Meanwhile…
Kael'Thar wasn't subtle.
He didn't send warnings.
Didn't ask for allegiance.
Didn't even give a name.
He arrived—and things just stopped living.
The first planet was a jungle world under Selene's influence. Soft winds. Eternal moonlight. Gentle beasts that spoke in dreams. A whole civilization of stargazers and singers, cloaked in silver robes, living in harmony.
Then the sky turned red.
It started like a mistake—something wrong with the atmosphere. Clouds thickened, stars vanished, the moon cracked without warning. And then, the trees began to scream.
Yes. Scream.
Roots tore themselves from the ground, leaves shriveled to ash midair, and the air filled with this… buzzing, like every molecule wanted to escape. A song in reverse. The planet's heartbeat skipping.
Then—he stepped through.
Not from a portal. Not from space. He just… walked out from the largest tree. Like the planet grew him.
Kael'Thar.
