Exiled Mage of the Outlands

To celebrate the new collection this book received , I've decided to release two extra chapters today, and for every additional collection there will be a following release of two extra chapters 🥳🥳🥳🥳 

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The wind shifted.

Not the kind that whispered leaves or carried morning mist.This wind was dry.Soot-laced.Wrong.

Kael paused at the edge of the overgrown ravine, hand resting on the bark of a dead tree, his breath turning sharp in his throat.

"I smell it too," Riven said quietly beside him.

Ash.

They'd left the Lifebinder ruins at dawn. With no clear direction, they moved south through the old growth, staying off main paths, tracking leyline currents that pulsed faintly beneath the earth. For a while, things had felt normal. As normal as it ever got for two wanted fugitives bound by ancient magic and hunted by a godless mage order.

But now…

Kael's stomach clenched. "Something's burning."

Riven pulled her hood over her hair. "Or someone."

They crested the ridge slowly.

Below, a small hunter's camp had been reduced to charcoal and bone. Trees surrounding the clearing were half-melted, branches dripping black sap. A deer carcass steamed nearby, untouched.

Kael's magic flared instinctively.

Not defensive.Reflexive.Like it recognized this.

"It wasn't wildfire," Riven said. "That was controlled."

Kael nodded tightly. "Flamecaster."

"Not Circle?"

He pointed to the sigil burned into a rock: a curling snake of smoke coiled around a sun.

Riven sucked in a breath. "First Flame."

Kael's blood turned to ice. "They know I'm alive."

A sudden buzzing pressure rang in his ears.

Not outside.

Inside.

A voice, unfamiliar and ancient, coiled around his skull like smoke.

They will burn the world to find you, Kal'Veyr… unless you burn it first.

He staggered.

Riven caught him. "Kael—!"

He gripped her wrist, gasping. "It's not me. It's him. He's waking up."

She dropped to her knees with him, her forehead pressed to his, her voice a razor through the haze. "Listen to me. You are not his vessel. You are not his puppet. You are Kael."

His breathing slowed.

Bit by bit.

The voice faded.

But the echo of its promise remained.

That night, they camped under a canopy of twisting branches, deep within the tangled reaches of the Hollowpine woods. Riven sharpened her blades in silence. Kael sat across the fire, jaw clenched, eyes on the flames that seemed too drawn to his presence.

Riven finally broke the silence.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Kael stared at the fire. "It wasn't just a vision. He… spoke to me."

Riven stood, crossed the fire, and sat beside him. Close enough for warmth. Close enough to remind him he wasn't alone.

"What did he say?"

Kael swallowed. "That I should burn the world before it burns me."

A beat of silence.

Then, softly: "Is that what you want?"

He looked at her—really looked. Silver eyes reflecting firelight. The curve of her lips, the scar along her jaw, the fingers that had traced his skin last night like he was something sacred.

"No," he whispered. "All I want is to be a man who doesn't destroy the things he loves."

Her eyes flickered. "Then hold on to that."

Later, as the fire died and the forest quieted, Kael felt Riven curl against him under the blanket they shared. Not out of cold. Not out of fear.

Out of need.

Her hand found his in the dark.

He turned, eyes searching hers in the glow of fading embers.

"Why are you still here?" he asked, barely breathing.

Riven traced the Lifebinder mark over his heart with her thumb.

"Because I saw you fall," she said. "And you still stood up. Not for revenge. Not for glory. You stood for me."

Kael's throat tightened. "I don't know how long I can hold him back."

"Then let me help you hold him."

And she kissed him—not with hunger, but with certainty.

It was quiet.

Unrushed.

But it shook Kael more than flame ever could.

They didn't make love again that night.

Not out of hesitation.

But because some things are stronger than fire.

Like the promise of a hand holding yours when your blood begins to whisper betrayal.

Far away, unseen, a figure in red bone armor crouched beside the smoldering remains of the camp Kael and Riven had found earlier.

She dipped her fingers into the ash. Brought it to her lips. Tasted the burn.

Then smiled.

"Found you."