A shadow jumped - fast, all teeth and motion. It moved like nothing else mattered.
A shiver ran through Kael before thought could catch up, fear tangled with a quiet heat rising behind his ribs. Just as the Nightfang Stalker's claws brushed near his neck, the air thickened like pulled thread.
The world fractured.
Out of nowhere, everything paused. Heavy stillness filled the sky. Shapes bent near his body, twisting oddly. Power moved inside him - deeper than spellwork, beyond current - a presence older than names.
A hand of thought shot forward, grasping at the world like it could be bent. The moment didn't wait for permission. Reality trembled under unseen pressure. His will pressed against existence, quiet but firm.
Stop.
A sudden stillness gripped the creature mid-leap, limbs stuck in empty space, crimson eyes blown wide with surprise. Backward staggered Kael, breath snatched from his chest. That halt - the frozen instant - came from him. Time itself had obeyed his will.
A fire lived under his skin, wilder than anything he had known before. Yet it made him feel more awake than ever. Thoughts tumbled through his head like stones in a storm. With fingers tight and jaw set, he held on.
Move.
Motion started again. Yet the creature stood still.
A heavy thud echoed when the Nightfang Stalker hit the earth like something unseen crushed it down. Bones snapped with a wet crackle, bent by force no eye could see. Its scream tore through the air - sharp, raw - then cut off dead. Twisted limbs sprawled across cracked rock, shaped wrong, frozen mid-fall.
Breath came fast as Kael stayed rooted in place. Around him, things quieted - yet thoughts darted without pause.
What was that?
Not magic at all. Not spells, not energy tricks. Power over something deeper instead. Could it be - had he bent how things truly work?
A breath slipped out, quiet and long, pulling his thoughts deep inside. Not just echoes - Kael Draven's past clung there too, tangled up with his own. Prince once. Then betrayal cut sharp. Everything he ruled had vanished into dust. Chased down, abandoned, meant to die alone. Still… the real question stayed hidden.
Head throbbing, Kael touched his forehead lightly. This borrowed form trembled under even small effort. Power flickered like a dying lamp. Answers first - then force would follow.
Staying alive came first. What mattered most was not dying today.
Far off in the broken dirt, the Forsaken Lands stretched out - home to those with nowhere else left to go. Banished here, who knew what waited past crumbling walls? Should word spread that he drew breath, old grudges might stir again
A sharp inhale filled his lungs before eyes moved across the space. Motionless, the creature remained where it fell. Kneeling came next, hands tugging strands of torn pelt. Assuming this place mirrored Earth, something so fierce would sit at the top of the food chain.
Built up strength showed in how they moved. Their form carried force because of it.
Out came a shimmering red crystal, dug free by Kael with jagged rock in hand. His fingers slipped through wet fur and blood as the blade bit deep. This core pulsed faintly - warm, alive beneath the gore. Not clean. Never clean when prying magic from flesh.
Warmth moved up his hand the second contact happened. Memories that weren't his began to shift inside. Pure energy lived in these cores - life force from beings shaped by a brutal environment. Strength boost came to mages, fighters, sometimes killers - all pulled power from them.
Kael grinned. "Looks like I won the lottery."
Fingers pressing the core tight to his ribs, he narrowed his attention. Then stillness came.
Right then, everything nearby burst wide open with brightness.