The ground shuddered beneath Verethis Thalorian's feet, every tremor a cruel reminder that everything he had once vowed to protect was now lost. The air, thick with smoke and ash, filling his lungs with the acrid stench of death. His body, burned and broken, barely held together by the scraps of alchemy that kept him alive, moved with sheer will alone. He had to find them. He had to save them.  

The temple of Lunaris, once the proud heart of their civilization, was crumbling around him. Pillars, centuries old, snapped like twigs, sending cascades of stone crashing onto the sacred ground. Through the haze of dust and fire, his eyes, bloodshot and burning, scanned the smoke-filled air desperately. His mind raced back to the moments before: his wife’s and son’s voices echoing through the halls. They had been here. They had to be close. 

“Celia!” His voice cracked, barely audible above the roar of collapsing stones. “Alaric!” 

No response. Only the sound of devastation, the violent groans of the temple as it surrendered to the chaos. He stumbled forward, his legs threatening to give way under the weight of his injuries. Then he saw it… a small hand, pale and still, trapped beneath a broken column. 

“No…” The word fell from his lips, more a broken sob than a cry. His legs gave out beneath him as he fell to his knees, his hands digging frantically into the rubble. His fingers bled as he tore through the stones, uncaring of the sharp edges biting into his flesh. When he finally reached them, Celia, his wife, their son Alaric, he froze. 

They were gone.  

His wife’s arms were wrapped around their child, shielding him even in death. Her face, once so full of life, was now pale and still, her body crushed by the weight of the temple’s fall. 

Why? Why had the gods forsaken them? 

Verethis screamed. It was not a sound meant for the living; a primal, guttural wail that was torn from the deepest reaches of his soul. Blood filled his mouth as the scream tore through him, but he did not care. Nothing mattered anymore.  

All around him, the world continued to fall apart. Explosions shook the earth, and in the distance, he saw the remains of the magic shield, flickering... crumbling... failing. His parents had been in the heart of the sanctum, channeling their last reserves of power into that shield, desperately trying to contain the devastation. But even the gods had turned their backs on them. 

Verethis stayed there, surrounded by the lifeless bodies of Celia and Alaric, resolved to die alongside them. He could not imagine living in a world where everything he loved had been reduced to ashes and ruin. If the gods had forgotten them, then he, too, could forget about that damned world. 

"Verethis!" A voice pierced through the shroud of despair that enveloped him. It was Selene, his beloved sister, the last scion of their kin and his last remaining family. There she stood, at the threshold of the ancient temple, her gaze alight with a dread most profound, barely maintaining her composure as the very fabric of their world crumbled about them. 

“Run, Selene!” he bellowed, though his voice was hoarse and broken. She stood frozen, her eyes wide with terror, her body paralyzed by the devastation surrounding them. She would not move, could not move, so he forced himself to do it. The pain in his chest felt like knives stabbing deep into his lungs, sharper than any wound he had ever endured, but the grief could wait. If there would ever be time to grieve. Now, there was only Selene. Only saving her. 

In an instant, he was at her side, pulling her into his arms as the temple groaned and cracked around them, on the verge of collapse. The pain was unbearable, as if every fiber of his body was being torn apart from within. An agony he would never forget, not in this life, nor in any other. 

Verethis ran, clutching Selene against his battered chest, his legs trembling beneath the weight of his own body and hers. He bolted through the crumbling halls, his bloodied boots slipping on shattered stone and the pools of blood staining the sacred ground. Around them, the bodies of the fallen lay scattered —priests, warriors, even children— crushed beneath fallen columns, or burnt alive by the raging fires. The temple had become a graveyard, a hellscape of broken bodies, seeping blood, and dying curses. 

Each step sent jolts of pain through Verethis’s body. His ribs cracked under the strain, jagged bone fragments stabbing into his lungs with every breath. His skin tore with each movement, blood seeping from his wounds, mixing with the ash and dirt that clung to him. The metallic tang of his own blood filled his mouth, his vision blurring through the haze of pain and smoke. The heat of the flames licked at his skin, as both stone and fire seemed intent on claiming them, but still, he pushed forward. 

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Every step was a battle against his own failing body. His legs threatened to give way, his muscles screaming in protest. But he pushed forward, Selene’s weight heavy in his arms, her silent tears soaking his blood-stained tunic. 

The forbidden sanctuary —their only hope— loomed ahead, its entrance hidden deep beneath the temple, untouched by the corruption that consumed the world above. It was a place of last resort, built for the day when Lunaris’ reincarnation would return, a sanctuary that no enemy could breach. Never had Verethis thought he would be forced to use it. 

As they neared the ancient doors, a wave of nausea struck him. His vision dimmed, his body threatening to shut down. He stumbled, nearly falling, but with a final, desperate surge of will, he reached the entrance. Blood poured from his mouth as he gasped for breath, the taste of iron overwhelming his senses. 

With a trembling hand, Verethis used his necklace, the sacred key, to unlock the heavy stone doors. They groaned open, revealing the dark, cold chamber beyond, a sanctuary, untouched by the chaos. It was silent, eerily so, as though the world’s suffering had not yet reached this final refuge. 

Tears streamed down Selene's face as she clutched Verethis's arm, her small fingers trembling against his skin. “Verethis… What happened to Mother and Father? What about them? I could not find them…” Her voice wavered, each word a desperate plea for understanding in the chaos surrounding them. 

“They are no longer here, Selene,” he whispered, tasting the metallic tang of blood in his mouth with every word. The memory of their laughter, their warmth, surged through him, and the grief clawed at his insides, threatening to consume him whole. 

“Are they hurt? Where’s Sister Celia and Alaric? And what will we do?” Her innocent questions pierced through the horror, each one a reminder of the family he had lost and the world that had crumbled around them. He could not look at her, could not bear the anguish etched across her young face, so innocent yet marred by the darkness of their reality. 

Verethis led her deeper into the sanctuary, down to the hidden chamber that housed the sacred fountain of the moon. Its shimmering waters reflected the pale, flickering light of the room. 

Selene hesitated as they reached the edge of the fountain, her eyes darting between the water and her brother. “What is this place?” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the distant sounds of destruction. “Why are we here?” 

He crouched down to her level, using one hand to press against the wound in his side, where he could feel the torn flesh and splintered bones grinding beneath it. He looked into her eyes for a moment, her white hair framing her face, and her crystal-clear eyes, vast like the deepest oceans. 

He had to protect this child.  

His heart ached as he reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her face.  

"You will hide here. I will come for you when it is over. I swear it." His voice faltered, but he forced the words out, each syllable a lifeline to hold on to amid the overwhelming despair.  

Selene shook her head violently, panic rising in her chest like a raging storm. “No, do not leave me! Please!” Her small frame trembled as she clung to him, her wide eyes searching his for reassurance, for a glimmer of hope that did not exist. 

“Listen to me!” he demanded, his heart aching at the sight of her fear. “You need to stay here, Selene!” 

“No! I am scared! Please, brother, it is dark here. Do not leave… Please!” Her voice broke, a sound of raw desperation that shattered what little resolve he had left. The flickering shadows danced around them, mocking their plight, and he could see the realization dawning on her, the horror of being left alone in this forbidden sanctuary, hidden away from the only family she had left. 

Without answering, Verethis raised his arms, his hands trembling as he gently pushed her towards the water. “I will not leave, I promise. But you need to be brave. I need you to be brave” he muttered, his voice thick with sorrow. “Can you do that for me?” 

Her confusion deepened as he urged her into the fountain. The water was cool against her skin, rippling softly around her as she waded in, glancing back at him with wide, frightened eyes. “What will happen to me?” 

“You’ll sleep,” he said, his throat tightening as he forced the words out. “You will sleep until it is over, until I come for you. I will wake you when it is safe.” 

Selene’s breathing grew shallow as the sacred waters began to take effect, pulling her into a deep, unnatural slumber. “I don’t want to sleep,” she whimpered, her voice fading as the water’s power seeped into her. “I’m scared…” 

“I know,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her forehead, his tears mixing with the water as her eyes fluttered shut. “I know… But you must trust me.” 

Her body relaxed, sinking gently into the fountain’s embrace as her consciousness slipped away. The chamber fell silent, the soft ripple of the sacred water the only sound left. Verethis stood over her, his heart breaking as he watched his sister disappear beneath the surface, her face peaceful in the stillness of sleep. 

For a moment, he could only stand there, staring at the still water, his mind torn between grief and the duty he once swore on. “I’ll come back for you,” he whispered, though the words felt hollow, lost in the suffocating quiet of the chamber. 

He turned away, the weight of his shattered world pressing on his shoulders. With one final glance at the fountain, Verethis left the sanctuary, the echoes of Selene’s fading voice haunting him with every step he took back into the collapsing ruins above. 

The temple of the gods, the heart of Lunaris, the lives he had failed to save, all of it was gone. But Selene would survive. She would awaken in a world free from the horrors of the past. That much he could still give her. 

And with that, Verethis turned back to face the burning ruins of his world, ready to sacrifice whatever was left of him to ensure that promise.