Total Run

Kael's POV

The base trembled as if it were alive, as if it sensed its impending doom. Fragments of metal and concrete fell around us, while the air grew suffocating with the smell of ash and ozone. Time seemed to stretch and compress simultaneously, each second feeling like a step closer to the inevitable catastrophe.

I knew Thorne was losing control — but that was precisely his intention. He didn’t plan to survive this. His gaze of madness and satisfaction said it all: if he couldn’t have this world, he would take it with him to the grave.

"You’re a damned lunatic!" I shouted, trying to stay on my feet as waves of energy pulsed around him like a living storm.

Thorne laughed, a dry and insane cackle echoing through the dying walls of the base. "Then stop me, Kael. That is... if you can."

A dull pain coursed through my body. My planet. My home. I had already lost so much, and now I was about to lose the rest. The familiar structure that once welcomed me was now a field of ruins about to crumble completely. I had been a leader here. These people trusted me. And now...

I had failed them all.

A deafening crack interrupted my thoughts as sinister cracks spread across the walls and floor like spider webs. Each fissure seemed to open a hole in my chest. The planet’s core was exposed, a dark and threatening glow emanating from the depths as if the very life of the world were bleeding out.

"Thorne, no!" I yelled, charging at him with all the strength I had left. Lena screamed behind me, but there was no time for hesitation. Either I stopped Thorne now, or we would all be swept into oblivion.

He raised his hand, and a blast of energy struck me squarely. I was thrown backward, my body crashing hard against a fallen beam. The pain was instantaneous, but I ignored it. Every wasted second was a victory for him.

"You never understood," he snarled, his eyes burning like black stars. "Power isn’t given. It’s taken. And if I can’t take what is mine by right, then no one will."

Thorne raised both hands to the cracked sky above us, and a spiral of dark energy formed, swirling like a funnel that sucked all matter around it. The ground shattered like glass, and a fierce wind pushed us backward as the planet's core began to collapse.

I crawled to Lena, my heart pounding in my chest. "We need to get out of here!"

"How?" she screamed, her voice lost in the roar of the apocalypse around us. "There’s nowhere left to go!"

She was right. The entire planet was on the verge of collapse, and there were no ships or portals to take us away. This was our last battle. And with every passing second, Thorne grew more powerful — feeding off the destruction he had invoked.

But no matter how strong he was, I wouldn’t give up on her. Not here. Not now.

With my lungs burning and my muscles pleading for rest, I gathered my last strength and took Lena's hand. "Let’s end this together."

She nodded, a mix of fear and determination in her eyes.

We both charged toward Thorne, a final desperate effort against the inevitable tide of shadows. He saw us coming, and for the first time, a look of surprise — perhaps even respect — flickered in his eyes.

"Idiots," he whispered, almost as if he were admiring us.

And then, everything exploded.

The planet's core finally collapsed, unleashing a colossal explosion of light and darkness. The ground vanished beneath our feet, and we were hurled into the air, engulfed by a wave of pure chaos. I felt my body shatter in the turbulence, as if my soul were being torn into pieces and cast into the void of space.

Everything went dark.

There was no sound, no light, no form. Just an infinite emptiness.

For a moment, I thought this was it. That this would be the end.

But then, something ignited — a small spark of consciousness.

My mind slowly returned to the present. A biting cold enveloped me, sharp as invisible blades, and my breath was ragged. I didn’t know where I was or how I was still alive, but I sensed something was wrong.

I opened my eyes.

Nothing.

I floated in a sea of darkness, with no ground beneath my feet and no horizon in sight. Lena was not by my side. Nor was Thorne. Just me... and the eternal void.

My mind spun, trying to make sense of the impossible. Was I dead? Was this what came next?

Then, amidst the darkness, a faint light flickered. It was distant, fragile, like a star lost in the chaos. But it was something.

And I needed to reach it.

I began to move — or at least tried. My body felt heavy, as if I were swimming against an invisible current. But I wouldn’t give up. I had to know what that light meant.

With each step, the light grew a little closer, though each advance took more strength than I thought I could muster. I was alone. But it didn’t matter. I had to keep going.

Finally, when the light was almost within reach, a voice echoed around me.

"Kael..."

It was soft, distant, yet unmistakable. Lena.

"Lena!" I shouted back, my desperate voice lost in the darkness. "I’m here! Hold on!"

The light flickered, as if responding to the sound of my voice. It was not just a simple star. It was something more. Something I needed to reach before it vanished forever.

But when I extended my hand to touch it, the light abruptly extinguished, and a wave of cold energy enveloped me, pulling me back.

"No..." I whispered, trying to fight against the current that was dragging me away.