Deep beneath the shattered cliffs of the Ashen Divide, hidden behind layers of abandoned power conduits and collapsed magitech tunnels, Kael finished what the Empire never could.
His own creation.
It stood tall in the glow of flickering lights—sleek, armored, and deadly. Unlike the Empire's magic-fueled titans, Kael's prototype ran purely on calculated design, raw intellect, and physics-defying engineering.
It was silent.
Waiting.
Watching.
Zephyra walked a slow circle around it. "It's not as ugly as I thought it'd be."
Kael smirked. "High praise from a blade-wielding fashion assassin."
"Does it work?"
Kael placed a palm on the panel. The metal rippled with light.
"Yes."
---
Alarm Triggers
Kael had barely linked the prototype to his neural band when a red icon blinked on his wrist.
"Incoming."
Zephyra tensed. "How many?"
Kael scanned. "Two heavy dropships. They tracked the activation surge."
"Of course they did." She twirled a dagger. "Guess we're testing your pet early."
---
The Battle Begins
The doors of the lab burst inward in a wave of flame and smoke.
Imperial heavy troopers poured through—shields raised, elemental rifles charged. Magic glyphs floated in the air behind them, forming barriers and summoning orbs of fire.
Kael ducked behind a terminal, barking into his wrist-band.
"Echo—activate."
The prototype's eyes flared with blue light. A deep hum filled the room as it moved—fast. Inhumanly fast.
In one smooth motion, it launched into the air and crashed down with a shockwave that rippled across the entire floor.
Soldiers were thrown like rag dolls.
Zephyra darted into the chaos, blades flashing. She moved through gaps in the enemy's armor like water through cracks in stone—precise, deadly.
"Flank them!" Kael shouted.
"I am the flank!" Zephyra yelled back as she vaulted off a wall and stabbed through a battlemage's shield dome.
Kael moved too—not with brute force, but brilliance.
He hacked turrets and rerouted them to fire at the Empire's forces. He overloaded magic capacitors, turning their own constructs against them. Sparks and debris filled the air.
But the enemy kept coming.
---
Face of the Past
From the smoke, a figure emerged—tall, armored in obsidian-black plating, with a single crimson cape trailing behind her.
The Princess-General.
Her eyes locked on Kael.
"You built it," she said. "The rogue mind. The perfect shell. They told me you'd fail."
"I usually do," Kael replied, stepping forward. "Until I don't."
"You stole something that belongs to the Empire."
Kael activated a second prototype feature—wings of condensed energy burst from Echo's back.
"No," he said. "I freed it."
The Princess-General raised her blade. "Then you'll die with it."
---
The Duel
Kael held back—he couldn't match her with skill. But Echo could.
The prototype clashed with her, each strike shaking the walls. Magic collided with physics, sword against pure force shields.
Meanwhile, Kael and Zephyra made their move.
"Main server's through there," he shouted, pointing to a sealed blast door.
Zephyra nodded. "I'll hold them. Go."
Kael rushed through a side tunnel lined with pulsing cables and server conduits.
Inside the Nexus Core Chamber, he found it:
A golden cylinder, surrounded by spell-tech and glowing glyphs. Nexus wasn't just an AI. It was a magical consciousness—built to think, feel, and obey the Empire.
Kael pressed his neural band against the console. Code flooded the screen. Warnings blared.
> DELETE PROTOCOL?
Y/N
Kael paused.
Then typed: Y
---
Collapse
Back in the main lab, Echo took a devastating hit from the Princess-General's blade. It stumbled—but before she could strike again, the prototype self-ignited with a surge of pure light, knocking her back.
Zephyra caught Kael as he sprinted from the core room. "Did it work?!"
Kael nodded. "Nexus is offline. I wiped everything."
"And Echo?"
He looked back at the sparking frame of his creation—battered, broken, but still standing.
"Still with us."
The mountain groaned. Power surges from the destroyed core caused structural failure.
"We have to move!" Zephyra grabbed Kael's arm.
They escaped through a maintenance chute, sliding down just as the entire lab erupted behind them—fire, light, and debris soaring into the clouds.
---
Later
Night fell quietly.
Kael stared up at the stars, nursing a cracked rib. Echo was offline beside him, powering down for repairs. Zephyra sat nearby, sharpening her daggers.
"You really did it," she said softly. "You destroyed what they built you for."
Kael exhaled. "No. I destroyed what they thought I was for."
He turned to her.
"Now I get to choose what I become."
Zephyra leaned back, smiling faintly. "Whatever it is… I'll be watching."
And beside the fire, the boy with no magic—the Empire's mistake—started rewriting the fate they tried to carve into his bones.