BOOM.
The earth trembled.
A thin crack raced across the silver gates of Axis as if a titan had scratched its claws against the city's heart.
From the highest tower, the alarm bells howled—GONG. GONG. GONG.A dirge for the innocent.
Arin bolted upright in his room, blade already half-drawn. His breathing steady, trained, but his heart… chaotic.
Outside, flames licked the horizon.
The Heralds had arrived.
Skyfall
The sky wasn't blue anymore.It was burning white—a veil torn open by divine magic.
Through it descended three beings, not of flesh, but forged from oath and judgment.
The First Herald, cloaked in ever-rippling mirrors, spoke in a voice that bent the air:
"Return the Fallen Star, or we shall turn this world into ash."
Behind him hovered the Second—a figure of pure obsidian, eyes dripping starlight.
And furthest back, nearly unnoticed but infinitely more terrifying, stood the Third Herald.
A woman with no eyes, yet who saw everything.
The Council Fractures
Inside the Chamber of Vows, Axis's leaders gathered—Arin, Elira, Sarai, old General Thorne, and the Twin Oracles.
Tension cracked louder than the storm above.
"This is your doing!" snapped Thorne at Elira. "You brought them here with your cursed past."
She didn't flinch.
"Then let me end it."
Sarai slammed her fist on the table. BANG.
"No. You won't sacrifice yourself like some tragic poem."
The room froze as Arin stood, shadows dancing across his face from the torchlight.
"I'll go to them."
Elira turned, panicked. "Arin, no—"
He looked at her gently. "It's not a surrender. It's a warning."
The Walk Into Thunder
Step. Step. Step.
The gates opened.
Arin walked into the lightning-charged air, cloak fluttering, sword unsheathed but low.
The First Herald tilted his head.
"Ah… the Exiled One. The boy reality itself rejected."
Arin's voice was low but unwavering. "I've rejected you, too."
CRACK!A bolt of divine lightning struck beside him—but he didn't flinch.
"I know why you've come. But she's not the same priestess you left behind."
The Second Herald hissed, smoke curling from his joints. "All sins require a reckoning."
"And if you reach for her again…" Arin raised his sword."I'll become yours."
Inside the Inner Vault
Elira stood in front of the starseed, now pulsing erratically. Her palms hovered just above it, trembling.
She whispered to it in the Celestial Tongue, voice breaking.
"Rei'thal… vure ahn mea."
(Please... let me protect him this time.)
Suddenly, the starseed responded.
FWOOOOOOM.It glowed a deep, blood-red.
Outside, the sky dimmed—for just a moment. As if the gods blinked.
Battle Erupts
Without warning, the Third Herald raised her hand.
ZWWWWOOOM.A spear of null-light formed and hurled toward the city.
BOOM!The barrier cracked.
Arin lunged—his blade intercepting a second lance midair.KLANG! Sparks ignited like dying stars.
From the city walls, mages and archers launched volleys.
WHOOSH!CRACK!FWWSSSH!
But the Heralds didn't bleed. They unmade attacks before they touched them.
And then… Elira stepped forward.
The Awakening
With one hand still on the starseed, and the other clutching her old sigil, she rose above the city—hair alight, cloak blooming behind her like wings of fire.
Her voice echoed across the field:
"I, Elira Veyr—formerly Herald of the Sixth Flame—renounce my old name… and accept the title Axis has given me."
"Guardian."
The city erupted in light.
Chains burst from her arms—celestial bindings twisting into glowing armor.
Arin's eyes widened. "Elira…"
She raised her hand.
BANG!
A wave of magic, so raw and furious it howled, blasted outward—throwing two Heralds back into the sky.
Only the Third stood her ground.
A Smile in the Flames
The Third Herald finally spoke, her voice like a lullaby in reverse.
"You've bloomed… but you're still rooted in sin."
Elira's voice was calm.
"Then let me grow beyond it."
BOOM!Their powers collided—light and silence, guilt and absolution.
Below, Arin stood breathless, watching the woman he once doubted now stand against fate itself.
Sarai arrived beside him, breathing hard. "She's changed."
"No," Arin whispered, "she's becoming."