Reven didn't sleep that night.
The small cave they'd found on the windward side of the mountain was dry but exposed. The embers of their campfire flickered low, casting distorted shadows against the stone walls. Kaela and Lirien slept in shifts, one always keeping watch. Reven sat apart, staring into the flamecore.
It pulsed faintly in the hollow of his palm, its light ebbing and returning like a second heartbeat.
"You've changed."
Lirien's voice broke the quiet. She stood at the edge of the firelight, cloak drawn tight around her frame, her wings folded behind her like a dark halo.
Reven didn't look up. "Everything's changing."
Lirien stepped closer. "You didn't just find the Flamecore. You activated it. Bonded to it."
"I didn't mean to."
"Doesn't matter," she said. "It chose you. That means something."
Reven finally turned toward her. "What does it mean?"
Lirien's expression was unreadable. "Power like that always comes with a price."
He looked back at the core. "I've paid before."
"This isn't like before," Lirien replied. "This isn't survival. This is transformation."
He let the silence stretch. Then: "Are you afraid of me, Lirien?"
She hesitated. Then nodded once. "Yes. Because I've seen what fire does when it isn't contained."
Reven didn't answer. His fingers closed around the core. The light vanished.
By morning, the mist had thickened and the winds had shifted. Kaela broke camp quickly, checking their gear and tightening the straps on her chest plate.
"There's a pass to the east," she said. "If we cross it before nightfall, we'll reach the ruined city by first light."
Lirien frowned. "The maps call it Veilmar."
Kaela nodded. "It was once a sanctuary."
"Then it's nothing but bones now," Reven said.
Still, they moved.
The climb was brutal. The pass wound through narrow ravines and treacherous ledges, carved by wind and time. Reven said little, keeping to himself. Kaela watched him when she thought he wasn't looking. Lirien flew ahead occasionally, scouting, but returned quickly — wary of being separated too long.
Near dusk, the air changed.
The wind dropped. The temperature rose.
The air smelled of soot.
And then they saw it.
Veilmar.
Or what remained of it.
Black spires jutted from the earth like broken teeth. The city had once been vast — its wide avenues and layered terraces built into the valley's rise. But now it was buried in ash. Ruined. Dead.
Reven stepped forward. The Flamecore pulsed at his side without warning.
Kaela drew her sword.
"Something's here," she whispered.
Lirien's wings fluttered. "Not something. Many somethings."
From the shadows of the shattered buildings, shapes began to stir. Tall, gaunt silhouettes. Hollow eyes. Skin like burned parchment stretched tight over bone.
Ashborn.
"Move!" Kaela shouted.
The creatures came fast — faster than they should have. Reven barely raised his arm before the Flamecore flared in warning. The nearest Ashborn recoiled, hissing. Smoke poured from its mouth.
Kaela slashed another down, its body folding like dry paper.
Lirien launched into the air, spinning mid-flight to release a volley of razor feathers that shredded three more. But they kept coming.
"There's too many!" Kaela shouted.
Reven stood his ground. The Flamecore rose into the air before him, spinning. Light erupted in all directions, a blast of searing heat that turned the first wave of Ashborn to dust.
Still they came.
"Back to the tower!" Lirien called, pointing toward a jagged ruin half-sunken into the valley's edge.
They ran.
The tower's lower levels were half-collapsed, but there was shelter, and a narrow stair that wound up into the fractured spire. They barricaded the door just as the Ashborn reached them.
Reven dropped to one knee, sweat pouring from his face.
Kaela slammed the last crate against the door, breathing hard. "That fire… that wasn't just you, was it?"
Reven looked up at her. His eyes burned faintly.
"I don't know anymore."
The Ashborn shrieked beyond the walls.
Lirien joined them, scanning the room. "We won't hold them long. But this tower, it's older than the rest. There may be something hidden here."
Kaela's eyes narrowed. "Hidden?"
Lirien pointed to the wall, more of the ancient glyphs. "It's another vault."
Reven stood.
Then the voice returned, low and clear, as if whispered directly behind his ear.
You opened the first door, child of cinder. The next leads to your truth.
Reven turned toward the glyphs, the Flamecore lifting again, its light sliding over the symbols.
The wall shifted.
Stone cracked.
And behind it, a staircase descended into the dark.