Smoke rose from the ruins.
The city that once shimmered with neon now burned beneath a silver sky.
Aiden and Elias ran through the narrow alleys, the scent of rain and electricity heavy in the air.
Every few seconds, the heavens flashed, and another streak of light fell from above.
Aiden's breathing was shallow. His body still trembled from the power he had unleashed.
Elias kept an arm around him, steady and protective, his eyes scanning the shadows for movement.
They stopped beneath a collapsed bridge.
The water below glowed faintly, reflecting the fractured light of the sky.
"Here," Elias said, guiding him down. "Rest."
Aiden sank against the wall, clutching his knees. His hands were still faintly golden, but the glow was fading.
"I didn't mean to hurt them," he whispered.
Elias crouched beside him. "You didn't kill them. Not really. What you destroyed were echoes."
"Echoes?"
Elias nodded. "They aren't alive. They're fragments of divine memory, sent to erase you before you awaken fully."
Aiden lifted his gaze. "Then this won't stop, will it?"
"No." Elias's eyes softened. "But neither will I."
The air trembled again.
A sound rippled through the city, like glass shattering across the horizon.
Aiden looked up. "What is that?"
"The next wave," Elias muttered, standing. "We need to move before they regroup."
They moved through the ruins, careful and silent. The world had changed overnight.
Buildings that once stood tall now glowed with strange symbols, faint and pulsing like living veins.
Aiden touched one of the walls. The stone hummed beneath his fingers, responding to him.
"This city," he said quietly, "it feels alive."
Elias turned. "It remembers you."
"Me?"
"Ariselle built this place long before it had a name. When it fell, the earth remembered her."
Aiden's breath caught. "You mean… this city was once mine?"
"In a way," Elias replied. "And that's why it's waking up again."
A rumble echoed in the distance.
The sky above split open once more, revealing faint silhouettes descending through the light.
But these were different.
Not cold and divine like before.
They were human.
Figures in dark armor moved across the streets, their eyes glowing faintly blue.
Aiden froze. "They're not from the heavens."
"No," Elias said. "They're from below."
"What do you mean?"
Elias's jaw tightened. "Not all who serve the gods come from above. Some were made here. Soldiers built from the ashes of fallen souls."
Aiden's stomach turned. "How do we stop them?"
Elias glanced at him. "You don't. You hide. I'll draw them away."
Aiden's eyes widened. "No. You're not leaving me."
Elias smiled faintly. "You think I would?"
Before Aiden could respond, Elias leaned closer, his voice low.
"If anything happens, run toward the light, not away from it. It will know you."
Then he turned, stepping into the rain, disappearing between the collapsed walls before Aiden could stop him.
Minutes passed like hours.
Aiden sat in the shadows, listening to the echoes of battle in the distance gunfire, the crash of stone, the faint, haunting hum of divine energy.
He wanted to move, but his body refused.
His hands shook. His heart raced.
Then he heard it.
A whisper. Soft and familiar.
"You shouldn't have come back, my flame."
Aiden froze. The voice wasn't Elias's. It came from deeper within the ruins, where the light turned red and the air shimmered like heat.
He stood slowly, drawn by something he couldn't explain.
At the end of the corridor stood a figure cloaked in shadow, their presence heavy and calm.
Aiden took a step closer. "Who are you?"
The figure tilted their head, and the faint light revealed a face Aiden did not expect.
It was his own.
The same eyes. The same features. But colder, older.
"I am what you were before mercy," the double said softly.
"And I've been waiting for you."