---
The eerie light in the sky intensified, spreading like a crack in the fabric of the world itself. It pulsed rhythmically, as if in sync with the beat of Kaelen's heart. His breath caught in his throat as he felt the sudden shift in the air. The energy around them felt wrong, like the very laws of nature were bending, warping into something else entirely.
"Kaelen…" Lira's voice was soft but filled with an unmistakable tension. "What is that?"
He didn't answer immediately, his mind racing to understand what was happening. The storm was gone. The creature that had caused the chaos had been destroyed. And yet, this new force—this unnatural light—was pulsing as though it was tied to something deeper, something far beyond their comprehension.
Before Kaelen could respond, the ground beneath their feet cracked open with a deafening roar. A rift tore through the earth, and from within it, a figure emerged.
At first, Kaelen thought it was another creature—a monstrous entity summoned by the storm's last remnants. But as the figure stepped fully into view, his breath caught. It wasn't a creature at all.
It was a person.
A man, tall and shrouded in glowing robes, stepped forward with an unsettling grace. His face was hidden by a dark hood, but the faint outline of his features gleamed faintly in the light. The aura around him was unlike anything Kaelen had ever felt. It wasn't just powerful—it was ancient. Timeless.
The figure's voice was smooth, almost melodic, as he spoke. "You have done well, Kaelen. But you have only delayed the inevitable."
"Who are you?" Kaelen demanded, his fists clenching as he prepared himself for another fight. "What is this?"
The figure lowered his hood, revealing a face that seemed to shift, like a reflection in water. There was no solidity to it—only an ethereal, ever-changing visage that made Kaelen's mind dizzy.
"I am the Unseen," the figure said, his voice a strange harmony of multiple tones. "And I am the one who set the storm in motion."
Kaelen's heart skipped a beat. The storm, the creature, the chaos—they were all part of this being's plan? Everything had been leading to this moment?
"You've been playing us from the beginning?" Kaelen's voice was a mixture of fury and disbelief. "Why? What do you want from us?"
The Unseen's lips curled into a smile, but it wasn't one of warmth or malice—it was something colder, something older. "I wanted to see if you were worthy, Kaelen. You've passed every test, exceeded every expectation, but now... now you must face the truth of your power."
The ground trembled again as the light in the sky grew brighter. The rift that had opened began to pulse in time with the light, as if drawing power from it. The figure raised a hand, and the rift began to widen, revealing what lay beyond.
Kaelen's breath caught in his throat as he saw what was beyond the rift: a city, ancient and crumbling, floating in the midst of a vast, swirling void. The city seemed to stretch endlessly, its towers reaching for the heavens, its streets lined with forgotten relics. It was a place out of time, a place that shouldn't exist.
"This is the City of Eternal Night," the Unseen said. "And it is the birthplace of all storms."
Kaelen took a step forward, his mind racing. The City of Eternal Night. He had heard legends of it—whispers among scholars, half-forgotten stories passed down through generations. It was said to be the origin of all chaos, the place where the storm that had ravaged the world first began.
But this… this was something different. The city wasn't just a place—it was a part of something far greater, far more dangerous.
"You want me to go there?" Kaelen asked, his voice low with suspicion. "What's your game?"
The Unseen chuckled softly. "Not yet. You're not ready. But you will be. You must understand your true nature, Kaelen. You are not just a vessel of anger or chaos. You are a being born of both."
Kaelen's eyes narrowed. "What does that even mean?"
The Unseen raised his hand, and the air around them grew thick, heavy with power. "You have been collecting anger for a purpose, Kaelen. Your journey, your struggles, your battles—they've all been part of a greater design. But you have only scratched the surface of what you are capable of."
The rift seemed to pulse, and for a moment, Kaelen saw flashes—visions of his past battles, his victories and losses, his moments of rage and doubt. They were fragments, but they felt more vivid now, as though they were memories not just of him, but of the very storm itself.
"You have the power to reshape the world, Kaelen," the Unseen whispered. "To bend the storm to your will. But you must first embrace it, fully. You must accept that chaos and order are two sides of the same coin. You cannot defeat the storm—you must become it."
Kaelen shook his head, his fists clenched tighter. "I'll never be your puppet. I won't be some god of chaos."
The Unseen's smile grew wider. "Ah, but you already are. The question is whether you will control it—or let it control you."
Suddenly, the ground beneath Kaelen's feet gave way, and he was falling. The storm, the figure, everything around him seemed to dissolve into darkness, leaving only the cold, infinite void.
---
Kaelen woke with a sharp gasp, his heart pounding in his chest. He was lying on the cold ground, his breath ragged as he stared up at the sky, now calm and clear. The storm was gone. The rift was gone. There was nothing left but the aftermath of the battle.
Was it a dream? Had it all been a dream?
He struggled to sit up, shaking his head in confusion. The weight of the moment pressed heavily on him, and for a second, he questioned everything—his power, his purpose, the very reality he had been living in. The memories of the Unseen, the storm, and the City of Eternal Night were too vivid to be just a dream. They felt real. Too real.
But as he stood and looked around, Kaelen couldn't deny what he saw: the battlefield, the corpses, the broken land. The world around him was still real, still tangible.
He had done it. He had stopped the storm. But in doing so, had he opened a door to something far worse? Something beyond his control?
Kaelen's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, but one thing was clear—he wasn't done yet. Whatever lay ahead, whatever the Unseen had meant, Kaelen would face it. Because he wasn't done fighting.
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