out, stretching his consciousness through the air, pulling at the storm to see what it hid.
What he felt was unlike anything he had experienced before—a dark energy, a foreign force seeping into the currents of the wind. It was not a natural storm. It was something wrong. Something that had been tampered with.
A flicker of recognition passed through Kael's mind. The wind was more than just a weather pattern. It was alive, it was a conduit, a bridge between realms. And whatever had disturbed it was not just an elemental force—it was an imbalance, a disruption in the very fabric of the world.
"The other heirs," he whispered, barely audible over the rising storm. His hand clenched into a fist, feeling the wind respond, swirling around his arm like a living thing. They must be part of this. They must feel it too.
But there was no time to waste. The storm was coming for him, for all of them. Aeropex had warned him—there would be no more time for hesitation.
Without thinking, Kael took a step forward, his feet leaving the edge of the cliff and propelling him into the air. The wind caught him immediately, lifting him high above the earth. He didn't need wings, not anymore. His connection to Aeropex was enough.
The world below seemed to drop away, the mountains shrinking to insignificant specks as Kael soared into the sky, driven by the storm's pull. He could feel it all—every shift in the atmosphere, every current of air, every crackling pulse of energy. The wind was speaking to him now, but it wasn't Aeropex. It was something else, something darker.
As Kael ascended higher, the clouds closed in around him, their swirling blackness obscuring the stars. Lightning cracked through the sky, illuminating the chaos around him in brilliant flashes. The storm had become something beyond his control, something that seemed to mock his attempts to steer it.
A chill crept up his spine. This was no ordinary storm. This was a herald.
The wind screamed as it tightened around him, the force growing stronger with every passing moment. The sky seemed to press in on him, suffocating, as if the very air itself had become a trap.
"Who are you?" Kael shouted into the storm, his voice lost in the howling winds. "What do you want?"
The answer came in a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, the air vibrating with its power.
"We are the ones who seek to break the chains of the dragons," the voice boomed, low and guttural, echoing across the heavens. "The heirs will bow or they will burn."
Kael's heart raced, his mind spinning. He could feel the force behind the words, the terrible weight of them. Whoever spoke now had the power to alter the very winds, to corrupt the air itself. The storm was a weapon. And it was aimed directly at him.
"I will not bow," Kael muttered, summoning the wind once more. It responded, but the storm was too strong. His connection to Aeropex wavered beneath the dark force that now sought to claim the sky.
And then, just as quickly as the storm had risen, it stopped.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Kael hovered in the air, panting heavily, his body straining to maintain control. The winds had calmed, but the tension in the air remained. The sky, once turbulent and violent, was now eerily still, as if the storm itself had been waiting for something—or someone.
The presence in the air was gone, but the words it had spoken rang in Kael's ears, louder than the storm ever had.
"The heirs will bow or they will burn."
He could feel it now, a new urgency in his bones. He had not been alone in feeling the disturbance. Aria, Ling, Niam, and Eira—they had all felt it too. The storm was not just a warning for him. It was a warning for them all.
And that meant it was time for Kael to find them. Time to unite with the others.
Before it was too late.