The Day of Doom

The rain fell steadily on the towers of Solmara's Arcane Academy, lit only by the lightning that tore through the night sky. The wind howled through the marble spires, as if the world itself wept for what was to come.

In the center of the Great Hall, under the stern gaze of dozens of Archmages and Magisters, Kael Draven knelt before the Academy's tribunal.

His once-elegant robes were torn. Blood dripped from a wound on his face, but his blue eyes blazed with silent fury.

Across from him, seated on an obsidian throne, Archmage Valtherion glared at him with contempt. His long white beard was perfectly groomed, and his golden eyes shone with a power few could understand.

"Kael Draven, apprentice of the Arcane Academy, you stand accused of heresy, forbidden use of Void Magic, and treason against the laws of our Art."

Valtherion's voice thundered through the hall.

Kael clenched his fists. "I have betrayed no one."

A murmur spread through the crowd.

Another Archmage stood, his face shadowed beneath his hood. "We have evidence that you attempted to summon a Forbidden Entity."**

Kael gritted his teeth. "I have summoned nothing! I have only discovered a forgotten seal! A secret you sought to hide!"

Another voice rose from the crowd. "We found your laboratory destroyed… and your master is missing. Do you still deny it?"

Kael's heart sank. His master, Old Magnus, had disappeared that very night. Kael had discovered something—a power sealed away for centuries—and now everyone was accusing him.

But he wasn't stupid. This wasn't a sentence… it was a doomed sentence.

Archmage Valtherion stood, his runic staff glowing with a golden aura. "Kael Draven, your ambition has endangered the very balance of magic. For this, you will be forever exiled from the Academy and stripped of your right to practice the Arcane Arts."

The words fell like a guillotine.

Kael felt as if the air had been knocked from his lungs. He was being banished.

"Take him away."

Two guards reached out to grab him, but before they could touch him, Kael raised his head and smiled.

"You fear me."

Valtherion frowned. "What did you say?"

Kael laughed softly, ignoring the blood dripping from his lips. "You are punishing me not for failing… but for discovering something I was not supposed to know."

One of the Archmages whispered to a colleague, but Valtherion interrupted. "Enough of your lies. The verdict has been pronounced."

Kael closed his eyes. He knew there was no way to win this battle. Not yet.

But this was not the end. This was only the beginning.

The guards dragged him away through the pouring rain.

As the doors of the Academy closed behind him, a thought entered his mind.

If the world of magic rejected him… then he would create his own.