Chapter 7: Ashes and Echoes

The wind howled across the wastelands of Varn’Thul—a ruined borderland where once a great magical city stood. Now, only scorched stone and broken towers remained, haunted by whispers and crawling with lawless beasts.

But Kael Draven didn’t come for ruins.

He came for recruits.

A cloaked figure darted through the ruins, breath sharp, footsteps desperate. Behind him, a mutated hound with molten fangs snarled and gave chase—one of Darkveil’s failed experiments, now feral and hungry.

The man stumbled, nearly falling.

Then—a blur of black and crimson landed between him and the beast.

Kael stood tall, armor gleaming under the dying sun, eyes burning violet.

With one clean movement, he extended his gauntlet—and in a blink, tendrils of shadow shot forward, impaling the beast through its core. It writhed once, then fell.

Dead silence followed.

The cloaked man stared, eyes wide. “W-what… what are you?”

Kael turned slowly. “The question is… what are you, outcast?”

The man hesitated. “I—I was a technomancer. Arcane Union banned my work. Said it was unnatural. They sent bounty hunters. I’ve been hiding ever since.”

Kael took a step closer. “They fear those who break the rules. Those who don’t fit.”

The man’s voice cracked. “They called me a monster.”

Kael extended his hand. “Then become one they can’t control.”

Later that night, deep within the reborn halls of the Black Hollow base, Kael watched as new systems came online—old magic fused with Rider tech, shaping into something no faction had dared to imagine.

Lyra approached from the shadows. “So that makes three now.”

Kael nodded. “A technomancer, a void-marked rogue, and a soulbound warlock. Each cast aside. Each angry.”

“And loyal?”

Kael’s eyes flashed. “Not yet. But they will be.”

He stood before a growing map projected in dark light—a living model of Arcanis, showing two dominant powers on either side. In the middle, a third symbol had begun to pulse: Abyss Order.

“The world thinks in binaries,” Kael said. “Light and dark. Hero and villain. Order and chaos.”

He turned to her.

“But what if we gave them something worse? Something they can’t define?”

Lyra’s voice was cautious. “You’re not trying to balance the scales. You’re trying to break them.”

Kael grinned beneath his helmet. “Exactly.”

Meanwhile, far away, within the halls of the Arcane Union…

An emergency meeting was underway. Seers had seen a surge of unknown energy in the ruins. Reports were flooding in: someone was unearthing ancient power. Forming alliances.

“Who is he?” one council mage demanded.

The Grand Arcanist narrowed his eyes. “Not a who.”

He gestured to a blurry image captured through scrying magic: a figure in black armor with violet eyes, standing before a field of fallen beasts.

“He’s something new. And he’s building an army.”