The wind whipped through the skeletal remains of the skyscraper, bearing with it the acrid smell of smoke and ruin. Valor stood near the edge, his cape torn and fluttering, his mask cracked and showing a sliver of his weathered face. Opposite him, Dusk leaned against a jagged steel beam, his dark armor streaked with dirt, his helmet tucked under one arm. Flickering orange light from fires below cast long shadows between them."You let this happen," Dusk said, breaking the silence. The wind whipped around fluttering their coats. "You stood by while the world rotted. You watched as the vultures picked it apart, and you did nothing."Valor's eyes were level with his: "I have done what I could, Dusk. I saved lives; I gave them hope.""Hope?" Dusk snorted, wrenching himself off the beam and starting to pace as the heavy boots crunched on broken glass. "Hope is a coward's word. It's something you hang onto when you are too afraid to act. Hope was not what the world needed from you, it neede

Valor stood at the center of the courtroom, staring blankly. The council had given their verdict and they’d decided that he was guilty. He didn't say a word, however he took their faces in one after the other. People he’d once called comrades were standing right in front of him and they all had the same look on their face. They wanted this, and they were all relieved.“It is sad to see a hero go down like this,” one of the soldiers behind him said but he didn't really care, all that mattered at the moment was his son’s soul that was laying peacefully on one of the pulpits in the far corner.Valor's breathing quickened as the guards neared him. His body shook now, but not from fear; it trembled with the pure rage coursing through his veins. He glanced at the power negating cuffs on his wrist and he couldn't even feel the last flicker of power that was supposed to be left in him.“Hey, old hero,” the soldier teased again. “How does it feel to be restrained in the very court that you onc

She placed her weapon back into the pouch and glanced at him, her eyes relaxed in relief. She walked forward and pulled open the wooden cage. Valor stepped out quietly, gazing at her with curiosity. “How do you know Ravian?” He demanded. “You ask a lot of questions,” she replied. “Follow me, I will take you to him and you can ask him all the questions you want to ask?” Valor sighed and decided to obey, he knew he wasn't going to get much from her. “If you can't tell me about Ravian, can you tell me what this place is?” He demanded. “I mean, I have been here for about three years and I still can't figure out where the hell I am, except it being desolate and dangerous. Sometimes it feels like I am breathing poison.” The girl glanced at him. “First tell me how you came across an Astral Sanctum,” she replied as they trudged forward.“I made it,” he said succinctly. “To save my son.” Lia hesitated, her green eyes flicking between him and the box. “You expect me to believe you’re some

The world dissolved into hues of colours as Valor felt himself floating beyond a place where no sound could reach, nor could any thought, feeling or duality. It was a realm that seemed to mimic boundlessness. “Huff and puff,” something escaped his lips and it echoed within the silence of this illusory world. Somehow reality and all that is or was didn't matter to him anymore, he felt weightless. However, after a while, he could hear screams and noises. Even though both his eyes were closed, he could somehow see what was going on around him like he was a third person observer, watching the world through a fourth dimensional lens. He saw Ravian being pinned down by multiple mercenaries and he saw Lia holding on to the lifeless corpse of her sister as she was being dragged away. He could in fact feel all their pain. “Stop,” he tried to murmur but the words that came out were. “Huff and Puff.” And soon after, his eyes closed up. After what seemed like an eternity in blankness. A blue