Torrezx walked past the younger warrior, not with the heavy thud of a titan, but with the light, rhythmic step of a man who no longer carried the world on his shoulders. He passed through the Great Hall, where the other Red Legends sat like statues, their eyes glowing behind visors. None moved. To acknowledge his departure was to acknowledge their own mortality.
He reached the heavy iron gates of the outer wall. As he stepped across the threshold, the shimmering red aura that had surrounded him for a lifetime flickered and went out. A sharp pain shot through his chest—the feeling of a heart beating on its own, without the aid of a machine. It was the most wonderful pain he had ever felt.
The Red Legends remained, but the spark was gone. And for the first time in three hundred years, it began to snow on the Citadel. If you'd like to adjust the story, let me know: Torrezx-Leave Red Legends
Torrezx didn’t turn. "That is the lie we told ourselves to justify the burning. We aren't legends because we are powerful, Kaelen. We are legends because we were supposed to protect the things that are fragile. But look at your hands."
Torrezx stood on the precipice of the Ash Gardens, looking down at the city below. To the people, the Red Legends were gods. To Torrezx, they were a cage. He reached up to his helm, the seal hiss-releasing as he pulled it off. The air was cold—sharper and more honest than the recycled heat inside the Citadel. Torrezx walked past the younger warrior, not with
Kaelen looked down. His gauntlets were stained with the soot of "necessary" wars. The Choice
"I am tired of being a monument," Torrezx said softly. He unlatched his chest plate, letting the heavy obsidian-metal crash into the ash. Then the greaves. Then the gauntlets. He stood in simple, frayed tunics, looking smaller, more human, and infinitely more dangerous because he was finally free. To acknowledge his departure was to acknowledge their
He didn't look back at the Citadel. He walked toward the green valley in the distance, where the sun was actually setting, and where the only fire he would ever see again would be in a hearth, shared with friends who knew him only as a man named Torrez.