The tribe gathered.
When Aelric spoke the words again, his voice was steadier. His body shook, but the will inside him blazed hotter than before. He pushed, forced the syllables past blood and pain, and once more the earth fell away.
Ten meters.
Twenty.
Fifty.
The air thinned, cold biting into his skin, his chest straining to hold the weight of the incantation. The tribe gasped, some kneeling, others clutching at charms as though they watched a ghost tear free of the world itself.
But then—pressure.
It pressed against him like an invisible wall. His bones cracked under the weight, ribs splintering, muscles twisting into knots. A scream tore from his throat as his skin seared red and black, like fire eating him alive. Blood spilled from his mouth, from his nose, dripping down as the villagers below cried out in terror.
He tried to rise further. He would not stop.
But his own body betrayed him. His arm snapped, limp at his side, his vision drowning in black. With a roar that burned his lungs raw, he fell, crashing into the earth.
The tribe rushed forward, but he shoved them away, staggering to his knees. He could still hear his promise echoing in his skull. He would not stop. Not until he had broken the sky itself if that was what it took.
Word spread like wildfire. Priests came, whispering of forbidden power. Ministers arrived, eyes glittering with greed. Questions turned to demands, and demands sharpened into threats.
How did you do this?
Give us the secret.
But he had no time for them. His blood was already a vow. His path already carved in thunder.
When thousands circled him, blades and chains in hand, Aelric rose again. The pain was unbearable—his skin cracked, his bones ground against each other—but his will burned hotter than their hatred.
Through tears, through agony, he ascended above them, breaking their circle with nothing but his defiance.
And as he looked down at the faces twisted by fear and envy, he felt the cruelest truth settle in his chest.
The world no longer saw him as a man.
He was a secret to be stolen.
A curse to be destroyed.
Everyone hated him—everyone but the ones he had lost.