The soil beneath Kael Ardent's feet quivered again, sending a chill up his spine. He stood in the middle of Torren's Edge's western fields, staring at the expanse of golden crops swaying under the late afternoon sun. But his focus wasn't on the harvest. He pressed his fingers into the handle of the iron hoe he carried, feeling the vibrations travel through the earth and into his body, faint but persistent.
"Kael!" a sharp voice called out behind him. He turned to see Garren, his closest friend, trudging toward him with an exasperated expression. Garren had always been bigger, stronger, and louder, and today was no exception. He carried a sack of grain over one shoulder, his face slightly red from the effort.
"You're standing there like a statue while I'm breaking my back over here," Garren grumbled, setting the sack down with a thud. "And don't say you didn't feel that tremor again. You've been going on about them all week."
Kael hesitated, then shrugged. "It's not just me. You felt it too, didn't you?"
"Sure, the ground wobbled a bit. Big deal." Garren waved a hand dismissively. "Probably some underground springs shifting around or something. You'd know that if you didn't spend half your time with your head in those dusty books."
"It's more than that," Kael insisted. "This feels… unnatural. Like the earth itself is trying to tell us something."
Garren snorted. "The earth doesn't talk, Kael. You sound like one of those madmen in the capital. Come on, help me finish this before sunset, or your father will have my head for keeping you out late again."
Kael nodded reluctantly, gripping the hoe again. But even as he worked, his mind lingered on the tremors. They weren't normal, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something bigger was coming.
By the time Kael returned home, the sun had dipped below the horizon, casting Torren's Edge in a warm, golden glow. The village was quiet, its wooden houses clustered around a modest square with a well at its center. His home sat farther out, at the edge of the forest, where his father's obsession with isolation—and books—could flourish without interruption.
Kael stepped into the familiar chaos of the Ardent family library, a single room cluttered with shelves overflowing with scrolls, maps, and ancient tomes. The air was thick with the smell of ink and parchment, a scent that had become as comforting as it was suffocating.
"Late again," Merek Ardent said without looking up from the table. He was poring over a massive map spread out before him, his brows furrowed in concentration. Despite his wiry frame and perpetually messy hair, Merek's presence always commanded respect.
"Garren kept me," Kael replied, setting the hoe by the door. "The tremors were worse today. Did you feel them?"
Merek glanced up sharply, his dark eyes narrowing. "You noticed them too?"
Kael frowned. "Of course I did. They're getting stronger. You think it's connected to—"
"To what?" Merek interrupted, standing and gesturing for Kael to join him at the table. "The gods? The war? The fact that humanity has been tearing apart this land for centuries? Take your pick."
Kael leaned over the map, where intricate lines crisscrossed the landscape, marking ley lines, ancient cities, and sites of geomantic significance. "What do you think it is?"
"I don't know," Merek admitted, his voice unusually soft. "But these tremors… they're too regular. Too deliberate. It's as if something beneath the surface is waking up."
Before Kael could respond, a thunderous boom shook the house, sending books tumbling from their shelves. Kael stumbled back as the floor trembled violently beneath him.
"That's not a tremor," Merek said, his voice tight with fear. He moved to the window, pulling back the curtain.
Kael followed, his stomach twisting as he saw what lay beyond. The sky above Torren's Edge had turned a sickly shade of gray, swirling with ominous clouds that glowed faintly from within. And in the center of the village square stood a figure that radiated power—a being clad in gleaming golden armor, its form towering and otherworldly.
"A god," Merek whispered, his voice barely audible.
Kael stared, his heart pounding. He'd grown up on stories of the gods—beings of immense power who had abandoned humanity centuries ago after a great war. Their return had always been a distant, apocalyptic fear, the kind of tale parents told to scare unruly children. But now, as the god raised a hand and light began to gather in its palm, the fear became real.
"Run," Merek said suddenly, grabbing Kael's arm.
"What?"
"We need to get out of here! Now!"
The god unleashed the light in a blinding wave of energy that tore through the village square, obliterating everything in its path. The shockwave hit their house, shattering windows and sending books flying. Kael stumbled but kept his footing, his ears ringing from the impact.
As they scrambled to the door, it burst open, and a woman stepped inside. She was lean and sharp-eyed, dressed in dark leather armor and carrying twin daggers that glimmered faintly in the dim light.
"You two still alive?" she asked briskly.
"Who—" Kael began, but the woman cut him off.
"Liora Vale," she said. "Rogue faction. Long story short, that thing out there isn't stopping until this place is rubble. You coming or not?"
Merek hesitated, but Kael didn't. Grabbing his father's arm, he pulled him toward the door. Together, they followed Liora into the chaos outside.
The village was unrecognizable. Fires raged, casting an eerie orange glow over the destruction. The ground was torn apart, jagged cracks running in every direction. And amidst the flames were the god's soldiers—celestial beings made of light and armor, their faces blank but their movements precise as they cut down anyone in their path.
"This way!" Liora shouted, cutting through one of the soldiers with a dagger that left a faint trail of sparks in its wake.
Kael stumbled after her, his mind racing. How could this be happening? Why now? And why did the very ground beneath his feet feel like it was alive, pulsing in time with his racing heart?
As they neared the forest's edge, a deafening roar split the air. Kael turned to see the god looking directly at them, its eyes glowing with an intensity that made his chest tighten. It raised its hand again, light gathering once more.
"Get down!" Merek shouted, but Kael couldn't move. The glow mesmerized him, freezing him in place as the energy built to a blinding crescendo.
In that moment, instinct took over. Kael thrust his hands forward, and the ground beneath him erupted, forming a jagged wall of stone that rose between them and the god. The light struck the wall, shattering it instantly, but the delay was enough for Liora to pull him into the cover of the trees.
"What the hell was that?" Liora demanded, staring at him in disbelief.
Kael looked down at his hands, still trembling, faint traces of golden energy fading from his fingertips. "I… I don't know."
Merek grabbed his shoulder, his grip firm. "We'll figure it out later. For now, we keep moving."
As the forest closed around them, the sounds of the god's destruction faded into the distance. But Kael knew this was only the beginning. The earth beneath his feet still pulsed, and he couldn't shake the feeling that it was calling out to him.