Kael couldn't believe what had just happened. He stood in silence… waiting for something—anything—to follow. Perhaps the words would reappear, or another anomaly would make itself known. Yet, all he heard was the bustle of the city. No flickering lights, no shifting shadows. Nothing to suggest anything out of the ordinary.
However, the voice still lingered in his head, its ominous tone refusing to fade. A heavy unease settled in his gut, spreading like an infection. His palms were damp, his pulse beat frantically against his ribs. It took time, but he forced himself to breathe, slow and steady, until his racing heart finally began to ease. Exhaling shakily, he considered the possibility—was he hallucinating?
Sleep deprivation could explain it. He hadn't rested properly in days. Hallucinations weren't uncommon for those teetering on the edge of exhaustion.
Kael rubbed his temples, a dull ache forming at the base of his skull. Rationality told him to dismiss it, to chalk it up to fatigue, but something gnawed at him—a nagging feeling urging him to be certain. He turned, scanning the empty office. Nothing had changed. The fluorescent bulb still cast its dim glow, his desk remained undisturbed, the scattered papers and half-empty whiskey bottle exactly where he left them. Perplexed, he paced the room, checking every corner, but nothing seemed amiss.
Then, the feeling struck. A whisper of instinct.
His gaze flicked to the window.
Kael hesitated before stepping forward, fingers parting the blinds. The moment he did, the world shattered.
A sound—like glass breaking in an empty void—echoed through the air. His breath caught in his throat.
The sky, once a featureless expanse of inky black, was broken.
Where there should have been only darkness, a massive rift had torn open. A swirling, violet expanse stretched beyond the breach, jagged edges marking the divide between the known and the unknowable. It pulsed, as if alive, shifting and warping in ways that defied logic. And within the abyssal storm, vast figures loomed—indistinct yet terrifying in enormity.
Kael stared, transfixed. Awe and dread warred within him. It was wrong, impossible, yet it felt... inevitable. As if this violet world had always been there, waiting just beyond sight. Trapped. And now, freed.
The longer he stared, the more it twisted in his mind. The shifting colors, the endless motion—it was too much. His head pounded, a sharp pain behind his eyes. He squeezed them shut, shaking his head to dispel the vertigo. But something else called to him from that breach—a whisper of longing. The figures beyond were different, superior. They existed beyond limits, beyond weakness.
Kael reached towards the beings, drawn to them, before catching himself. He instinctively knew that if he lost himself in the violet expanse he would never return. However, he knew it was not intentional, their wills naturally surpassing his own.
He looked away so as not to lose himself. Regardless, a single thought permeated through his head: If only he could join them, he could be—
The cracks in the sky spread
Slowly at first, like hairline fractures creeping through glass. Then faster. More rifts bloomed, revealing more of the swirling void. More figures waiting beyond.
The city below was bathed in eerie light, stretching unnatural shadows across the streets. The skyscrapers, once imposing, now seemed menacing, their elongated forms stretching toward the heavens like desperate fingers. Even stranger, the lights in every building had gone dark—only the streetlamps remained, casting flickering halos over the chaos unfolding below.
Then he saw the people.
They filled the streets, some kneeling, hands clasped in frantic prayer. Others huddled together, wide-eyed and trembling. The worst were those who had collapsed, clutching at their head or chests, writhing in silent agony.
Kael's breath hitched. This wasn't just happening to him.
He needed to see more. Understand more.
Snapping out of his trance, he turned, threw on his blazer and rushed out the door, sprinting down the dim hallway. He jabbed the elevator button, cursing when the doors remained shut. Again, no response. He glanced around, spotting the illuminated exit sign at the end of the corridor.
Taking the stairs.
He hurried down the stairs two at a time, heart hammering, each step fueled by the urgency clawing at his gut. But before he even made it halfway down, his body rebelled. His breath grew short, his limbs heavy. He paused, gripping the railing, confusion flickering through his mind. He wasn't out of shape. A few flights of stairs shouldn't have winded him this much.
Something was wrong. The air felt thicker, charged with an almost metallic weight. His hands trembled as if he were coming down from a sugar high.
Not now. Keep moving.
Ignoring the warning signs, he pushed forward, shoving the metal door open as he burst into the building's lobby. It was eerily quiet, the usual murmur of the night absent. The violet glow seeped through the windows, distorting familiar shapes. Outside, the distant sounds of screams and cries filled the air.
Steeling himself, Kael stepped out onto the street.
The scene was worse than he'd imagined. More people lay sprawled on the ground, their bodies curled in pain, hands gripping their chest as if something inside was clawing its way out. Others stood frozen, watching in horror, too afraid to help.
Then, a woman's cry.
Kael turned, spotting her. She knelt on the pavement, clutching at her chest with one hand, the other reaching out, desperate and pleading. Her business suit was disheveled, brown hair matted against her forehead. Her purse lay forgotten, its contents spilled across the concrete.
Without thinking, Kael ran to her side, gripping her shoulders. "Ma'am, hold on. It's okay," he said, though even he didn't believe it. "What happened?"
Her fingers tightened around his arm. "I—I don't know," she gasped. "I was just heading home. Took the late shift, called a taxi. Then—" She sucked in a sharp breath. "I heard a voice. In my head. And these... words, they appeared. They said something about a competition. About dying." She let out a dry, hollow laugh. "I thought it was a joke. But then the sky—" Her voice broke. "The sky changed. The building went dark. My driver freaked out, kept mumbling about the apocalypse. He left me. Just—just drove off."
She winced, gripping her chest tighter. "At first, it was warm. I thought it was adrenaline. Then it started to hurt. Like something was—"
She gasped, her body seizing.
Kael's eyes widened as the collar of her shirt shifted, revealing something beneath. A symbol. White, throbbing with energy. It matched the runes he'd seen in the air before—but this one was different. More intricate. More... profound.
Then, she went still.
Kael stood frozen, his gaze locked onto the woman's still form. The glow beneath her collar had begun to dim, yet the symbol remained, etched into her skin like an unbreakable brand. A mark of something far greater than he could yet comprehend.
But she was alive. He could hear the faint hitch in her breath, see the subtle rise and fall of her chest. Whatever had happened to her—it hadn't killed her.
The realization sent a ripple through his mind. He tore his eyes away, scanning the streets, searching for others. If she wasn't alone in this, then…
Movement caught his eye.
A man stood in the middle of the road, his hands clutching his chest. His breaths were ragged, his face contorted in agony. Kael took a step forward, but before he could call out, the man crumpled to his knees. A faint light pulsed beneath his shirt. Another mark.
More figures dotted the streets. Some writhed in pain, others slumped against walls, their bodies limp, as if they'd fought against something unseen and lost. Many people were on the ground, but their chests still rose, the glow barely visible beneath their clothing. It seemed they had survived this ordeal.
Kael swallowed hard. He was standing in the middle of something he didn't understand. A trial? A test?A warning?
His stomach twisted. Was he next?
As if in answer, the air around him grew heavier. The charged sensation he'd felt before intensified, pressing against his skin like a living force. His pulse quickened, his instincts screaming a warning he couldn't decipher.
Then, the heat started.
At first, it was subtle. A warmth creeping through his veins, curling around his ribcage like unseen fingers. But it spread—too fast, too intense. A fire pooling beneath his skin.
He staggered, gripping his chest. His breath hitched. The pain sharpened, drilling into a single point above his heart, as if something within him was clawing to be set free.
Kael's vision swam. His legs buckled, but he caught himself before he hit the pavement. Around him, others stood, staring at him in horror.
Some part of him knew—this wasn't meant to kill him. It was meant to mark him. To claim him.
The realization sent a shudder through him. His body screamed in agony, but his soul… it yearned.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself upright, staggering forward. He could still see the breach above, the violet abyss stretching endlessly beyond. The figures loomed, distant yet watching. They looked down on his plight, a man with no control. He was tired of it, he wanted more, to be more.
Why must they be so far away? Why couldn't he be like them?
He had fallen from grace, lost everything he had built. But if the world was shattering, why couldn't he rise in its place?
Kael took another step. Then another. The weight on his chest grew unbearable, his limbs trembling, his body rebelling against his will. The street blurred. His balance wavered.
And then, finally—he fell.
The pavement was cold against his skin. His breaths came in shallow gasps. His vision darkened, the edges fraying. But even as consciousness slipped away, he forced his eyes upward, toward the sky that had once been so ordinary.
The breach loomed above. The figures beyond still watched.
Unreachable.
A single thought burned itself into his fading consciousness:
Could I ever be the man above it all?
The last thing he saw before he succumbed to the abyss was the sky shedding its false mask, revealing the truth beneath.
The veil, falling.
Revealing what truly lay beyond.