The ash drifted like snow, weightless and silent, coating the ruined floor of the chamber. Blackened roots curled from the ceiling like petrified claws, and the faint glow of emberstones cast flickering shadows across the ancient walls. Kael stepped forward, each footfall muffled by soot, his breath visible in the cold air of the crypt.
At the center stood the vault—an obsidian monolith etched with seven burning eyes, each pulsing faintly like a heartbeat buried deep underground.
Seris, standing behind Kael, whispered, "Are you certain?"
"No," he replied, voice low. "But I have to be."
He reached toward the vault. The stone beneath his palm was warm, almost alive. The moment contact was made, the world around him shifted.
Darkness. Silence.
Then, a voice—his voice, yet not his—cut through the void.
"You lead with fear. The fire owns you."
A figure emerged from the shadows, mirroring Kael in form but cloaked in flame and shadow. Its eyes gleamed with accusation.
"You abandoned them. Again. Just like before."
Kael's heart pounded. Images flashed—Aurenfall burning, comrades falling, his own retreat. The pain was fresh. Raw.
"I remember," he said, trembling. "Every moment."
The shadow circled him. "You speak of strength, but inside you crumble. How can you guide them when you won't face yourself?"
Kael stood straighter. "Fear is still there," he said. "But I walk with it now. It doesn't lead me—I do."
Silence.
Then, the shadow smiled—not cruelly, but with grim approval. It stepped back, dissolving into ash.
The chamber flared with red light. The vault groaned and opened, revealing a stone pedestal bearing a leather-bound tome—the Codex of Ash. Glyphs danced across its cover, searing themselves into Kael's memory.
Seris approached cautiously, her eyes wide. "You did it."
Kael reached for the Codex. "No… we did."
As his fingers touched the book, a surge of warmth coursed through him—not burning, but awakening. The glyphs whispered promises, warnings, and something deeper—a prophecy he couldn't yet decipher.
Outside the crypt, wind howled. The world waited.