The kingdom of Elren's buildings shone beneath a gentle afternoon sun.
At the marble courtyard of the royal keep, Enoch and Alfonso walked side by side, their arms full of scrolls. Paper crackled as they argued over trade routes and food supply, their words sharp but familiar, like old friends long used to bickering.
"We can't just reroute everything through the southern ports again," Alfonso grumbled, wiping sweat from his forehead. "The last time we tried, half the merchants nearly rioted."
"And the last time you managed the ledgers, we lost three wagons of grain because you miscounted," Enoch shot back, smirking slightly.
Alfonso huffed. "That was once."
"Twice," Enoch corrected. "And the second time you blamed a rat for eating the paperwork."
Their exchange drew a few chuckles from nearby clerks, even as they worked under the heat. For a moment, life in Elren felt… ordinary.
Down in the streets, children darted between stalls, their laughter mixing with the calls of vendors. A woman selling spiced bread shouted over the din, "Two for one copper! Fresh from the oven!"
"Fresh?" a burly man teased, leaning on her counter. "You've been saying that since morning."
"Oh, shut it, Garron," she said, swatting at him with a rag. "You buy them anyway."
"I buy them 'cause you glare holes through my skull when I don't," he said, grinning.
Even the guards posted along the square looked more relaxed than usual, leaning on their spears as they watched the easy rhythm of the day unfold.
Then—
A sound.
A voice, faint at first, rolled through the air like distant thunder.
It wasn't shouting. It was a scream, it passed through the soul and gave them vague goosebumps.
"If you want to destroy Elren, you'll have to go through me!"
The words hung in the air, vibrating like a struck bell.
Everything stopped.
The marketplace fell silent. Children froze in place, clutching their wooden toys. The bakers, the merchants, even the street dogs all turned their eyes upward.
"Did you hear that?" a man whispered.
"Aye," said another, voice trembling. "That… that sounded like a god."
A hush fell as people slowly crossed their arms over their chests, drawing the pointed cross, the mark of protection.
"The god of protection…" someone murmured. "Adam."
One by one, voices joined, quiet prayers whispered into the stillness.
Then the heavens cracked.
A thunderous boom tore across the sky, shaking every window and rattling the cobblestones. Another followed, then another. The ground trembled beneath their feet, horses reared and whinnied, and far above, blinding flashes of gold lit up the blue like divine lightning.
"By the stars," Alfonso muttered, gripping the side of a cart. "What in the hells is happening up there?"
"Is it the gods?" someone cried. "Are they fighting?"
No one answered.
More explosions ripped through the clouds, flashes of light flaring bright enough to burn shadows into the ground. The air shimmered with heat and energy, and faint streaks of gold and red danced high above.
Then, something fell. A speck at first, then a streak, then a blinding comet.
It hit the street with a sound like the world ending. Stone shattered, dust exploded into the air, and people stumbled back, coughing and shielding their eyes.
When the smoke cleared, someone screamed.
A man lay in the crater. Not mortal, he couldn't be. His armor was broken and incomplete, patches of gold still glowing faintly through cracks and dents. His face was human, young, but his eyes… his eyes held the faint shimmer of golden energy.
"It's… it's a god," whispered one of the guards.
"Are the gods at war?" another said. "Why here? Why just above Elren?"
"So, they want to destroy Elren?"
The crowd gathered, murmuring, half in awe, half in terror.
Then the sky boomed again.
A wave of invisible pressure rolled through the city, flattening roofs and shattering glass. Mountains in the distance cracked, avalanches of stone tumbling into the valleys below. The earth itself seemed to groan.
Enoch rode into the square on horseback, his face pale as he took in the devastation. He looked up, where the heavens burned with streaks of gold and fire.
"Oh gods," he whispered, voice trembling. "Please… protect us."
The light above pulsed, once, twice, then exploded outward in a final, blinding flash.
And then… silence.
The crowd barely dared to breathe. The dust began to settle. Somewhere, a child started crying.
Then, one by one, the priests and paladins in the square dropped to their knees, clutching their heads. Screams tore from their throats as they writhed on the ground, eyes wide with agony. Enoch fell from his horse, grabbing his temples, gasping as if the world itself were clawing at his mind.
"Enoch!" Alfonso shouted, rushing to his side. "Somebody help him!"
People crowded around the fallen, voices frantic and frightened. The air felt thick. As the Elrenians carried Enoch, the clergy, and the paladins toward the medical house.
From above, a single boom. The kind that makes the heart stop.
And then a voice, a woman's voice, screamed across the sky, raw with grief and terror.
"ADAM!"
Every head turned upward. For a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath. Then the light in the heavens dimmed, leaving only quiet, endless blue.
And in that silence, the people of Elren knew that something had gone terribly wrong.
Then a sudden low roar began to build in the sky.
At first, it was distant, like a storm gathering far beyond the horizon. But within moments, the sound became deafening, like the rush of a thousand wings.
The clouds, which had only just begun to regather, split apart. Three enormous faces emerged from the storm above the capital, so vast they blotted out the sun.
The people froze. Some fell to their knees. Others simply stood, unable to comprehend what they were seeing.
They were the faces of Ludfrick, Kalrus, and Caelus, Ramona's father, the sky lord.
Ludfrick's eyes swept across the ground, lingering on the charred ruins of the palace. He smiled faintly, though there was no warmth in it.
"The sins of gods," he said, his voice booming like thunder, "are borne by the world. Mortals and life alike suffer because of the divine."
He turned slightly, addressing the god beside him.
"Sky Lord Caelus. Give the judgment."
Caelus, the blonde-haired god, raised his hand. A vast shadow fell across the capital as his palm eclipsed the sky. Panic rippled through the crowd like wildfire.
"Run!" someone screamed.
"Oh gods, protect us!" another cried, clutching a child to her chest.
"Please, please help us!"
Kalrus' lips curved into a cruel smirk.
"You're too late."
Then came the light.
Bolts of lightning rained down, tearing through the city in blinding arcs. Stone walls split like dry clay. Towers collapsed. Screams filled the air, then were snuffed out as fire swallowed the streets.
When it ended, there was only silence. Smoke rose in thick black columns. What had been the jewel of Elren was now nothing but ash and ruin.
Here and there, a few charred bodies lay twisted where they had fallen, faces frozen in horror.
The three divine visages vanished, fading back into the closing clouds. Then came the rain. It fell steadily, washing over the city, turning ash to mud and extinguishing the smoldering fires.
The royal castle had been reduced to rubble. Its towers lay broken, and the once-proud banner of Elren fluttered in tatters from a splintered pole.
Beneath a collapsed wall of the medical house, something stirred. Stone shifted, and a coughing man pushed his way out.
Enoch.
His red toga was caked in soot and dust. He staggered to his feet, then fell to his knees, clutching at the broken ground.
"Aaaaaah—!"
The scream tore from his throat. It was raw, filled with grief that words could not carry. Tears streamed down his dirt-streaked face as he slammed his fists against the rubble.
"Why have you forsaken us?!" he cried. "Why?"
He tried to reach for Adam's presence, he but felt nothing. Only emptiness.
He stood and began to walk through the ruined streets, he passed corpses half-buried in ash, mothers still clutching their children, soldiers burned in their armor, priests sprawled beside shattered altars.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, voice breaking. "I'm sorry."
Then louder, until his throat was raw:
"I am sorry! This guilt, this pain, I can't bear it! Take it away, please! Take it all away!"
When his tears ran dry, he stood again. Slowly and painfully, he made his way toward the city gates. Beyond them stretched a land blackened to the horizon. The earth itself seemed dead, as if it was assaulted by the sun.
He took a deep breath, then started eastward.
---
For eight days, he wandered through the remains of Elren. Every village, every field, gone. Not a single living soul. Only burnt husks of homes and the echo of wind whispering through bones.
Sometimes he heard voices in his head, soft, unintelligible murmurs in a tongue he couldn't recognize. They spoke constantly, like a faint choir behind his thoughts, and strangely, their presence comforted him. It reminded him that he was still alive.
The sky above Elren was forever grey, heavy with clouds that never broke. It was as though the heavens themselves had sealed the kingdom away.
But when Enoch finally crossed the border, sunlight touched his face again. He stopped, lifting his gaze toward the blazing sky.
He spread his hands, letting the warmth sink into his skin. For the first time in days, he felt something like peace.
He smiled weakly, then continued eastward.
----
On the tenth day, his body nearly gave out. He stumbled into a small village, a cluster of stone cottages and fields golden under the sun.
The villagers stopped what they were doing to stare at him: a tall man in a tattered toga, covered in soot, eyes sunken and hollow.
An old woman gasped and hurried to him.
"Oh, dear heavens! You look dead!"
Enoch tried to speak, but his voice cracked. She caught him by the arm and led him gently toward a stone slab by the well.
"Sit down, love. Sit, sit."
She fetched a wooden jug of water and pressed it into his trembling hands. He drank slowly, then looked up, his breath unsteady.
"Come now," she said, smiling. "You must be starving. Let's get you something to eat."
She guided him through the village to a modest two-storey stone house with flower boxes in the windows. Inside, the air smelled of baked bread and lavender.
"Sit here," she said, pulling out a chair.
He sank into it, exhaustion etched into every movement.
The woman returned from the kitchen with a plate, bread, a roasted duck leg, and a small jug of ale.
Enoch didn't wait. He tore into the food like a starving animal, not caring for decorum. The old woman chuckled softly as she watched.
When he'd finished, he leaned back, panting.
"Thank you, madam," he said hoarsely. "I—I have no coin to repay your kindness."
She waved a hand. "Nonsense, dear. You looked like you needed help, so I gave it. That's all."
He smiled faintly. "May I know your name?"
"Rose," she said with a grin. "Rose Lilibeth."
"I'm Enoch."
"Well, Enoch, you're a polite one. And far too tired to go anywhere tonight. Stay here, rest. You can travel when the sun's gentler tomorrow."
He hesitated. "I wouldn't want to impose—"
"Impose? You'd be imposing if you keeled over in my front yard. Now come."
She led him upstairs to a narrow hallway lined with doors.
"The room at the end's empty," she said. "You'll sleep there. No arguments."
Enoch smiled faintly. "Thank you, Miss Rose."
Inside, the room was simple, a bed, a dresser, a small table by the window. He sat on the bed, staring at the sunlight filtering through the curtains.
For a moment, he closed his eyes, trying once again to reach for Adam, nothing.
The divine spark within him was faint, like a dying ember.
With a sigh, he stood and went downstairs. Rose was in the kitchen, kneading dough. She turned as he entered.
"Something wrong, dear? The bed not to your liking?"
"No," Enoch said softly. "I was wondering if I might draw some water for a bath."
"Ah, silly me," she said with a laugh. "Out by the door, there's a bucket and a basin. Some alum is in the top drawer of your dresser."
He thanked her, then stepped outside. The air was warm, the sky clear. He washed himself slowly, scrubbing away the soot and blood until his skin felt new.
When he returned to the room, exhaustion hit him like a wave. He barely made it to the bed before his vision blurred.
The whispers in his mind were still there, soft, comforting, incomprehensible.
And as sleep claimed him, for the first time since the fall of Elren, he felt fine.