Kael stood at the edge of the Verdant Realm, where the towering trees of his homeland had once stood in perfect harmony with the world. Now, there was only devastation. The land trembled beneath his boots, as though it could no longer remember its balance. The sky above, normally a calming shade of green and gold, was now a sickly red, casting an eerie glow over the wreckage.
His village, once nestled safely between the great forests and shimmering rivers, was no more. What had been a thriving place of life and growth now lay in ruin—trees torn from their roots, rivers turning to mud, and the very earth beneath his feet cracked open, as if the world itself had been split in two.
The ground beneath him shuddered again, and Kael knelt to touch the cracked earth. He could feel the pulse of magic—wild, uncontrolled. The Nexus was failing.
Kael's fingers trembled as they brushed against the jagged edges of the chasm. This was no ordinary disaster. The magical energy that had once flowed through the lands like lifeblood had begun to fray at the seams. And the cracks in the Nexus were only growing larger.
I have to fix this, he thought, though part of him wasn't sure if he even could. Kael was no great hero. He had always been the quiet, unsure boy, hidden in the shadows of his peers. The weight of his dual powers—Earth and Water—had always felt like a curse rather than a gift. The burden of balance was too much, too often. But now… now, there was no choice.
A distant roar cut through his thoughts, pulling him from the chasm. Kael stood quickly, his senses on high alert. The roar had come from the Ember Wastes, far beyond the borders of the Verdant Realm. It was the sound of something far too large to be natural. Something ancient. Something dangerous.
Not my problem, Kael thought, but the flicker of doubt remained. If the world was unraveling, everything was connected. And if the Nexus was to be fixed, Kael would need to find those who could help him, even if they were from places he'd never dared to go.
With a deep breath, he turned away from the chasm, setting his sights on the distant mountains where the Skyreach Isles floated like islands of dreams. He had to reach them. The answers, and perhaps his salvation, lay beyond the lands of his home.
Kael glanced one last time at the wreckage of his village—the people he had known since childhood, gone in an instant. It stung, but it also fueled the fire within him. The world was in danger. And he, whether he liked it or not, was part of the solution.
As he walked away, the ground beneath him rumbled once more, sending a shiver down his spine. The Nexus wasn't just breaking—it was dying.