The battlefield was silent. The once-roaring flames had died down, leaving only embers flickering across the cracked earth.
Kaelen stood tall, but inside, he was anything but composed. His heart was still pounding from Avarion's words.
"The God of the End."
It sounded like something out of an old legend, a bedtime story meant to scare children. And yet, standing here, staring at Avarion—who should have been dead—Kaelen couldn't shake the feeling that this was real.
Lyria, still gripping her bow, took a shaky breath. "You're telling us that there's something out there worse than you? That's… honestly hard to believe."
Avarion chuckled, but there was no humor in it.
"I expected you to doubt me." His white-hot flames flickered around him, dimming slightly. "But you've seen glimpses of it already, haven't you?"
Kaelen frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Avarion tilted his head. "The strange disturbances. The sky cracking. The dreams you've been having."
Kaelen stiffened.
Because he had been having dreams.
Horrible ones.
He hadn't told anyone, not even Lyria. Every night, when he closed his eyes, he saw something vast, something endless, creeping at the edges of reality. A shadow that wasn't just darkness—it was absence itself.
And in those dreams, he heard a voice.
A whisper.
A promise of the end.
He had dismissed it as exhaustion, as lingering effects from battle.
But now…
His throat felt dry. "How do you know about that?"
Avarion's gaze darkened. "Because I've heard the whispers too."
Umbra, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke. His voice was low, cautious. "What exactly are we dealing with?"
Avarion hesitated for a fraction of a second. Just enough for Kaelen to notice.
Then, in a voice quieter than before, Avarion said, "Something even I cannot fight."
The weight of those words settled heavily in the air.
Avarion—the God of Wrath, the being who had nearly wiped them out—was afraid.
Lyria exhaled sharply. "You can't just drop that and expect us to walk away. If this thing is coming, we need details."
Avarion's flames flickered as he turned to the sky. "It is not a god like you or me. It does not rage. It does not conquer. It does not rule."
He turned his burning eyes back to them.
"It erases."
Kaelen felt a chill crawl up his spine. "Erases?"
Avarion nodded. "It is the end of all things. When it arrives, it will not fight. It will not demand worship. It will not make war."
He let those words sink in.
"It will simply unmake existence itself."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Thorne broke it with a low curse. "That's impossible. If something like that existed, the gods would've known."
Avarion smirked. "You assume the gods are all-knowing."
Thorne scowled but didn't argue.
Kaelen rubbed his temples. This was too much. They had just barely survived Avarion's wrath, and now they were supposed to believe there was something worse?
He let out a slow breath. "So why warn us? What's your game, Avarion? You've spent centuries trying to burn this world down, and now you suddenly want to save it?"
Avarion chuckled again. "Don't mistake my motives, Kaelen. I do not seek to save this world."
His smile faded.
"I seek to ensure there is still something left for me to rule."
That, at least, sounded like the Avarion they knew.
Kaelen crossed his arms. "And what do you expect us to do about it?"
Avarion's flames flared again. "Prepare."
"Prepare?" Kaelen repeated, irritation creeping into his voice. "You just said this thing erases everything. How do you prepare for that?"
Avarion's expression darkened. "You find its weaknesses."
Lyria frowned. "Does it have any?"
For a moment, Avarion was silent.
Then, he said, "It has been stopped before."
That made everyone freeze.
"You mean this has happened before?" Kaelen asked, eyes narrowing.
Avarion gave him a pointed look. "Did you think your world was the first?"
A chill settled over them.
Umbra's voice was quiet. "Then what happened to the others?"
Avarion smiled. "What do you think?"
No one spoke.
Because the answer was obvious.
They were gone.
Kaelen clenched his fists. "Then how was it stopped?"
Avarion hesitated again. "I do not know."
Lyria groaned. "Great. So we're back to 'prepare for something that can't be fought'?"
Avarion's flames pulsed. "I never said it couldn't be fought. Only that I do not know how it was stopped before."
Kaelen exhaled. His mind was racing.
If Avarion was telling the truth—and that was a big if—then they were facing something beyond anything they had ever known.
Something even Wrath feared.
Something that had erased entire worlds.
Something that was already whispering to him in his dreams.
Thorne shifted uncomfortably. "If this thing is real, then we're already running out of time, aren't we?"
Avarion nodded. "Yes."
Umbra crossed his arms. "And I assume you're not offering to fight alongside us?"
Avarion smirked. "I fight my own battles, Shadowborn."
Kaelen let out a sharp breath. "Then why tell us at all?"
Avarion's eyes gleamed. "Because when the End comes… I want to see if you're truly worthy of stopping it."
Kaelen narrowed his eyes. "You just want to see if we'll fail."
Avarion chuckled. "Perhaps."
Then, without another word, his form began to fade. His flames flickered, his body dissolving into embers on the wind.
But before he vanished completely, he gave them one last look.
And said,
"You'll hear its voice soon enough."
Then, he was gone.
The silence that followed was heavier than before.
Kaelen exhaled, rubbing his face. "Well. That was a nightmare."
Lyria sighed. "Yeah, and it's only going to get worse, isn't it?"
Umbra muttered, "It always does."
Thorne stared at the cracked sky. "So what now?"
Kaelen looked at his friends. They were exhausted. Wounded. Barely standing.
And yet, they were still here.
Still fighting.
He exhaled slowly, then straightened his shoulders.
"We find the truth."
Lyria gave him a tired smile. "You have a plan?"
Kaelen smirked. "Not yet."
He turned toward the horizon.
"But I will."
Because whatever was coming—he refused to let it end here.
TO BE CONTINUED…