Chapter 31: Beneath the Shattered Skies
Wyrmglass had not yet healed from the clash of ancient wills and unraveling truths. Beneath its silvered skyline, the wind carried ash and song — a dirge for beasts long perished, and a whisper of the chaos yet to unfold. Amid the shattered plaza where the bones of the Starbeast rested in mute testament, Ashen Aras sat cross-legged on a smooth stone, his eyes closed, body humming with power newly awakened.
The "Thread of Ruin" coiled inside him — thin, subtle, yet profound. It shimmered with the potential to cut not just flesh or spirit but intention itself. Chaos, in its first bloom.
Keyven, ever the calm observer, leaned against the half-collapsed pillar beside Revyn, who busied himself sketching sigils in the dust with a charred branch. Kaelis stood guard near the fractured gate, arms crossed, his eyes scanning the dying light.
Ashen's cultivation now sat firmly at Peak Martial Realm, the boundary just before Planet Realm — where cultivators began resonating with the magnetic fields of the planet, granting them flight and broader control over elemental energies.
"Feel any different?" Revyn asked, finally breaking the silence.
Ashen opened his eyes slowly. They held depth now, like an endless pit of spinning stars.
"I feel... lighter. And heavier," he said. "It's like gravity whispers secrets to me now. Every breath I take tastes of distance."
Keyven nodded. "That's the early sign of Planet Realm. Your body hasn't shifted entirely, but your spirit is already stretching toward the sky just one step away".
Kaelis turned, voice low. "That thread you wield... it reeks of destruction. Like it wants to unravel more than just foes."
Ashen flexed his fingers. "It's a weapon, but it's also a mirror. It reflects what I impose upon it. Chaos listens — too closely."
The group stood silent for a moment longer before Kaelis approached.
"Wyrmglass won't hold for long. The residual energies from the Starbeast's bones are drawing scavengers. Not all of them mortal."
As if summoned by his words, a chill wind cut through the plaza. The light dimmed unnaturally.
Revyn's eyes narrowed. "A temporal shift. They're here."
Figures began to emerge from the edge of Wyrmglass — pale, translucent beasts shaped like wolves, but eyeless and broad-shouldered. Revenants, drawn by the echo of Chaos and the lingering beast marrow.
Ashen rose, his spine straightening. "I'll handle the first wave. No distractions."
Keyven laid a hand on his shoulder. "Don't overextend. We're not trying to conquer a ruin — just survive it."
Ashen stepped forward, drawing the Thread of Ruin like one might draw breath. It extended from his palm in an ethereal arc, invisible to all but those who listened beyond sound.
The Revenants howled in unison and charged.
Ashen vanished.
He reappeared amid the first pack, moving with impossible precision. One sweep — no visible force — yet three creatures fell, unraveling mid-leap, their bodies reduced to faint glimmers. Chaos didn't kill. It erased.
Revyn murmured, "It's not a blade. It's a denial of existence."
The second wave came, larger and more chaotic, and now the others joined. Kaelis dashed forward, fists crackling with plasma essence, launching a crushing blow into the face of a charging Revenant. Bone and shadow burst apart.
Keyven stayed back, glyphs dancing around his hands as barriers emerged mid-air to redirect, deflect, and constrict the flow of battle.
Ashen danced between flashes of void and motion, the Thread growing sharper with each movement. He could feel the pull of something greater — not within him, but answering to him. As if the world recognized his technique now.
They fought like stars in descent. Fire, shadow, chaos, and steel.
When the dust finally settled, the plaza lay covered in glowing remnants, vanishing slowly.
Kaelis exhaled. "They were testing us."
Revyn nodded. "Or warning us. These were scouts."
Ashen turned to the bones of the Starbeast, now quiet once more.
"We need to move. Fast. Before the ones who sent them find a door."
Keyven pulled a map from his satchel, unrolling it against the smooth side of the fallen pillar. "We're here," he tapped a mark. "If we move east through the hollowed ridges of Val'kyr Rise, we can reach the hidden skyforge left by the Forgebinders. It should give us cover and—"
"And elevation," Revyn finished. "To train, and to watch."
Ashen nodded. "Good. We move at nightfall."
As the group prepared, Ashen walked away to a secluded edge of Wyrmglass, where vines had grown into stone and the wind no longer sang. He sat.
The Thread hovered before him.
He whispered to it, not with words but intent.
What else can you become?
And the Chaos answered with silence — but a silence filled with promise.
---
Night fell. They moved like phantoms, cloaked in shadow and caution.
Kaelis took point, his senses tuned to kinetic shifts in air and terrain. Revyn watched for arcane traps and psychic murmurs. Keyven, as always, held the map and the wards. Ashen walked at the center, not out of pride but necessity — the Chaos within him reacting too wildly to lead or lag.
By dawn, they reached the outer ridges of Val'kyr. Here, the wind howled like it remembered wars. Stone peaks jutted like broken teeth into the sky.
They found shelter in a collapsed forge, its walls scorched by past battles. The Forgebinders had long since ascended or perished, but their craftsmanship remained.
Keyven sealed the entrance. "We rest here. Then we test what Chaos can build, not just destroy."
Ashen sat at the center of the forge, surrounded by old rune-rings and glowing anchors.
Revyn placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thread of Ruin was your beginning. But Chaos is more than endings."
Ashen closed his eyes.
The forge began to pulse.
Outside, a new storm gathered — but this one did not howl.
It whispered.
To be continued...