Kael Vryn stood alone at the edge of the shattered canyon, his breath clouding in the icy air. The horizon burned crimson as the sky split apart, tearing the world in half. Behind him, the ruins of his home city smoldered, its once-proud towers reduced to ash and rubble. Before him, the Voidborn Legion swarmed like a tidal wave of living darkness, their forms shifting and writhing, barely holding to any coherent shape.

He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword—a blade forged from the heart of a fallen star. It was a relic of an age long past, its power waning, just like the hopes of the people who had entrusted him with their survival. He was all that remained of the Knights of Solstice, the last line of defense against an enemy that no mortal army could defeat.

Kael swallowed hard, his heartbeat a drum in his ears. The odds were beyond impossible. The Voidborn were endless, a horde that consumed entire civilizations in their march across the cosmos. He was one man, broken and weary, armed with a weapon whose light flickered like a dying ember.

But he couldn’t stop. Not now. Not ever.