Rain fell softly over the ruined valley.
Each drop hissed as it touched the lingering divine ash, the remnants of light and fire that once scorched the land.
Arhaan walked through the mist, hood drawn, his chains dragging faintly against the stone. The sound echoed — steady, rhythmic, alive.
He had wandered for days since the battle, avoiding the eyes of both Heaven and mortals. Yet whispers followed him like shadows.
Whispers of the chained wanderer.
Of the man who killed an angel.
---
In a nearby village, life had already begun to stir again after years of drought. Rivers flowed where once the earth had cracked, and crops grew faster than ever before.
The villagers didn't know the cause.
They only knew that when the storm had ended, a stranger had walked through their land — and everything bloomed.
"Who was he?" asked a child, her eyes wide as she watched the horizon.
An old man by the fire whispered, "A god in chains."
---
Arhaan stood at the edge of that same village now, unseen.
He watched as the people laughed, ate, and prayed — not to Heaven, but to hope itself.
Azrakar's voice murmured in his mind.
> "You heal what you do not rule. You free what does not serve you. Why?"
Arhaan smiled faintly. "Because chains aren't just meant to bind, old one. They can also hold people together."
The ancient jinn fell silent, and for once, Arhaan felt no judgment — only quiet respect.
---
Far above, in the golden halls of Heaven, Kael knelt before the High Arbiter once more.
The Arbiter's eyes burned with holy fury.
"The mortal realm trembles with whispers of a false god. And you stand idle?"
Kael's hands tightened into fists. "He has harmed no one."
"That is his sin!" the Arbiter roared. "He defies the balance. He mends what Heaven decreed broken!"
Kael's gaze flickered.
Is mercy rebellion now?
He rose slowly. "Then tell me, Arbiter… what separates us from tyrants if compassion is treason?"
The room went silent. The angels stiffened.
The Arbiter's voice lowered to a dangerous whisper.
"Careful, Kael. Your faith is not your own to question."
Kael turned away, wings twitching in restraint. "Then perhaps Heaven fears questions more than heresy."
---
Below, Arhaan stood atop the cliffs, staring up at the endless sky.
He felt it — a golden presence descending again, fierce, conflicted, inevitable.
"Kael," he whispered.
For the first time in a long while, he smiled — not in anger, but in sorrow.
> "It seems even gods cannot escape their chains."
Thunder rolled across the valley.
Two destinies, once brothers in purpose, now bound for collision.