The air hummed with power.
Kael barely had time to react before the first Sentinel moved. In a blink, they vanishedonly to reappear behind him, their staff crackling with chains of white energy.
A binding spell.
Kael twisted, his instincts sharper than thought. A pulse of force exploded outward, shattering the chains before they could wrap around him. The Sentinel stumbled back, surprised, but the other two didnt hesitate.
They struck as one.
The sky split with arcs of silver light. Runes flared around Kael, forming a cage meant to suppress his power. The weight of it was suffocating, like an unseen force pressing down on his very existence.
They were trying to seal him again.
Kael gritted his teeth. Not this time.
He raised his handand the very air rejected the spell.
A wave of unseen energy erupted from him, tearing apart the runes mid-formation. The cage shattered, sending a shockwave through the battlefield.
The Sentinels staggered.
One hesitated. Impossible
Kael exhaled slowly. He felt it now.
Every spell they used against him was something familiar. They werent just casting at random. They were using the very magic that had once sealed him.
They knew what he was.
They knew how to contain him.
But they had made one mistake.
He was no longer the helpless child they abandoned.
A Battle of Wills
The lead Sentinel recovered first. Reinforce the barrier, they ordered, voice sharp. Hes not fully awakened yet.
Kaels eyes flashed. Not fully awakened?
The Sentinel drove their staff into the ground, sending a ripple of sigils into the earth. The world around Kael shifted, space warping as a dome of golden light encased the battlefield.
A pocket dimension.
A prison.
A space where only one side could leave.
Kael let out a slow breath, glancing at his surroundings. He wasnt trapped with them.
They were trapped with him.
Breaking the Chains
The Sentinels moved in perfect synchronization. Their attacks werent meant to kill, only to bind.
Chains of light lashed toward Kael. The very air thickened, pushing down on him like a great weight. The world itself was rejecting him.
He reached outand instead of resisting, he pulled.
The chains meant to bind him froze midair, trembling violently
Then reversed, snapping back toward their casters.
One Sentinel barely dodged. The other was too slow. The bindings meant for Kael wrapped around them instead, locking them in place.
Kael stepped forward. The battlefield obeyed him now.
Youve spent your lives suppressing me, he said, voice steady. You never considered what would happen when I learned to fight back.
The lead Sentinel raised their staff. You are an aberration. You should never have been allowed to exist.
Kaels expression didnt change. And yet, here I am.
The Sentinel lunged
And Kael vanished.
Not teleportation. Not a spell.
Pure speed.
Before the Sentinel could react, Kael appeared behind them, his hand raisedfingers inches from the back of their mask.
He didnt strike. He didnt need to.
The world had already made its choice.
A pulse of invisible force sent the Sentinel hurtling across the battlefield. They slammed into their own barrier, the golden dome cracking on impact.
Kael turned to the remaining Sentinel, who still stood, defiant.
You cannot change fate, they hissed.
Kaels blue eyes burned. No. But I can break it.
He raised his hand
And shattered the barrier in a single blow.
The Watchers Retreat
The Sentinels didnt wait for the battle to continue. They had seen enough.
The air around them warped, a teleportation gate forming in the space between them.
This isnt over, the leader spat. Your existence is a danger to all. The world will not let you roam free.
Kael didnt answer. He didnt need to.
He only watched as the Sentinels fledvanishing into the rift, retreating to whatever hidden Order had sent them.
The battlefield fell silent.
Kael exhaled, his heart steady.
The world had tried to forget him.
It had tried to erase him.
Even now, it still feared what he might become.
But it could no longer deny his existence.
And now that the Sentinels knew he had awakened
The world would come for him