Lightning Throne

The final door stood open.

Beyond it, an immense chamber stretched into darkness, its towering walls lined with glowing veins of pulsing energy. The air inside was different—thicker, heavier, humming with an ancient power that Kael could feel pressing against his skin.

He stepped forward, his pulse matching the rhythmic crackle of static in the air. Veyra and Ryven followed closely behind, their hands instinctively hovering near their weapons. The three coliseum warriors they had brought along stayed back, their expressions uncertain.

No one spoke.

Because they could all feel it.

Something was watching.

At the center of the chamber, the throne awaited.

It was unlike anything Kael had ever seen—massive, constructed from blackened metal and woven with arcs of frozen lightning. Its surface was carved with symbols of the Stormborn, etched deep into its structure like a story waiting to be read.

And standing before it, waiting in silence, was the guardian.

The armored warrior who had summoned the trials, the one who had tested them from the moment they entered the fortress, now faced Kael directly.

The moment Kael stepped into the room, the doors slammed shut behind them.

There was no turning back.

The warrior spoke, their voice steady, unshaken. "You have endured the trials of strength and will." Their helmet gleamed under the flickering blue glow of the chamber. "Now, only one test remains."

Kael exhaled slowly. "Let me guess. A fight?"

The warrior tilted their head slightly, as if amused. "If you wish to claim the Stormborn Throne, you must prove you are its rightful heir. This is not a battle of power, but of mastery."

Kael's fingers twitched. He had felt it the moment he entered the chamber—the energy here was alive, shifting in ways even he couldn't fully understand. This wasn't just a test of raw strength.

This was about control.

The warrior raised a hand, and instantly, the entire chamber reacted.

Lightning erupted from the throne, streaking across the walls and floor, forming a vast storm that surged outward like a living force.

And at its center, the guardian vanished.

Then, they attacked.

Kael barely had time to register the movement before the warrior was on him—faster than anything he had faced before. A blade of pure electricity formed in their grasp, cutting through the air as Kael twisted away, narrowly avoiding the strike.

The energy in the room flared, pulsing in waves, and Kael felt himself losing control.

His own charge—**his power—**was being thrown into chaos.

Veyra moved to help, but the guardian lifted a hand—and an invisible force slammed into her, launching her back.

"No interference," the warrior commanded.

Kael grit his teeth. He was on his own.

The fight shifted instantly.

Every time Kael moved, the storm moved with him.

The air itself became an extension of the battlefield, responding to the guardian's presence. They weren't just fighting Kael. They were bending the entire room against him.

Kael ducked under another strike, rolling across the floor as lightning coiled around his arms, unstable and uncontained.

He struck out with a blast of energy—but the guardian didn't even try to block it.

Instead, they redirected it.

Kael's own attack twisted midair, reversing course and slamming into his chest before he could react. The impact sent him skidding across the ground, the charge running through his body and scrambling his senses.

Ryven winced. "That looked painful."

Veyra forced herself to her feet, her fists clenched. "They're not just stronger. They're controlling the current itself."

Kael coughed, forcing himself up. He couldn't fight this like a normal battle.

The guardian wasn't using brute force.

They were flowing with the storm.

Kael's mind raced. His instincts screamed at him to counter, to push back with everything he had—but that was exactly why he was losing.

The more he fought, the more he was being turned against himself.

That was the lesson.

This wasn't about who was stronger.

It was about who understood the storm better.

Kael exhaled, his muscles relaxing.

He closed his eyes.

Felt the energy, not as an obstacle—but as part of him.

When the next attack came, he didn't resist.

The blade of energy sliced toward him—and instead of dodging, Kael stepped into it.

The weapon passed through him harmlessly.

The energy bent around his body, as if it had always belonged to him.

The guardian paused.

Kael opened his eyes, and for the first time, he wasn't struggling.

The lightning crackling around him obeyed him.

The storm recognized him.

The guardian lowered their weapon.

"You understand now," they said.

Kael straightened, the energy pulsing at his fingertips. He did.

"Power is not domination," the guardian continued. "It is not resistance. It is not the ability to crush your enemies."

Kael nodded. "It's about balance."

The guardian studied him for a moment before nodding. Then, with deliberate slowness, they stepped aside.

"The throne is yours to claim."

The room fell silent.

Kael turned toward the Stormborn Throne, feeling its power coiled within the metal, waiting for him.

This was it.

The moment everything changed.

He took a step forward—then another—until he stood before it, the arcs of energy welcoming his presence.

Then, he reached out.

The second his hand touched the throne, light exploded through the chamber.

His mind was ripped from reality.

Kael was no longer in the fortress.

He was standing in the middle of a battlefield.

A world of storm and flame, of warships clashing in the skies, of warriors wreathed in lightning fighting for their survival.

He saw them.

The true Stormborn.

Not as myths. Not as legends.

As they were.

Kael watched them lead entire fleets, wielding the storm as a weapon unlike anything in existence. He saw their war—their final stand against the Dominion.

And he saw their fall.

One by one, they were torn from the sky. The storm faded, their weapons buried, their name erased.

Except for one thing.

One final warship, carrying the last survivors.

Escaping.

Hiding.

Waiting.

Kael gasped as the vision snapped away, his body slamming back into the throne room.

His breath came in short, uneven gasps. His mind still reeled from what he had seen.

The Stormborn weren't just warriors.

They had been gods of war.

And the Dominion had tried to erase them.

But now?

Kael had claimed the last remnant of their power.

The war wasn't over.

It was about to begin.

Author's Note:

Kael has officially claimed the Stormborn Throne, unlocking the truth about their past—and the power that was lost.

But what he saw in that vision changes everything.

The Dominion didn't just wipe out the Stormborn.

They were hiding something.

Next chapter: Secrets of the Stormborn. Let me know your thoughts! ⚡🔥

You said:next

ChatGPT said:Volume 2, Chapter 6: Secrets of the Stormborn

Kael sat motionless on the Stormborn Throne, his mind still reeling from the visions that had just flooded through him. He had expected power, maybe even pain—but not this.

Not the truth.

The Stormborn had been more than just warriors. They had ruled the battlefield, not as conquerors, but as forces of nature, bending the storm to their will, commanding warships that could turn the tide of entire wars.

And the Dominion had tried to erase them.

Not just from history, but from existence itself.

The energy surrounding the throne flickered, its power slowly stabilizing around him. The guardian—the ancient warrior who had tested him through the trials—stood silently before him, their helmeted face unreadable.

Veyra and Ryven stepped forward cautiously. They had seen the throne light up, seen Kael's body shudder as the vision took hold, but they hadn't seen what he had.

Kael let out a slow breath. He needed a second to process everything.

But he didn't have time.

Because they weren't alone.

The fortress reacted the moment the throne was claimed.

The energy barriers shifted, releasing locked doors across the structure.

And deep within the forgotten halls of Zepharion, something woke up.

The Dominion had never found this place.

But something else had.

Kael finally rose from the throne, his hands still crackling with residual energy. He turned to the guardian. "What did I just see?"

The armored warrior studied him for a moment before speaking.

"You have seen the fall," they said. "The moment our kind was undone."

Kael's mind raced. "Why did the Dominion wipe them out? What were they afraid of?"

The guardian's stance shifted slightly. "They feared what we could become."

Kael frowned. "And what's that?"

The warrior's helmeted face tilted toward the ceiling, as if listening for something beyond the walls. Then they looked back at him.

"You are not ready for that answer."

Kael's patience snapped. "I didn't go through your trials just to be left in the dark! You wanted me to prove myself—fine. I did. Now tell me what I just inherited."

For a moment, the chamber was silent.

Then, the guardian slowly raised a hand. The walls of the throne room began shifting, revealing ancient carvings and murals beneath layers of time-worn dust.

Kael's breath caught in his throat.

They depicted Stormborn warships, fleets of them, lined up in formation. Warriors wreathed in lightning stood atop them, commanding the storms as weapons.

But at the end of the murals, the final image sent a chill through Kael's body.

It wasn't just war.

It was destruction.

The final carving showed a planet collapsing in on itself, its core breaking apart, lightning devouring its surface like a dying sun.

Veyra took a step closer. "That… doesn't look like a battle."

The guardian nodded. "Because it was not."

They turned back to Kael.

"The Stormborn did not just fight wars," they said. "They wielded the storm as a force of creation and destruction alike. And in their final moments… they unleashed something even they could not control."

Kael's heart pounded. "What do you mean?"

The warrior was silent for a long time before finally speaking.

"The Dominion did not defeat the Stormborn."

Kael's blood ran cold.

"The Stormborn defeated themselves."

The words settled over the chamber like thunder.

Kael couldn't move, couldn't even breathe. The Dominion hadn't wiped them out?

Then… what had?

The guardian continued, voice steady. "We were the architects of our own undoing. In our hunger for power, we sought to push beyond the limits of the storm. To bend it, shape it into something more than what the universe allowed."

Kael clenched his fists. "You mean… a weapon?"

The guardian turned slightly. "A force. One that could turn a world to dust with a single command."

Kael felt the weight of that truth settle into his bones.

The Stormborn had been unstoppable warriors, beings of lightning and war. But they had also been something else—something far more dangerous.

They had played with power that should never have been controlled.

And they had paid the price.

Veyra's voice was quiet. "Is that why the Dominion fears us?"

The guardian nodded.

"The Dominion did not wish to erase you out of hatred," they said. "They did so out of fear. Because if the Stormborn were to rise again, there is only one question left unanswered."

Kael forced himself to ask. "What question?"

The guardian turned to him, the glow of their helmet reflecting the energy of the throne.

"Will you repeat our mistakes?"

The question hung between them like a blade.

Kael knew this wasn't just a warning. It was a challenge.

He had claimed the throne. He had proven himself.

But power alone wasn't enough.

Would he use it the same way the Stormborn had? Would he try to push beyond, to control the uncontrollable?

Or would he find a different path?

Kael took a slow breath. "I don't know."

The guardian didn't react, didn't judge his answer. They only nodded.

"Then let us see."

Before Kael could ask what they meant, a loud tremor shook the fortress.

The walls rumbled, the air crackled with sudden tension.

Ryven pulled a blade free from his belt. "Uh… was that supposed to happen?"

Kael turned to the guardian. "What is that?"

The warrior's head tilted, as if listening. Then, for the first time since they had met, Kael saw something like uncertainty in their stance.

"The fortress has been… disturbed."

Kael's jaw tightened. "By what?"

The guardian hesitated for a fraction of a second.

And then they said something that made Kael's stomach drop.

"Something that should not have woken up."

The lights in the chamber flickered.

A deep, inhuman sound echoed through the fortress, distant but growing closer.

Kael felt his pulse quicken. Whatever was coming…

It was coming fast.

The guardian turned to him, their voice sharper now. "If you would claim the Stormborn's legacy, then prove it here."

They gestured toward the throne. "Use it."

Kael barely had time to process the order before another shockwave rattled the entire fortress, nearly sending him to his knees.

Veyra clenched her fists, stepping into a fighting stance. "I don't know what's coming, but I'm betting it's not friendly."

Kael gritted his teeth, stepping toward the throne.

For centuries, the Stormborn's power had remained buried. Forgotten.

Now, whatever was coming for them…

He would be the first to face it.

And this time, he wasn't running.