The land trembled as Kael walked.
Fields blackened under his footsteps. Rivers boiled where he waded through them. The sky itself *split* above him, thunderheads churning like a wounded beast.
He was no longer a man.
He was a *cataclysm.*
The Stormblade had fully merged with his arm, its jagged edge jutting from his flesh like a bone claw. His veins pulsed with black lightning, his eyes twin voids of blue-white fire. The whispers of the storm were constant now—no longer separate from his thoughts, but *part* of them.
*"The capital awaits,"* the storm murmured. *"The Emperor cowers behind his walls. But walls cannot stop a god."*
Kael didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
The storm knew his will.
And it *hungered.*
The world had not always been this way.
Once, it was whole—a land of balance, where the Three Divine Currents flowed freely:
1. The Storm (Raw, untamed power—chaos incarnate)
2. The Ash (Order, structure—the bones of the world)
3. The Vein (Lifeblood—the pulse of living things)
The first Stormblood was not a man, but a *convergence*—a mortal who had merged with the Storm Current, becoming something *more.*
The Empire of Solthar rose to oppose him.
Not out of fear.
Out of *greed.*
They sought to *harness* the Currents, to turn divine power into a weapon.
They shattered the Stormblood into relics:
- The Stormblade (His wrath)
- The Shadowcrown (His mind)
- The Emberguard (His heart)
- The Key (His soul)
The Emperor believed that by controlling the relics, he could control the Storm itself.
He was wrong.
The Storm was never meant to be *controlled.*
It was meant to *consume.*
The world's magic flowed from the Three Currents, each with its own inheritors:
#### 1. The Stormbloods
- Source: The Storm Current
- Abilities: Lightning manipulation, storm-calling, kinetic fury
- Weakness: The power erodes the body and mind. Uncontrolled, it turns the wielder into a living tempest—a force of nature with no humanity left.
#### 2. The Ashborn
- Source: The Ash Current
- Abilities: Earth-shaping, metalweaving, unbreakable will
- Weakness: Overuse petrifies the flesh, turning the wielder to stone.
#### 3. The Vein-Touched
- Source: The Vein Current
- Abilities: Healing, fleshcrafting, blood magic
- Weakness: Drawing too deeply from the Vein withers the user's own life force.
The Emperor sought to merge all Three Currents into a single, perfect weapon—The Godspike, a machine that could rewrite reality itself.
But to do so, he needed a vessel strong enough to survive the fusion.
He needed *Kael.*
The capital loomed ahead—a monstrous citadel of black stone, its spires clawing at the sky.
The Emperor waited.
He had known Kael would come.
*Planned* for it.
The Emberguard—the third relic—was not hidden in a vault.
It was *embedded* in the chest of his greatest weapon.
General Veyra Ashborn.
A woman of stone and fire, her body reforged by the Emperor's alchemists, her veins pumping molten gold.
She stood at the gates, the Emberguard burning on her fist.
"Stormblood," she called, her voice like grinding tectonic plates. "You are expected."
Kael didn't slow.
The storm *roared* in answer.
Veyra smiled.
"Good."
Then—
She *slammed* her fist into the earth.
The ground *exploded.*
Kael met her charge with lightning.
The impact *shattered* the sky.
Veyra's molten fists collided with Kael's storm-wreathed claws, each blow sending shockwaves through the earth. The city walls *cracked.* The air *burned.*
The storm *laughed.*
*"She is strong. But we are *stronger.*"*
Kael *dug* his fingers into Veyra's chest, where the Emberguard pulsed like a second heart.
She *screamed* as his lightning *seared* through her.
But she did not fall.
Instead, she *grabbed* his wrist.
"You think this is a fight?" she hissed. "This is a *ritual.*"
Then—
The Emberguard *flared.*
Kael's vision went white.
He was not in the city anymore.
He stood in a vast, hollow space—a chamber of molten gold, its walls shifting like liquid.
Before him, suspended in chains of burning metal, was a figure.
A man.
Or what was left of one.
His skin was cracked lightning, his eyes twin storms.
The First Stormblood.
The *original.*
He raised his head.
*"You are the last key."*
Kael's voice was raw. "What is this place?"
*"The Emperor's forge,"* the First whispered. *"Where he seeks to remake the world."*
Then—
A shadow moved.
The Emperor stepped forward, his golden mask gleaming.
"At last," he murmured. "The final piece."
He raised a hand.
The chains *tightened.*
And Kael *screamed* as the Emberguard began to *melt* into his flesh.