The storm over the Ruined Belt had no beginning and no end — only fury.
Winds tore at the cliffs with primal rage. Lightning danced along the horizon like wild spirits, and snow fell sideways, thick as ash. Most wouldn't even attempt passage through the gorge, much less seek out the being at its heart.
But Elias insisted.
"We need him," he said simply, standing at the edge of the abyss with Kaien and Iria flanking him. "He doesn't know it yet, but we can't win without him."
Kaien narrowed his eyes into the blizzard. "Another recruit?"
"Not just a recruit," Elias murmured. "A weapon forged in forgotten science."
They pressed on.
Hours passed in ghostlight silence. The path narrowed. The storm thickened. Shadows of frozen statues lined the way — not sculptures, but corpses caught mid-motion, preserved by something far colder than nature.
And then the wind stopped.
The world held its breath.
From the heart of the gorge, a figure emerged.
Tall, lean, shoulders draped in frost-slick cloth that shimmered with electricity. Pale-blue eyes glowed from beneath a half-hooded face. Every step he took froze the ground, and when he blinked, thunder echoed.
He didn't speak. Not at first. He only studied them — eyes lingering on Elias, pausing at Iria, and then settling on Kaien.
Kaien stepped forward. "Solryn?"
The stranger's gaze flickered, then dimmed.
"That name… was buried."
Lightning crackled between his fingers.
Iria lit a flame in her palm instinctively. "We're not enemies—unless you make us."
Elias raised a hand. "We didn't come to fight. We came to offer purpose."
Solryn tilted his head. "Purpose? You mean guilt repackaged as redemption?"
Kaien's shadow stirred beneath him. "You sound like someone who's been betrayed."
Solryn didn't reply — not with words.
Instead, the air collapsed with a sound like shattering crystal. An arc of pure lightning surged toward Kaien.
He didn't dodge. The shadow around him flared, absorbing the bolt, grounding it into the frozen earth.
The two stared at each other, neither moving.
Then Solryn's shoulders dropped, and the glow in his eyes dimmed.
"…You're not like the others."
Kaien didn't flinch. "Neither are you."
Solryn looked to Elias. "You have a plan."
"I have the truth," Elias said. "And you've spent your life drowning in lies."
A long pause.
Then, Solryn nodded once. "Then I'm in. But know this — I'm not here to follow. I'm here to survive."
Elias smiled faintly. "That's all any of us are doing."
As they turned to leave, Kaien asked, "What are you, really?"
Solryn paused at the edge of the cliff, and for a moment, the storm parted.
"I am a mistake that learned how to breathe."