The wind was cold and heavy like it carried the weight of the dead
Kael stood on the edge of the burned village his eyes hollow his fingers trembling not with fear but rage
The sky above was gray as if even the heavens had turned away from what had happened here
Ash covered the ground like snow and the air tasted like charred blood
He stepped forward his boots crunching over the remains of what once was home
Corpses were scattered some missing limbs others burnt beyond recognition
Children women elders none were spared
He moved through the smoke his cloak brushing against broken bones and blood soaked earth
He stopped at the center of the village
There stood a tree once tall and proud now blackened and twisted with bodies hung from its branches like cursed fruit
His hands clenched
He saw her
His little sister
Hanging with eyes still open staring at nothing her neck broken her arms dangling lifelessly
Kael fell to his knees the sound that left his throat was not a scream it was a growl
It was the cry of something that had been human but had now become something else
Something darker
He buried her with his hands digging through the earth until his fingers bled
There were no prayers
Only silence
Only hatred
When he stood again he was no longer the same
The boy who had laughed with his sister the man who had dreamed of peace
He was gone
Now there was only Kael the avenger the one who would bring the storm
He walked away from the grave fire in his eyes and shadow clinging to his back
The sky rumbled but no rain came
Only the wind louder now howling like the spirits of the dead calling his name
Kael
Kael
Kael
His path led him through ruined lands where war had turned cities into dust and gods into myths
He met men who called themselves kings but ruled with greed and cruelty
He met beasts twisted by magic and hunger
He met soldiers who killed for gold and smiled while doing it
Kael killed them all
He left no witnesses
Only whispers
They called him the shadow that walks the death that never sleeps the curse born of fire and blood
But Kael did not care
He did not fight for glory or gold or power
He fought because vengeance was the only thing left that made sense
And he would not stop until the ones who had ordered the massacre of his village were nothing but names carved in forgotten stones
In his sleep he saw the tree again
He saw the eyes of his sister
Not crying not afraid
Just waiting
And he swore
He would not let her wait forever
He would find them
He would break them
He would burn everything they loved
And when it was done he would bury their souls deeper than the ashes of home
The sun rose red the next morning
Kael kept walking
His shadow longer than it should be his silence louder than thunder
And so the story began
A story not of heroes
But of one man
A broken man
A cursed soul
A vengeance that would not die
And the world would remember the name Kael
Not with love
But with fear
And fire