Chapter 2: The Iron Reach

Kael's breath came in measured exhales as he gripped the hilt of his Etherblade. Across the ruins, the raiders advanced in a loose formation, their movements deliberate, predatory. The air crackled with tension, the lingering remnants of battle-worn Etherflow curling around them like ghosts refusing to fade. His muscles coiled, instincts screaming at him to act, though the part of him still grasping for identity hesitated.

"You ever fought before?" Renn asked, his own twin daggers glinting under the fractured sky. The rogue's voice was casual, but his stance betrayed readiness, weight balanced on the balls of his feet.

Kael frowned. He didn't know. His body remembered, moving into a stance he hadn't consciously chosen, his blade flickering with electric blue light. "Something tells me I have."

Renn smirked. "Good. Because they won't wait for you to figure it out."

The first raider lunged, a burly brute wielding a jagged cleaver, Etherflow coursing through his arms in erratic, unstable bursts. Kael sidestepped smoothly, his blade humming as it sliced through the air. The moment slowed—his vision sharpened, reading the man's movements before he even completed them. With a twist of his wrist, Kael severed the raider's weapon arm, the Ether-enhanced strike cutting through flesh and steel alike. The man's scream was brief, choked off as he collapsed.

Shock flared in the eyes of the remaining raiders, but only for a second. Then the chaos erupted.

Renn moved like a phantom, slipping between opponents with fluid grace, his daggers flashing as they found gaps in armor and throats alike. Kael barely had time to register the fight before another raider bore down on him—a woman with a spear infused with searing flames. She thrust forward, the heat washing over him in a wave, but something in Kael's mind clicked. He sidestepped at the last second, guiding her momentum past him before pivoting and slashing at her exposed side. She crumpled with a strangled cry, her Etherflow dissipating like mist.

A third raider tried to take advantage of the moment, swinging an axe in a brutal overhead arc. Kael raised his sword just in time, meeting the blow head-on. The impact rattled his bones, but something stirred within him—a sensation like a thousand voices whispering battle wisdom. He shifted his stance at the last moment, redirecting the force and sending the axe wielder stumbling. Kael didn't hesitate, driving his blade through the man's chest, the energy discharge sending a ripple through the air.

As the last raider fell, silence returned to the battlefield. Renn exhaled, flicking blood off his daggers with practiced ease. "Not bad for someone who doesn't remember how to fight."

Kael surveyed the scene, his blade dimming as his pulse slowed. He should have felt something—regret, fear, relief. Instead, there was only the steady hum of Etherflow, the knowledge that this was merely the first of many battles to come.

Renn clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on. If we linger, more will show up. We need to get moving."

Kael nodded, sheathing his sword. He still didn't know who he was. But he knew one thing: survival meant moving forward. And the path to Elderspire had only just begun.