The neon lights of Cindralith's capital glimmered faintly through the café windows, distorted by the endless drizzle that always seemed to fall on the broken city. Rei Ashborne sat at the farthest corner table, his hands tucked into his pockets, his shoulders hunched as if trying to fold into himself.
The voices around him blended into a warm hum, laughter, clinking glasses, the chatter of old classmates catching up after years apart. A reunion. That's what this was supposed to be.
Rei's eyes swept across the room and landed on them, his so-called "friends." The boys who used to talk about heroes and glory, the girls who had always found the courage to dream out loud. They were smiling, bragging, alive with confidence. Some wore the guild insignias of Aurelia, others the polished badges of Veyrath academies. Every one of them had awakened their powers, carved their paths, and risen above the rest.
Rei looked down at his glass of water. Clear. Plain. Forgettable. Just like him.
His lips curved in a bitter smile. Friends? Were they ever truly mine? Or were they just classmates I stood beside, too afraid to speak, too anxious to step into their circle?
He had always wanted to talk to them, to laugh with them like this. But words froze in his throat back then, and even now, at twenty-three, they still did. His chest tightened as he listened from afar, realizing he wasn't part of their memories. He wasn't part of their story.
And maybe he never had been.
"Rei? You came."The voice snapped him out of his thoughts. One of them had noticed him—an old classmate, smiling politely, almost surprised he'd shown up at all.
Rei forced a nod. His throat was dry. He wanted to say something, anything, but the words tangled and died before reaching his lips.
The classmate waited for a heartbeat, then offered a courteous smile before turning back to the others.
Just like that, Rei was forgotten again.
The laughter stung sharper now. It felt like knives pressed against his chest. Pathetic. I shouldn't even have come.
He left. The rain swallowed him as soon as he stepped outside.
The streets carried him without thought until he found himself at the bridge spanning the broken river that cut through Cindralith. The lanterns were dim here, the cobblestones cracked. Tomorrow, this bridge would be closed for cleaning. Tonight, it was silent.
Rei walked to the middle and leaned on the rusted railing, staring at the water below. His reflection stared back, hollow eyes, unshaven face, a man already halfway erased by the world.
"What's the point?" he muttered. His voice was drowned by the river's current.
The city didn't need him. His classmates didn't need him. Even fate had denied him power. All that was left was a body moving through the motions of living.
He stepped onto the edge of the bridge, toes dangling over the black water. For the first time, the thought didn't scare him.
Maybe this is the only way to find peace.
And then he froze.
A shadow moved across the opposite side of the bridge. A man in a dark coat, hood drawn low, walking with deliberate steps.
Rei's breath caught in his chest. He knew that walk. That silence. Those eyes when the hood tilted up.
The same man who had stood outside the Ashborne house.The man who had watched the flames devour everything Rei loved.
Rage slammed into Rei's chest, so fierce it burned away the despair in an instant. His fingers curled into fists, his heart hammering. For years he had asked why he was alive, why he hadn't died with them, why he was forced to endure this hollow existence.
Now he knew.
This was why.
His pathetic demeanor cracked, and something raw and electric surged within him—excitement, rage, purpose.
I was kept alive for this.
Rei leapt from the railing, not into the water, but onto the bridge, his eyes locked on the man.
"YOU!" His voice thundered across the rain-soaked night.
For the first time in years, Rei Ashborne wasn't afraid.