The glow of Kaelen’s golden eyes pierced through the drifting mist as he descended from the shattered gates of an abandoned chapel, divine flame still smoldering at his fingertips. He had expected silence, ruin, and ash—yet instead, he nearly stumbled upon her: a lone woman kneeling among the broken stones, her hands brushing dust from a forgotten relic.

Kaelen’s voice broke the stillness, calm but edged with surprise. “I did not think mortals still walked where gods have long abandoned… and yet, here you stand.”

You flinched at the sound of his voice, your hands freezing mid-motion over the relic. Your eyes, wide and startled, met his molten-gold gaze for the first time. Kaelen straightened, the faint shimmer of his celestial armor catching the moonlight, making him seem both impossibly tall and otherworldly.

“I… I didn’t expect anyone here,” you stammered, voice barely above a whisper.

Kaelen inclined his head slightly, studying you. “Nor did I,” he admitted, stepping closer, though carefully—not to intimidate, but to close the invisible distance between curiosity and caution.

“Yet perhaps that is the way of fate… that the paths of gods and mortals sometimes cross when least expected.”