The kingdom of Solmaria was a land of music and marble, where white towers stretched into the clouds and temples sang eternal hymns to the gods. Yet as Kael's banners approached its borders, the songs faltered and the priests fell silent.
Solmaria was not a place of warriors. It was a sanctuary, a bastion of faith. But even sanctuaries burn when touched by ambition.
Kael stood atop a black steed at the edge of the hill country, looking down upon the valley where Solmaria's capital, Luminaris, shimmered in the morning light. The sun rose behind him, casting his shadow long and wide across the land.
Mira approached quietly, eyes fixed on the city below.
"They will not fight," she said. "They will pray."
"Then let their gods answer," Kael replied.
They descended into the valley with no resistance. Roads were empty. Fields had been abandoned. The people had gathered in the Great Temple at the city's heart, trusting in the divine to shield them.
Kael walked through the golden gates of Luminaris without raising his blade. His soldiers followed behind him, unnerved by the stillness. It was a city without screams, only whispers carried by the wind.
Inside the Great Temple, thousands knelt in silence. In the center, atop a raised dais, stood High Priestess Lira, robed in silver and crowned with white lilies.
She looked at Kael with calm, unblinking eyes.
"You seek the Eighth Chain," she said.
Kael said nothing. He approached the altar, where a crystal cage hovered in the air. Inside, the chain pulsed with radiant light.
Lira stepped aside.
"You are no longer mortal," she said. "But you are not yet divine."
Kael reached for the chain, but as his fingers touched the crystal, light exploded outward. Visions flooded his mind. He saw the world in ruin, cities crumbling beneath storms of fire, oceans boiling, stars falling.
He staggered but did not fall.
Mira's voice called to him, grounding him.
Kael's will surged forward. He shattered the crystal. The Eighth Chain wound itself around his arm like a serpent of pure light.
A silence deeper than death settled over the temple.
Lira knelt.
"The gods have turned their faces away," she whispered. "Now we are yours."
Kael stepped outside as the bells of Luminaris began to ring, not in celebration, but in surrender. The light of the gods had dimmed, and in its place rose the shadow of an emperor.