The city was alive with noise, laughter, and the kind of peace you never think will end.
Kairis Valmont strolled through the crowded plaza with his younger sister clutching one hand and his little brother tugging the other. It was supposed to be a lazy afternoon, nothing more. His sister, Elyra, seventeen, had been pestering him about which flavor of ice cream she should pick, while Aeren, only twelve, was already halfway through his second cone.
"Strawberry or chocolate, Kairis?" Elyra asked, brushing a strand of dark hair from her face.
"Pick both," he replied with a small smirk. "The world's not ending if you're greedy."
She rolled her eyes, though her lips curved into a smile. It was ordinary. The kind of moment you think you'll always have.
But the world did end that day.
The ground trembled before the sound came. A deep, bone-shaking roar split the air, followed by a thunderclap that seemed to rip the sky itself apart. People screamed. Windows shattered. Birds scattered in panicked swarms. Then—an explosion ripped through the district, a shockwave tearing through the streets, knocking vendors from their stalls and hurling dust and debris into the air.
Kairis didn't think. He grabbed Elyra and Aeren, pulling them close, wrapping his body around theirs as the blast knocked them to the pavement. Dust stung his lungs. Shards of glass bit into his arm. He clenched his teeth and held his siblings tighter.
When the air cleared, silence lasted only a breath.
Then came the sound that would haunt him forever—footsteps that didn't belong to anything human. Heavy, crushing, shaking the street like thunder. A shadow fell over the plaza, and when Kairis looked up, he saw it.
A creature. A giant that dwarfed the buildings, its skin cracked and blackened as though it had been carved from the night sky itself. Each step reduced cars and people alike into smears of red. It didn't hesitate, didn't pause. It simply moved forward, as though the city was nothing but grass beneath its feet.
"Move!" someone screamed.
Chaos erupted. People scattered in every direction, trampling one another. Mothers grabbed children. Men shoved strangers aside. But the monster's shadow only grew larger.
And then—
"Kairis!"
His father's voice. In the rush of noise and panic, Kairis barely caught sight of him before strong hands shoved him hard to the side. He fell, clutching Elyra and Aeren. His father was still in the street when the monster's foot came down.
The sound wasn't a roar. It wasn't even a scream. It was just—impact.
And then there was nothing. His father was gone.
"No—NO!" Elyra's cry tore through the noise as their mother rushed forward, eyes wide with horror. She reached them, grabbed their arms, and tried to pull them away. The city was collapsing around them. Buildings caved, fire spread, people died by the dozens in front of their eyes.
"Kairis, run!" their mother shouted, shoving him toward an alley. "Take them and run!"
"What about you?"
"I'll hold them back—"
She never finished. Another beast broke through the ruins, its claws slicing through the street, through anything in its path.
His mother turned, pushing them one last time. Her voice cracked, but her eyes were steel. "Run!"
The monster swallowed her in its shadow.
Kairis's body moved on instinct. He pulled his siblings and ran. Ran as the world ended, as blood painted the streets, as people screamed and begged and died all around him. His lungs burned, his legs trembled, but he didn't stop.
He didn't cry. He didn't scream. He just ran.
That day, fear left him. Something else replaced it—something harder, colder.
Because as he dragged Elyra and Aeren through the ruin of the city, he saw it. People—ordinary people—were changing. Some screamed in agony, their bodies twisting as sparks of black light tore from their skin. Others struck back at the monsters with fire, lightning, shadows that answered their rage. Humanity was awakening.
And so would he.
But first, he had to survive.