Aren (quietly): "I… feel something's wrong with my body."
A shout cuts through the silence.
???: "You! What are you doing here?"
Aren turns sharply.
A soldier — armor coated in dust, cloak fluttering in the dry wind — stands behind him, rifle aimed straight at his head.
Aren: "Nothing."
Soldier (snarling): "Then come with me. Now."
Aren clenches his fists, his eyes flicking to the corpse of the fallen god.
He mutters under his breath —
Aren: "I just want him to die…"
The thought barely leaves his mind before—
BOOM!
A deafening gunshot echoes.
The soldier's body jerks — blood splattering across the sand.
His eyes widen in confusion.
Soldier: "Wha—"
He collapses. The gun drops.
Sand rises like a ghostly wave as the wind howls again, the sky above turning darker — black clouds swirling like ink.
Aren (wide-eyed): "What… what just happened? Who fired?"
No one answers. Only the whisper of dust circling the corpse.
Then — the god's last words echo through Aren's mind.
"Break the myths that bind this world… or they will write your fate for you."
Aren's breathing quickens.
Aren (to himself): "Could it be… anything I think… becomes real?"
His heart pounds, a strange relief washing over him. For the first time, he feels strength — power pulsing inside him like wildfire.
He takes one step forward—
And agony rips through his skull.
Aren: "Aghhh!"
He drops to his knees, clutching his head as if it's splitting apart.
The world blurs — sky and sand twist.
Then he sees it.
A flash.
Lightning.
Tearing through his own body — searing, blinding, divine.
He gasps — the vision vanishes, the pain fades.
But his heart… it beats like a war drum.
Aren (shaken): "What was that? Lightning…?"
He looks down at his trembling hands — faint sparks flicker between his fingers.