BACK IN THE CAPITAL CITY...
Rendall, after thinking he had crushed Kael’s spirit and left him to die in the oncoming storm, fled the scene with the trio and his subordinates. The storm was relentless, roaring in the distance as the city became a chaotic, frantic place of evacuation. It was a calculated risk—he assumed Kael wouldn’t survive the storm's intensity, but there was still much to be done. As they ran, trying to escape the devastation of the storm, the world around them shifted in an instant.
“What the hell was that?” Rendall muttered, looking up at the sky, his instincts now screaming at him that something was horribly wrong.
Before he could react, the air around them shuddered, vibrating with an impossible force. The trio froze, their senses heightened.
“What is that?!” Verina whispered, her voice trembling. Her usual arrogance faded as she stared at the sight above them.
Rendall, however, stood still, a rare flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. “What in the world,” he muttered, unable to comprehend what he was witnessing.
The trio turned to run, their thoughts now consumed with escaping the terrifying force they had unleashed. But it was too late.
A blinding flash of lightning tore through the sky in front of them, so violent and powerful it sent shockwaves through the air. The trio stopped dead in their tracks, their faces blank with terror. Rendall’s trained military instincts told him something was wrong, something beyond the storm, but before he could react, a new phenomenon took over.
The Sky Itself Tears Open, the very fabric of space itself trembled, ripples shooting through the atmosphere. The storm seemed to swirl, a vortex of dark clouds twisting around a single point in the sky, creating a massive tear in the heavens. It was as if the sky itself had been shattered, creating a hole—an impossible void that looked like a mirror breaking.
At the center of the tear, there was a darkness, a void so deep that it felt as if the very stars were being consumed. The rift continued to grow, its edges jagged and raw as if reality itself had been cleaved apart.
The air grew still. All at once, the storm ceased, the wind stopped howling, and every voice in the capital fell silent. The citizens stopped in their tracks, paralyzed by a feeling of dread as they stared up at the tear in the sky. The panic that had filled the streets moments before now gave way to sheer terror.
And then... the sound came.
A horrible, bone-chilling screech erupted from within the rift, a sound so deafening, so impossible to comprehend that it seemed to pierce the very soul of all who heard it. It was a scream that was part metal, part monster, a sound like the grating of steel against flesh, mixed with the roar of an ancient, enraged beast—something that could only be described as a creature from beyond reality.
“Ahhh! Make it stop!” A man screamed as he clutched his ears in agony. But it was too late. The high-pitched sound pierced into the very core of their beings. People staggered, falling to their knees, hands desperately trying to block out the noise, but there was no escaping it.
Children cried in fear, clutching their parents, their sobs barely audible over the monstrous sound. The ground beneath their feet seemed to pulse, as if the earth itself was reacting to the disturbance in the sky.
“What… is that?!” Tyros, one of the trio, shouted, hands covering his ears as if to block out the unbearable sound.
The frequency of the screech seemed to resonate in the very air, its force so intense that people began to collapse around them, dropping unconscious as if struck by some unseen force. The weak-willed fainted instantly, their bodies unable to withstand the agonizing shriek that cut through their minds.
Even Rendall, a seasoned warrior, staggered back. He had encountered many storms in his life, but this was something else. His mind raced with possibilities, but none of them made sense. “This can’t be natural.” He clenched his fists, trying to regain control of his thoughts, but the pressure of the screech was overwhelming.
The trio were no better off, their faces twisted in disbelief as they tried to shield themselves from the overwhelming sound. “It’s coming from that rift,” Verina muttered, her voice low with dread.
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The first to notice the rift were the civilians who had been making their way toward shelters. A young woman, Kera, gripped her child tightly, her gaze fixed on the sky. The sudden silence of the storm unnerved her, and she instinctively pulled her child closer.
“What is that? What’s happening?” she whispered under her breath, her voice trembling. Around her, others stopped, looking up with the same sense of confusion and disbelief. Some even dropped to their knees, as though they could not bear to look at what was happening, but their eyes were drawn helplessly to the rift in the sky.
A man nearby, Corin, an older civilian with a deep, gravelly voice, staggered backward. His hand went to his chest as he tried to steady himself. “This… this isn’t normal,” he muttered. His words echoed through the small crowd that had gathered. They looked from one to another, panic beginning to spread like wildfire.
Suddenly, the storm clouds began to swirl ominously, a violent rotation taking place right above their heads. The rift grew wider, splitting open the atmosphere itself.
“Is this the end?” A woman named Lyra, standing beside her elderly mother, said in a voice barely above a whisper. She looked at her mother’s face, now drained of color, and her heart sank. “What is happening? What is that sound?”
Just as she spoke, the screeching sound reverberated through the air—a deafening cacophony of metal grinding against bone, a sound so sharp and penetrating it felt as if the very air around them was shaking. The frequency of the screech was unbearable. The citizens, already disoriented, now felt their bodies tremble in fear.
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“Ahhh! Make it stop!” A man screamed as he clutched his ears in agony. But it was too late. The high-pitched sound pierced into the very core of their beings. People staggered, falling to their knees, hands desperately trying to block out the noise, but there was no escaping it.
Children cried in fear, clutching their parents, their sobs barely audible over the monstrous sound. The ground beneath their feet seemed to pulse, as if the earth itself was reacting to the disturbance in the sky.
“I… I can’t take it!” One of the women, Eda, collapsed onto the ground, her eyes wide in terror, her body shaking. Her husband tried to hold her up, but his own knees buckled. They were not alone. Everywhere, people were crumbling under the weight of the screech.
The military guards, stationed near the evacuation zones, were struggling to maintain order. One of them, a young woman named Jasia, was desperately trying to shout instructions, but her voice was lost in the noise. She grabbed her communication device, calling for assistance. “We need help! We need backup, now! The civilians are losing consciousness!”
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Military units scrambled, trying to make sense of the situation. Captain Rhyne of the Ascended Union Guards, who had been heading toward the capital, was among the first to arrive. He looked at the rift, his face grim, as he ordered his troops to evacuate civilians while preparing for the worst.
“This is beyond anything we’ve seen before,” he said, his voice low and commanding. “No one is safe here. Get them to safety, now!”
Despite his commanding tone, there was no escaping the truth—the guards knew this was no ordinary storm, and no force in their arsenal could prepare them for what was coming.
One guard, Jarek, who had witnessed his fair share of disasters, muttered as he looked up at the rift. “We’ve never seen anything like this. It’s not a storm—it’s something worse.”
Suddenly, as if in response to the screech, the storm resumed. The winds began to howl again, fiercer and more chaotic than ever before, but it was no ordinary storm anymore. The air felt different, heavy with a threatening energy. It was clear that whatever had just happened, it was not something they were prepared for.
the screech finally began to subside, a thick, suffocating silence fell over the city. The once violent winds of the storm had died down, leaving only the heavy, unnatural stillness. The air itself felt like it was holding its breath. Civilians stood frozen, their hearts pounding in their chests as they stared up at the rift in the sky, which had only grown darker and deeper, like an open wound in the very fabric of reality.
And then, the first movement came.
From the center of the rift, something began to emerge. At first, it was only a shadow—a dark, formless mass that seemed to twist and writhe in the sky. Then, as the clouds parted slightly, it revealed itself. A claw, impossibly large and covered in thick, armored scales, extended from the rift.
The claw was so massive, so immense, that it dwarfed the tallest skyscrapers around it. It was black, its surface sleek like obsidian, reflecting the faint light from the city below, but with an eerie, otherworldly sheen to it. Each of the claw’s fingers was the size of a small building, its tips tipped with jagged, razor-sharp talons that seemed to gleam with malice. The claw descended slowly, as if it were savoring the moment, teasing the city with its sheer monstrous presence.
“No… no…” A voice, barely a whisper, came from the crowd below. Kera, the young mother, looked up, her hand pressed against her mouth in disbelief. She tried to speak, but no sound came out. Her eyes locked onto the claw, and her legs gave way. “What is that… what is that thing?” she gasped.
The claw lowered, and with it, the earth itself trembled. A low, almost imperceptible rumble filled the air, as if the ground itself was in agony. People screamed, some paralyzed with fear, others scrambling, trying to flee, but it was too late. The claw moved with terrifying slowness, yet it covered miles in a blink.
The first of the skyscrapers below the claw’s path groaned under the immense pressure. The claw’s fingers scraped against the steel and glass of the buildings, leaving a trail of devastation. A sound so horrible followed—the sickening crack of steel bending, the shriek of shattering glass. It was like the sound of the earth breaking in half.
And then, the destruction began.
The claw slammed down into the buildings with all its terrible weight. The concrete crumbled and shattered like dust under the pressure. Windows exploded in a thousand pieces. Steel beams snapped with a deafening crack, sending shards flying in every direction. The entire building seemed to collapse in on itself, and the sound of its falling was like the roar of a dying giant. The ground shook violently, as dust and debris shot into the air like a blinding storm.
People screamed, pushing and shoving, but there was no way to outrun it. The claw’s massive grip dragged through the buildings, ripping apart entire structures, sending chunks of concrete and bricks flying in all directions. The streets were torn apart as if they were nothing more than sand underfoot. The claw’s immense size meant that once it made contact, there was no escape. Nothing stood a chance.
As the first skyscraper crumbled, a cloud of dust exploded into the sky, blotting out the light. The roar of the collapsing buildings drowned out all sound, as the city seemed to fall into chaos. The streets were filled with shouting, panic, and the deafening sound of destruction as the claw continued its merciless path through the city.
A man, his face pale with horror, stood frozen. His breath was shallow as he watched the claw move with horrifying precision. “It’s… it’s killing us,” he muttered, his voice breaking. “This isn’t a storm… it’s a god.”
As the claw withdrew slightly and prepared for another strike, the earth trembled again. People who had been standing, still in shock, stumbled and fell to the ground, unable to maintain their balance. The claw dragged across the skyline, ripping apart everything in its wake. The once-thriving city of Illumira was now a ruin, with fire and smoke rising in thick plumes into the sky.
And then, amidst the carnage, a deep, guttural growl rumbled from the rift itself, almost as if the beast in the sky was screaming with anger, relishing the destruction it had wrought. The sound was low, so deep that it seemed to vibrate the bones of anyone who heard it. It was the sound of something ancient, something far more powerful than anything the citizens of Illumira had ever known.
From the depths of the clouds, a shadowy figure seemed to be emerging, too large to comprehend, the claw a mere extension of its form. The rift pulsed once more, and the screeching sound returned, though this time it was joined by something far worse—the sound of roaring flames, the screech of metal being ripped apart, and the agonizing cry of something primal and ferocious.
What had happened was just the beginning, and none of them knew what was about to emerge next from the torn fabric of space.