Chapter 15: The Premodal's Shadow
Kael didn't know how long he'd been walking. The desert stretched forever — an ocean of molten sand under a bruised, red sky. The air shimmered with heat, and every breath felt like swallowing smoke.
"Perfect," he muttered, kicking a rock that immediately vanished into a dune. "Dumped in the middle of nowhere. Love that for me."
His boots crunched through the shifting ground as he scanned the horizon for anything — water, shelter, or preferably, an exit portal. His odachi hung loosely in his hand, its dark surface absorbing sunlight instead of reflecting it. Even his own weapon seemed to mock him now.
The silence pressed down like a weight. No wind. No sound. No heartbeat but his own.
Then… the world glitched.
A faint ripple passed through the air — like a dropped stone disturbing water. The dunes wavered. The horizon folded in on itself, as if reality had tripped.
Kael froze. "Uh, what—?"
The sand exploded upward, swirling into a spiral of black and gold light. Out of the vortex stepped a woman — not walking, but emerging, as though she'd been part of the fabric of existence and simply decided to take form.
She looked barely older than twenty, slender but regal, her skin faintly luminescent like starlight under glass. Her eyes were an unsettling shade of silver — not glowing, not dull, but infinite.
Kael's grip tightened on his sword. "Who the hell are you?"
The woman tilted her head, studying him as though he were some rare, fragile creature. Her voice, when she spoke, wasn't loud. It was soft, but it carried through the air like a note that refused to fade.
"You may know me," she said, "as the Premodal — the being that transcends both the Beyond and the Tranceeds."
Kael blinked. His brain lagged for a full three seconds. "Right. Sure. The Premodal. Totally normal thing to meet in the middle of a burning desert."
She smiled faintly, almost amused. "Don't worry. I haven't come to give you some power-up or prophecy. I only wanted to talk."
What the hell does a mortal like me have to do with a god? he thought.
Her silver eyes flicked toward him. "You know I can read your thoughts," she said lightly, "but I won't. You like your privacy, don't you?"
Kael swallowed. "Ye… yes, I do."
For a few heartbeats, silence hung between them. Then her expression shifted — soft, sorrowful.
"Kael, we're sorry for making such a decision," she said quietly.
He frowned. "What decision?"
She looked away, her gaze drifting to the warped horizon. "The one that sealed your fate. But it was the only way."
Kael felt a cold spike in his chest. "You're talking like I died or something."
"In a way," she said softly, "you did."
That didn't help. "Fantastic. I've always wanted vague cosmic riddles."
The Premodal's tone deepened, weighted with guilt. "But I won't allow you to fail. I mustn't. I made a very terrible mistake — one that birthed the Corruption itself."
Kael froze.
"What do you mean you made it?"
She didn't answer immediately. Her eyes shimmered with a faint sadness — an emotion so vast it made his throat tighten just looking at it. "Even though I might seem like the omnipresent origin of all creation, I am nothing in essence," she said softly. "But you… you are something."
He took a cautious step forward. "Something?"
She nodded. "The Lady will come for you. She will try to break you, to twist what remains of your will. Don't listen to her." Her voice trembled slightly. "I am not permitted to interfere directly, but I promise you this, Kael — I will always protect you. No matter what happens."
"Protect me?" he repeated. "Why? I'm just a—"
"You are the one who will save us," she interrupted, her tone suddenly firm, almost desperate. "From the terrible doom that awaits."
Kael's mind raced. "Wait, wait—what doom? What are you talking about?"
She turned her back to him. Her voice came quieter, almost like a fading echo.
"Some things," she said, "are too complicated for a mere mortal to understand."
And just like that — she was gone.
No light. No sound. Just gone.
Kael stared at the empty air for a long moment, jaw slack. Then he let out a breath and rubbed his temples.
"Great," he muttered. "First she calls me the Savior, then a mere mortal. Love the consistency."
He started pacing, muttering to himself. "Crap, crap, crap. How the hell did I go from surviving school drama to being in a desert having tea with a god? What's next? Talking cats?"
But her last words stuck with him — the doom that awaits.
It wasn't just a threat. It was a promise.
He sighed, then closed his eyes. Alright, genius. You heard the cosmic lady. Use the astral flow. Find your way back.
He extended his hand, focusing on the faint vibration he always felt before traveling between realms. The desert's heat faded. Reality bent, folding like pages in a book.
When he opened his eyes again—
—he was home.
He barely had time to exhale before a gunshot ripped through the air.
"FREEZE!" someone shouted.
Kael's eyes widened, heart slamming in his chest. The smell of gunpowder filled the house.
And just like that, the desert felt safer than home.