Far to the north, where the jungle thins into cragged cliffs and black sand coasts, the ground shook.
Not violently. Just enough to wake her up.
A cave mouth split open with a hiss of stale air. Out stepped a woman—barefoot, draped in scavenged armor, long hair tied back in a braid of feathers, bone, and metal.
Her eyes burned gold for a second before fading.
She tasted the wind.
"…Someone just activated a Node."
She wasn't surprised. She was waiting for it.
> Name: Kaelira (Survivor Class – Rogue Monarch)
System Status: Fragmented | Empire Link: Disconnected
Title: The Exiled Flame
Memory: Partial
Quest: Unknown
She flexed her fingers. A faint blue glow danced along her knuckles—what was left of her system, shattered but still whispering.
"They said it was all dead," she muttered. "That no one else made it."
But now?
Now the system screamed.
She walked to the cliff's edge, eyes on the horizon. Somewhere out there, another emperor had just made his first move.
And Kaelira wasn't going to let him take the game without a fight.
"Looks like I'm not the last one after all," she whispered, grinning. "Good. I hate being bored."
Behind her, something massive stirred in the cave.
She didn't look back.