Alone on the broken bridge, Kael let his breathing settle while thoughts spun fast. Though the Shadeborn pulled back, it was no loss for them. Testing him - that was their move - and now awareness shifted between them.
Finding out the Celestial Sovereign was back. That truth settled like dust after a long silence.
Felt it deep down - his strength beginning to stir. Could sense something shifting inside, like roots pushing through soil.
Before long, word might spread beyond just a few.
Away ahead lay broken walls, tangled like old secrets. Not deserted these lands only silent now long after battles faded beyond memory.
Kael tightened his hands into fists. Survival left him hollow, though one thing ate away at his thoughts. They'd attempted to wipe him from memory - why? The mention of a seal by the Shadeborn lingered, uninvited. Questions without answers now lived inside his bones.
"If I was powerful enough to be erased what did I do?"
Footsteps light on broken stone, Kael left the bridge behind. Dark shapes crowded close, yet his awareness cut clearer now. Further in, a pull grew within him - steady, undeniable.
A presence.
Something moved in the dark. Not a person. Not one of the Shadeborn either.
Something old came first.
Memory touched him, light as a breath, though no words were spoken. Quietly it came - without noise, yet loud inside.
"Come forth, lost one…"
Something about the figure made Kael freeze mid-step. Not a threat - just wrong in a way he couldn't name.
Yet it stood apart from friendship too.
A shiver ran through the broken stones when he saw it - a huge old obelisk standing silent, its surface carved with markings. Those marks shimmered, soft and silver, like moonlight on water. Something in his chest tightened. He didn't know why, but the shapes seemed to whisper, calling up memories he never made.
Fingers moved slow across the grooves cut into wood.
He felt a sudden rush of energy move through his body.
Out of nowhere, everything vanished.
A sudden breath caught in Kael's throat when the world tilted. Gone were the broken stones - before him rose spires of gold, climbing high into a heavens lit from within. Endless they seemed, these structures, glowing beneath that soft, skyborne glow.
Now his mind stayed somewhere else.
This moment lived before. A trace stuck around long after it should have faded.
There, amid everything, rose a throne made entirely of starstone.
A shape rested there, motionless. Power curled around him like smoke. Silver fire lit his gaze. Around him, time twisted, space bent, pulled inward by an unseen force.
Footsteps unsteady, Kael moved away. That aura - he recognized it.
It was him.
He wasn't like this back then. That version existed long before the removal took hold.
Above them, Kael stood - the one once called Celestial Sovereign - his fingers lifting slowly. Glass-like cracks burst through space at his gesture. Before him folded thousands: beings beyond thought, rulers clad in fire, divine shapes older than time.
"By my will, fate bends." The past Kael's voice echoed through eternity. "By my command, time is mine alone."
Kael's breath hitched.
Could it be that he held power over time? Did the gods themselves bow before him?
A sudden jerk twisted what was seen.
A war.
A clash so fierce it rattled the sky. There he was - just one figure facing endless divine warriors, their stares wide with panic, trembling on the edge of collapse.
And then the sealing.
Fingers stretched from every direction. Bound by threads of sacred force, he was dragged downward - his form breaking apart like cracked glass. The void swallowed without sound.
"You will be forgotten."
"You will never return."
"Time itself will reject you."
Darkness tore through the image. Down went Kael, crashing onto his knees, air tearing from his lungs. Around him, broken stone reappeared - no trace left of that shining city. Gone like a spark snuffed by wind.
Still, the sight stayed heavy in his mind.
Something more than deletion left him gone.
Betrayal cut deep when he least expected it.
Folks involved back then? They'd recognize the truth right away.
Back came the ruler of stars. The sky's master was once again among them.