The sky was bleeding.
Kael Ramos ran through fire and ash, the soles of his boots skidding across cracked marble as the once-glorious capital of the Solari clan burned behind him. The towering citadel—its walls once gleaming with gold—now cracked and crumbled, torn apart by divine fury.
He didn't have time to mourn.
Not for his mother, who had shielded him from a spear of light with her own body. Not for his father, whose final roar had shaken the heavens before silence swallowed him. Not for the thousands of golden-haired clansmen now reduced to embers and dust.
He was the last.
And the Nameless God was still hunting him.
Kael stumbled, catching himself on a scorched pillar. His golden eyes, dull with exhaustion, flicked to the sky. A black sun hung overhead, warping the clouds, twisting them into unnatural shapes. Bolts of crimson lightning slashed through the heavens, searing everything they touched. The air itself stank of divine wrath.
He could feel the god's gaze even now.
Keep moving. Just a little further. Almost there...
He sprinted toward the last chamber of the citadel—the Sanctuary of Light. The massive ring-shaped gate at its center glowed with swirling glyphs, humming as if it still remembered its purpose. A portal. His last chance.
A jagged voice echoed behind him.
"Well, well… the golden prince still breathes."
Kael froze. His body ached all over, but he turned slowly, facing the three men who stepped out of the smoke. Red cloaks. Charred sigils. Burning eyes.
Igris's disciples.
"You look disappointed," the middle one said, drawing a curved blade. "Were you hoping to sneak away like a rat?"
Kael didn't answer. His fists tightened. His knees nearly buckled.
One of them grinned. "Your uncle sends his regards."
Uncle... Igris.
The betrayal still burned deeper than any wound.
Once his father's closest friend. Once Kael's teacher—the man who taught him the way of the sword. But envy ran deep. And Igris had wanted more.
He had made a pact.
In exchange for releasing the Nameless God—sealed away by the Solari Ancestor for a billion years—Igris had been granted the power of a deity. The God of Fire. A cursed throne in exchange for betrayal.
And the Solari clan… had paid the price.
The three men advanced. Kael stood his ground, but his legs trembled. He had no strength left. No sword. No allies. Just a heart full of fury and a body barely holding together.
The first punch hit like a hammer.
Kael flew backward, coughing blood. The second kick drove into his ribs. He gasped, curled on the floor. The men laughed, circling him like predators.
"Is this the last Solari? Pathetic."
"I heard they could transform. Where's the divine fire now, prince?"
They stomped him again and again. Blood spilled across the floor. Kael bit down on his tongue to stay conscious.
Get up, he told himself. Stand up. You can't die here... not like this…
But his body refused to obey.
His vision swam. Somewhere behind him, the portal still pulsed, its glyphs flickering.
One of the men raised his blade. "Guess we'll send your corpse through instead."
Kael closed his eyes.
Forgive me… Father. Mother. Ancestors…
The ground suddenly shook.
The air grew dense, heavy like molten lead. The sky above the broken chamber darkened, a rumble echoing from deep within the clouds. Lightning cracked.
And then—flame erupted from Kael's chest.
He gasped, arching upward. His golden hair whipped around him as if caught in a storm. His body—once bloodied and weak—flared with divine heat.
Red light surged from his heart, spreading through his veins like wildfire.
His bones cracked, reshaping.
His skin glowed.
Flames coiled around him, rising like wings.
"What—what the hell!?" one of the men shouted, staggering back.
Kael rose slowly, feet hovering inches above the floor. His hair now blazed crimson. His eyes burned like miniature suns. Patterns of glowing gold marked his arms and neck, pulsing with ancestral power.
He looked down at his trembling hands.
"So this… is the transformation they said was myth...?"
The first disciple lunged, sword drawn. Too slow.
Kael moved like lightning.
A single strike—and the man disintegrated mid-scream, reduced to ash.
The second barely got a spell off before fire burst through his chest. His body lit like a torch, screaming until he could no longer scream.
The last fell to his knees. "Please! I—I was only—!"
Kael raised his hand.
A pillar of fire engulfed the man, silencing him forever.
The sanctuary fell still.
Kael hovered in the air for a moment longer. The fire began to flicker. His body, not yet ready to bear the burden of his awakened blood, began to waver.
His vision blurred.
His wings of flame shattered into sparks.
And then, without warning, he collapsed.
His body hit the stone floor hard. Eyes closed. Breathing shallow.
Unconscious.
---
Somewhere beyond that collapsing world, a different sky watched. One of stars and silence. Of wind that smelled like pine and rivers.
The portal behind Kael flickered—and vanished.
The forest was still.
The crater smoked.
And within it, the last heir of the Solari Ascendants slept—his blood burning quietly beneath his skin.
Unaware of the world that would soon change around him.
Unaware that he had just arrived on a planet called Eldoria.
---
To Be Continued.