" My dear children." A soft ethereal voice traveled through the aether, into the ears of the few that were still alive. The voice was familiar yet also distant to me, but instinctively I knew whose voice this was. It was my mother, no. She could not simply be addressed as just solely my mother, she was the one who birthed and gave my people life. Our great mother, Terra. Whose body was the planet we had always known as home.
In front of me and several hundred of the children of Terra stood the World Tree, acting as the center that holds this world together even in the face of destruction. An immense, living pillar of existence whose presence bent both light and reverence toward itself. Its trunk spiraling upward like a carved monument of nature and divinity intertwined, glowing with slow-moving hues of emerald, sapphire, amethyst, and gold, as though the colors of creation itself breathe beneath its bark. Etched across its surface, meandering along its vast roots were runes and sigils similar to the ones I've seen in the remnant pages of the book of Gaiel.
We stood here in Sacred land hoping to find hope as the land beneath our feet trembled under the weight from those of us that survived. Hundreds knelt before the World Tree, their foreheads pressed against the soil as it pulsated faintly with warmth in response. Torn cloaks dragged through mud darkened by blood, armor hung dented and split, bandages soaking with blood. Some clutched broken blades, their grip tight as if to them it was the last remaining piece of our old world.
Above us, the world tree stood unbroken in its majesty.
Its roots stretched outward like the ribs of the world itself, forming a natural barrier that shimmered with translucent light. Beyond that barrier, the horizon burned; Distant plumes of blackened smoke rising where our cities once stood.
Golden-armored guards moved steadily among the refugees. These were the sentinels, our military's most powerful soldiers. Their bodies were crafted through an unspeakable procedure that often resulted in them dying before it was over.
Their armor, though battered and streaked with ash, still shone in defiance of the ruin. They guided the wounded through the glowing perimeter, lifting children, steadying the elderly, reinforcing the barrier with disciplined precision. They were our hope, our future, or at least that was the promise we were given.
Suddenly, a child's cry cut through the murmured prayers.
"Momma! Mom, where are you!?"
I turned my head to the child crying and found a boy, no older than six. His face stained with dirt and tears, the boy's bloodied hand holding his limp arm together in place. The wails of the boy were not alone, there were others like him who were searching for their loved ones only to come up short. This wasn't the first time I had witnessed despair in my people.
Every attack the archons launched forced us to feel that we might not survive another day. Most of us didn't.
Around him, heads bowed deeper. Some wept silently, others clenched their jaws and whispered Terra's name like a final plea. I, however, stood in silence. My armor began to feel heavier than ever before, dried archon blood covering it from neck to waist. Inside the barrier, we were "safe", yet my hand never left the hilt of my sword. Safe had become a word worth nothing but a lie; I had learned from the mistake of believing such lies long ago.
A carved wooden charm hung from the rootlace around my neck. My hand closed around it, unwilling to release the memories tied to it. It belonged to my friend; no, my brother, Jason. He made this and the rootlace when we were children in the orphanage, a custom of our people to mark brotherhood.
We had promised each other that we would survive, but now here I stood: alone.
The battlefield replayed in my mind in sharp fragments, the sky split by unnatural light, the ground rupturing beneath our feet. The archons moved like shadows, their venomous claws cutting and stabbing at the vital points of every man in my unit. The screams of my fallen brethren did not fill me with fear, but with anger.
In response I swung my sword with only one purpose: to destroy. I killed my enemies, yes, but I got careless. I broke formation, leaving my back unprotected, and for that I paid the price. Not with my life, but with Jason's who had stepped in to shield me.
"Forgive me Brother." I whispered.
A presence approached from my left.
"On your feet, soldier."
Commander Vaelor's voice was steady, even now. His golden armor bore deeper scars than the others, one shoulder plate nearly shattered. A thin line of dried blood traced his temple, but his eyes remained sharp.
"You fought well today Kael," he said quietly.
"Your comrades would be proud."
"Pride won't bring back the dead sir." I answered back firmly.
He studied me for a moment longer before placing a firm hand on my shoulder. "Terra has not abandoned us. Whatever comes next… stand when your name is called."
He moved on without waiting for a reply.
A few paces away, a woman in torn garments knelt alone, hands clasped tightly as she rocked back and forth.
"Please… please, any god who listens… save us. Save my daughters. I'll give anything…"
Her voice cracked into sobs.
I turned away, the anger in my heart rising. Belief in gods had once seemed possible when I was a child, but war burned away such foolish thoughts. If they did exist, then those motherfuckers had watched our world burn without lifting a finger.
The air shifted.
It began as a vibration beneath the soil. Subtle at first, like a distant heartbeat. Then it rose, becoming a low melodic hum that threaded through the air. It sounded like a flute played by unseen hands, a note so pure it seemed to cleanse the very space it passed through.
The World Tree responded.
Its luminous veins brightened, color flowing upward in slow waves. The barrier pulsed. The wind stilled completely.
And then her voice filled us.
"I have felt your fear. I have witnessed your suffering. Every cry, every loss… I carry it
within me."
Around me, people wept openly now.
"I am sorry," Terra continued, her tone both vast and impossibly gentle. "The wounds upon my body are wounds upon you. The invaders who ravage my lands seek not conquest alone, but erasure."
A tremor rippled through the gathered crowd.
"I do not possess the strength I once did,"
she said. "But I will not fade without granting you a chance at freedom."
The hum deepened, resonating through the Tree's roots.
"I shall choose three among you to inherit my will. Three who will stand not merely for survival… but for transcendence. Through trial and judgment, you will be granted the opportunity to contend in the King's Game."
The name passed through the sacred land like a spark in dry grass.
"Kings game, I thought that was a myth."
Whispers erupted.
Legends of it existed only in fragments, ancient contests beyond mortal reach. Trials said to temper one's self into the makings of a true god.
"I require volunteers," Terra said softly.
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
Then the sacred land exploded with voices.
"Choose me!"
"I will fight!"
"Take my life if you must!"
"I'll do anything!"
Their cries rose in desperation, in devotion, in hope so fragile it bordered on madness. The look on their faces sent a shiver down my spine.
I did not shout.
I had given enough.
The World Tree blazed brighter.
High above, unseen to mortal eyes, Terra perceived the strings of fate that clung to her children. A once powerful ability that allowed her to see futures in vivid clarity, now dimmed and fractured due to the onslaught brought by the Archons who wreaked havoc upon her body. She could not perceive images nor outcomes.
Only threads.
Threads of varying strength and color, stretching into possibility.
She searched through them carefully.
Brilliant gold. Deep crimson. Pale silver.
Then there was nothing.
Where the young soldier stood, there were no threads at all. No strands of probability, no woven destiny. Only a void in the tapestry.
Terra searched again, her senses reaching outward as they had for countless lives across the ages, tracing the delicate strands that bound every being to the loom of existence.
Yet around him there was only absence.
A quiet ripple of shock moved through her essence as her gaze settled upon him. He stood among the others in silver armor dulled by the grime of battle, his fair brown skin marked by blood and sweat. Golden irises, steady and unyielding beneath the shadow of long dreadlocks that fell over his shoulders and down his back. One thick strand hung across his right eye, half-veiling it, while small golden piercings glinted faintly against his skin.
"Kael…Impossible."
Yet her power was weakened. She could not see why, only that the absence was absolute. The place where his fate should have been was empty.
Still, the moment could not linger.
"Rise," Terra commanded gently.
Three beams of descending light pierced the air.
One fell upon a tall young man near the front, his expression stunned.
Another illuminated a girl with fierce, tear-streaked eyes and clenched fists.
The third… was me!?
"Wait- what?"
The world seemed to narrow into silence.
Murmurs swept outward as we stepped forward, drawn toward the base of the World Tree. The light did not burn. It lifted.
The ground dissolved beneath our feet.
And then there was only radiance.
Water stretched endlessly in every direction, luminous and boundless. Yet I did not drown. I stood upon its surface as though gravity itself had forgotten its purpose. Above me arched a vast expanse of blue, violet, and deep purple. A galaxy without edges where stars shimmered like suspended thoughts and streams of energy flowed between constellations like snakes.
Shapes moved within those currents, not creatures or elements but concepts given form: flames that did not burn, winds whispering in voices older than language, and rivers of light pulsing with quiet awareness. The air was thick with primordial abundance, pressing against my skin, seeping into my lungs, vibrating deep within my bones.
This was no battlefield, nor any sacred grove I had known. This place was older, it was something ancient. Somewhere within that infinite expanse, I felt it, a presence watching and waiting. I didn't understand why I had been brought here or what this realm expected of me. But standing in that endless water beneath a sky that seemed older than the world itself, one thing became painfully clear.
Whatever I was meant to receive here… my life would never be the same again.