In the city of Eryndell, power was not a privilege—it was a birthright. Every person was born with a Mark, an intricate symbol etched onto their skin, representing the ability they would one day awaken. Some had flames curling around their wrists, destined to command fire. Others bore shimmering waves, granting control over water. The rarest of all were those with the Void Mark—an inky black spiral—said to hold power over reality itself.

  Seventeen-year-old Kael had no Mark.

  For years, he had endured the stares, the whispers, the pity. In a world where power defined your place, he was nothing. A mistake. A flaw in the system of nature. Even his parents, powerful healers, avoided speaking of his condition.

  But everything changed the day the sky cracked open.

  A jagged tear split the heavens, and from within, shadows spilled out—creatures of shifting darkness with eyes like burning coals. The Marked rose to fight, their powers clashing against the invaders, but the creatures were relentless, devouring magic itself. The strongest warriors fell one by one.

  Then Kael felt it. A pulse beneath his skin. A burning sensation in his chest.

  He looked down.

  A Mark was forming—slowly, painfully—searing into his flesh. But it was unlike any Mark before. It was not an element, not a force of nature. It was a swirling mass of shifting colors, ever-changing, never settling. The creatures turned toward him, as if recognizing something familiar.

  And Kael understood.

  He wasn’t born without power. He was born with all of them.

  With a single breath, he raised his hand, and the world around him bent to his will. Fire, water, earth, and air swirled together, forming a storm of energy. The shadows recoiled. For the first time, they feared.

  Because Kael was not just Marked.

  He was the beginning of something new.

  The Marked Ones: Awakening

  The power surged through Kael like a tidal wave, crashing against the barriers of his body, demanding to be unleashed. He barely had time to process it before the creatures lunged toward him, their twisted forms shifting like living nightmares.

  Instinct took over.

  Kael raised his hands, and the elements answered. A wall of fire erupted between him and the creatures, the flames roaring with unnatural intensity. The invaders shrieked and recoiled, their dark bodies sizzling as the fire consumed them. But Kael wasn't finished.

  With a thought, the ground beneath him trembled. Stone cracked and lifted, forming jagged spikes that impaled the nearest shadows. Winds howled around him, whipping the darkness into a vortex of air and lightning. The sky itself seemed to respond to his call, light bending unnaturally as the power within him swelled.

  The remaining creatures hesitated. They had torn through the most powerful Marked in Eryndell with ease. But Kael was different.

  He was beyond anything they had ever encountered.

  "Kael!" A voice cut through the chaos.

  He turned to see Liora, his childhood friend, her arms glowing with golden light. Her Mark—a pair of radiant wings etched into her skin—allowed her to soar above the battlefield. But now, her usually confident expression was filled with something else.

  Fear.

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  Not of the creatures.

  Of him.

  Kael took a step forward, but the ground beneath him shattered with his movement. He gasped. The power wasn’t just flowing through him—it was consuming him. He could feel his body struggling to contain it, his mind slipping into something primal, something overwhelming.

  A sharp pain flared in his chest. The Mark, still shifting wildly, pulsed like a living thing.

  Was this why he had been born without a Mark? Because his power was never meant to exist?

  The creatures sensed his hesitation. Their fear faded, replaced by hunger. They surged forward.

  Liora dove toward him, golden energy crackling at her fingertips. "Kael, focus! You can control this!"

  He clenched his fists, forcing his power to obey. The flames receded, the winds calmed, the earth stilled. His breathing was ragged, his body shaking. But he wasn't done yet.

  Summoning every ounce of willpower, he thrust his hands forward—this time not with raw destruction, but with purpose. The swirling energy around him condensed, forming a sphere of shimmering power. The creatures howled in protest as it expanded, swallowing them in radiant light.

  Then, silence.

  The shadows were gone. The sky stitched itself back together.

  Kael dropped to his knees, his vision swimming. Liora landed beside him, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder. "You're not alone in this," she said, her voice firm. "We'll figure this out together."

  Kael met her gaze, his heart still hammering.

  He had been nothing for so long. Now, he was something impossible. A force that could save—or destroy—the world.

  And he had no idea which it would be.

  ---

  The ruins of Eryndell smoldered under the weight of the battle. What had once been a city of brilliance now lay cracked and broken. The streets were littered with debris, shattered stone, and scorch marks where Marked warriors had made their last stand.

  Kael stood amidst it all, his heart still racing. He could feel the weight of his new power pressing against him, like a dam barely holding back a flood. He had driven the creatures away—for now. But he knew they would return.

  Liora watched him carefully, her golden eyes flickering with concern. "We need to leave before the Council arrives."

  "The Council?" Kael asked, still breathless.

  Liora nodded. "They’ll see what happened here. And when they find out it was you who wielded this power…" She hesitated, her wings twitching slightly. "They won't see a savior, Kael. They’ll see a threat."

  Kael clenched his fists. He had spent his entire life as an outcast, ignored and pitied. Now, he had the one thing that defined power in their world, and they were going to fear him for it?

  "Let them come," he muttered.

  Liora grabbed his arm. "You don’t understand. The Council controls the Balance. The Marked exist under their laws, their rule. No one is supposed to wield more than one power. And you…" She gestured toward his Mark, still shifting and twisting on his skin like a living thing. "You are everything they fear."

  A chill ran through Kael. He had only just begun to understand what he was. What if she was right? What if the Council didn’t care that he had saved Eryndell? What if they only cared that he was different?

  Then, from behind them, a slow, deliberate clap echoed through the ruined square.

  Kael and Liora turned.

  A man in flowing silver robes stood atop the rubble, his presence commanding. His Mark—a perfect black circle in the center of his forehead—gleamed ominously. Two other Marked warriors flanked him, their eyes cold and unreadable.

  "Kael of No Mark," the man said, his voice smooth yet laced with danger. "It seems nature was not as blind as we thought."

  Kael’s muscles tensed. He didn’t know this man, but he could feel the weight of his power, the authority in his stance.

  Liora whispered urgently, "That’s Grandmaster Varyn. One of the High Council."

  Varyn smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "The power you wield is an impossibility. The very laws of the Marked are built upon balance, and yet you… you have none." He took a slow step forward. "Do you know what happens to things that disrupt the Balance?"

  Kael’s fingers twitched. He could feel his power stirring, responding to his emotions. He wasn’t about to kneel before some self-righteous ruler who had ignored him his whole life.

  Liora gripped his wrist tightly. "Kael. Don’t."

  But Varyn was already raising a hand. A pulse of dark energy rippled from his palm, and the ground beneath Kael’s feet cracked. "You will come with us, willingly or otherwise."

  The air grew thick with tension.

  Kael’s breath was steady as he met Varyn’s gaze. He had spent his whole life as nothing. But now, the world would know exactly what he was.

  A force unlike anything before.

  He let the power rise.

  And the sky shattered once more.