The Progenitors rose from their prisons like gods waking from a nightmare, and Lincoln could only watch.He lay on the cold stone of the forge, barely conscious, his body broken, his soul empty. The void was gone. The power that had defined him for so long was gone. He was just a man now fragile, mortal, helpless.And the Progenitors were free.They emerged from the shattered prisons one by one, their vast forms filling the void like storms filling a sky. They were terrible and beautiful, ancient and powerful beyond measure. Some were shaped like humans, others like Elders, others like nothing Lincoln had ever seen. They were beings of pure thought and will, and their presence made the void tremble.Kaela was beside him, her blade drawn, her body positioned between him and the emerging gods. Sylara and Vorlag flanked her, their forms dim with fear but steady with resolve."Stay behind us," Kaela said. "Don't move."Lincoln wanted to argue. He wanted to stand. But his body would not ob

Lincoln had no power left, and that was precisely why he was still alive.He lay on the cold stone of the void, his body broken, his soul empty. The void was gone. The power that had defined him for so long was gone. He was just a man now, fragile and mortal. But he was still breathing. He was still thinking. And he was still fighting.The rogue Progenitor loomed above them, its form a storm of rage and shadow. It had already struck down Kaela, Sylara, and Vorlag. It had scattered the freed Elders like leaves in a hurricane. And now it turned its black eyes toward Lincoln."You," it hissed. "You did this. You chained us. You condemned us.""I freed you," Lincoln said, his voice hoarse. "I gave you a chance to leave in peace. You chose violence.""I chose freedom. True freedom. Not the illusion you offered."The rogue raised its hand. The void energy crackled around it, dark and hungry.Lincoln closed his eyes. He th