I stagger through the storm of shattered realities, raw power shrieking through my veins. Every step is a battle, every breath a struggle against the chaos surging inside me. My skull feels like it’s splitting apart, each heartbeat crashing like thunder in my ears. Visions swell before me, relentless, flooding my senses with memories I didn’t know still lurked in the depths of my mind.

  I see our world after the Cataclysm—blackened villages, kingdoms broken like discarded relics, monstrous abominations prowling the ashen wastes. And there, among the ruins, we stand: Kael and I, alongside a band of companions whose faces flicker like dying stars, slipping in and out of focus.

  Moments unravel in fragments—fierce battles against twisted horrors, alliances forged in desperation, laughter shared in the shadows of a dying world. We were more than survivors. We were something deeper, something unbreakable. A family.

  The final glimpse sears itself into my mind: all of us together, standing atop the wreckage of fate, not just victorious, but ascendant—rulers of the broken plane, wielding power vast enough to shape the remnants of creation itself.

  A wrenching ache tears through my chest. That was us? That was me? The truth of it claws at the hatred that now coils around my soul, unraveling it, exposing something raw and unguarded. It’s too much. Too fast.

  A scream rips from my throat, not just in agony, but in defiance of the memories trying to reclaim me.

  “NOOOO!!!”

  Raw magic pours out of me, a monumental detonation that shakes the Blind Citadel to its foundations. The thunderous blast rips through walls of black stone, sending debris crumbling into the abyss below. I see Kael hurled back by the force, his protective wards shattering like glass around him. For an instant, our eyes meet across a gaping courtyard, and I catch an unfamiliar emotion in his gaze—fear.

  My vision swirls with dancing motes of dust, but the memories linger like an afterimage. We were friends. Allies. Something stronger than mere allies—brothers in arms. My head pounds, and a violent surge of energy crackles through my corrupted veins, threatening to drown out these flickers of truth.

  “Yes… of course!” I roar, voice echoing through the fractured Citadel. “There has to be a reason I want you dead, Kael! You’ve been plotting against me all along. You’re trying to trick me—trying to seal me away!”

  My declaration reverberates through the broken halls, stirring up clouds of ash. Kael pushes himself upright, dust cascading from his cloak. His face—scarred, missing an eye to a shard of Void Glass—tightens in pain, yet he stands tall. Then, with a snarl of focused determination, he raises a hand. A massive magic circle springs into being, its runes twisting and reshaping in midair. Shadows inky as night spin into tentacles, flinging themselves at me with predatory force.

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  I lash out instinctively, raw void magic coursing from my palms. Streams of darkness slither around me, eviscerating his conjured tentacles in shrieks of black and purple flame. Their residue melts into steaming puddles on the pitted stone.

  “You’re no match for me!” I roar, chest heaving. The swirling corruption in my blood makes every sound I utter feel like it’s tearing its way out of my throat. But when the last tendril of his spell dissipates, I see that Kael is no longer in front of me. A cold shock lances through my chest. Where—?

  I fling myself into the air on a surge of void energy. My limbs feel weightless, stolen by the corruption, and yet ironically powerful, letting me hover above the Citadel’s broken rooftops. Far below, rubble shifts where my earlier blast left half the fortress in ruins. My eyes dart across the labyrinth of streets, searching for Kael.

  There—movement. He’s sprinting over fallen arches and collapsed towers, heading toward the very center of the Citadel. Even from this distance, I sense the monumental pull: the Heart of the Cataclysm. A swirling mass of vile magic that saturates the air. If Kael reaches it first, he might gain enough strength to stand against me, or worse—reshape this world in his own image.

  “No!” I snarl, hurling myself forward. I feel the rush of wind as I rocket across the ruined cityscape, glass shards and ash swirling in my wake. Kael notices my descent and thrusts both hands outward, conjuring a phalanx of magical circles bristling with different spells—snaking lightning, arcs of flame, and spears of condensed air. Each one is meticulously formed, like a puzzle box designed to slow me down.

  But I wield a power that devours puzzles. The corruption rages inside me, urging me to unleash devastation. I answer its call. I gather darkness into a shimmering mass between my palms, then launch it outward. The blast tears through Kael’s spells like a tempest—ribbons of fire fizzle, lightning bolts unravel, and crackling air spears shatter with deafening pops.

  Chunks of debris spiral into the sky, twinkling against the sickly green gloom as I carve a destructive path through everything he hurls at me. My mind buzzes with pure adrenaline—there’s no subtlety in my magic now, just obliteration.

  “You can’t stop me!” I scream, surging closer. With every spell he throws, I sense his strength waning, a drop at a time. I’m unstoppable. The idea intoxicates me, making my blood sing with savage glee. Even the flickers of memories roiling in the back of my mind can’t compete with the raw high of this power.

  Below, the Citadel quakes under our clash, every corridor echoing with the thunder of spells. But I don’t care about the ruins, or the centuries of history collapsing into dust. I only care about the Heart—and making sure Kael never touches it.

  I push forward again, charging the final distance between us, darkness pulsing through me like a second heartbeat. Kael whirls to face me, but there’s no time left for second guesses or pleas for peace. Only the vortex of magic that envelops us both.