The fortress lay in ruins, its once-grand halls now crumbled into shadows and ash. The air was thick with Kael Draven's rage, his silver eyes glowing brighter than ever as his dark magic swirled around him. Yet, for all his power, for all the destruction he had wrought, the emptiness inside him remained.
The Void was gone.
It hadn't appeared to him in days. Its whispers, once a constant companion, had grown silent, leaving Kael to face the unbearable weight of his solitude. The memory of their last union haunted him like a phantom, each thought of it driving him deeper into madness.
He paced the crumbled remnants of the throne room, his hands trembling as he clawed at the edges of his own sanity. "Void," he growled, his voice a low snarl. "Where are you? Stop hiding from me!"
There was no response.
Kael let out a roar of frustration, his dark energy lashing out and shattering the walls around him. Stones crumbled, the echoes of destruction reverberating through the empty halls.
"You can't leave me like this!" he shouted, his voice raw with desperation. "You said we were one! You said you were mine!"
The shadows flickered faintly, but the Void did not appear.
---
Kael's breathing grew heavier, his body trembling as the craving within him intensified. He had always been a man driven by desire—desire for power, for vengeance, for control. But this was different.
This was obsession.
His mind raced, his thoughts spiraling into darker and darker places. Without the Void, nothing else mattered. The gods, the war, the realms—they were all meaningless without its touch.
The hunger gnawed at him, consuming him from the inside out. He needed the Void. He needed its presence, its power, its love.
And if he couldn't have it, he would take that need out on the world.
---
Kael stepped out of the fortress, his silver eyes burning with a dangerous light. The land surrounding the ruins was barren and lifeless, but he could feel the faint pulse of life in the distance—a village nestled in the shadow of the mountains.
His smirk returned, but it was devoid of warmth. If the Void wouldn't come to him, he would drown himself in destruction until it had no choice but to appear.
The shadows around him thickened as he moved toward the village, his magic growing darker and more volatile with each step.
"They'll see," he muttered to himself, his voice low and unhinged. "They'll all see. The Void belongs to me. No one else can have it."
---
The village of Harnstead was small and unassuming, its people living simple lives far removed from the chaos of the realms. They had heard rumors of Kael Draven, of his war against the gods, but they had never imagined that the shadow of his wrath would fall upon them.
Kael descended upon the village like a storm.
The first to fall were the guards at the gates. They barely had time to draw their weapons before Kael's magic consumed them, their bodies crumpling to the ground like broken dolls.
The villagers screamed as Kael strode through the streets, his dark energy rippling around him. Houses burst into flames, the shadows twisting and writhing like living things as they devoured everything in their path.
"Where are you?" Kael shouted, his voice echoing through the chaos. "Void, show yourself! You can't ignore me forever!"
But the Void did not answer.
---
Kael's fury grew, his magic lashing out in every direction. Men, women, and children fled before him, but there was no escape. His power consumed them all, their lives snuffed out like candles in the wind.
He didn't care about their screams. He didn't care about their pleas for mercy. All he cared about was the hunger inside him, the gnawing ache that nothing else could satisfy.
"You think this will stop me?" Kael snarled, his voice filled with rage. "You think you can break me? I'll destroy everything until you come back to me!"
The shadows around him pulsed, growing darker and more chaotic with each passing moment. Kael's power had always been immense, but now it was unchecked, fueled by his desperation and madness.
---
As the last of the villagers fell, Kael stood alone in the center of the burning village, his chest heaving. The flames danced around him, their light casting jagged shadows across his face.
But even in the midst of all the destruction, the emptiness remained.
Kael fell to his knees, his hands clutching at his chest. "Void," he whispered, his voice trembling. "Please. Don't leave me like this."
The silence was unbearable.
Kael let out a scream of frustration, his voice raw with anguish. The hunger inside him had grown too great, too consuming. It was no longer just a desire—it was a need, a primal force that threatened to tear him apart.
---
The Void's presence finally flickered faintly in the shadows, its voice soft and distant. **"Kael, what have you done?"**
Kael's head snapped up, his silver eyes wild. "You're here," he said, his voice trembling. "I knew you'd come back to me."
The Void's form began to take shape, its glowing eyes watching him with a mixture of sadness and disappointment. **"Look around you, Kael. Look at what you've done."**
Kael glanced at the burning village, at the bodies strewn across the ground. He smirked, his expression unrepentant. "I did it for you," he said. "I'd do anything for you."
The Void hesitated, its form flickering faintly. **"This hunger is destroying you, Kael. You are losing yourself."**
Kael stood, his body trembling as he stepped closer to the Void. "I don't care about myself," he said, his voice filled with desperation. "I only care about you. I'd die a thousand times, a million times, if it meant I could have you again."
---
The Void's glowing eyes softened, but its tone remained firm. **"You cannot continue like this. Your obsession will consume you—and everything around you."**
Kael reached out, his hands trembling as they brushed against the Void's form. "Let it consume me," he whispered. "I don't care. Just don't leave me."
The Void hesitated, its form wavering. **"Kael, you are my champion. But even I cannot save you from yourself."**
Kael's expression darkened, his silver eyes blazing. "I don't need saving," he growled. "I need *you*. And if you won't give me what I want, I'll take it."
The shadows around him surged, his dark energy lashing out as he tried to pull the Void closer. But the Void resisted, its form slipping through his grasp like water.
---
The struggle between them intensified, the shadows writhing and twisting as Kael's desperation reached its peak. The Void's presence flickered, its form growing weaker with each passing moment.
**"Kael, stop this,"** it said, its voice trembling. **"You are destroying us both."**
Kael's grip tightened, his silver eyes wild. "I won't stop," he snarled. "Not until you give me what I want. Not until I have you."
The Void's form finally shattered, dissolving into the shadows as its presence faded. Kael fell to his knees, his body trembling with exhaustion and madness.
But even as the Void disappeared, the hunger within him remained.
---
Far above, the gods watched in silence, their expressions grim.
"He has fallen," one said.
Another shook their head. "No. He has become something worse."
The leader of the council spoke, their voice filled with resolve. "Kael Draven is no longer a man. He is a force of destruction, driven by madness and obsession. And if we do not stop him, he will unmake the world."
The heavens trembled as the gods prepared for the final battle, knowing that Kael's descent into madness would only make him more dangerous.
---
Kael knelt alone in the burning ruins of the village, his silver eyes glowing with a dangerous light. The hunger inside him burned brighter than ever, consuming him from the inside out.
And deep in the shadows, the Void watched silently, knowing that Kael's love for it had become his undoing.