Artic was hungry.
Not the kind of hunger that gnaws politely ,but the kind claws at your ribs and makes the world spin sideways. The kind that made you steal stale bread from a drunk merchant, even if it meant a beating.
He crouched on the edge of the rusting airbridge that overlooked the lower markets of Dregmoor. The city stank of oil, ash, and secrets. He liked the high places-less guards,fewer people. Easier to disappear.
He didn't notice the sky changing at first. It started with a hum. Deep. Bone-deep.
Like the world had taken a breath it couldn't hold. Then the clouds twisted.
Spiraled
Cracked
And the sky shattered.
Not thunder. Not lightning. Just a scream that came from nowhere and everywhere.
The world above split into a spiderweb of violet fractures, and through it... Artic saw Nothing. Not black, not dark, but Nothing.
And it saw him back.
Something inside him broke. Or maybe it unlocked. Pain ripped through his chest, and shadows spilled from his skin like steam.
Then everything stopped. Just for a moment.
When Aric woke, the airbridge was gone. The market below was dust. And his hands glowed with the color of the Void.
He had become Hollowborn.