Location: Gobi Desert, China | Underground Ruins of Jinshan
Two Days Later – Desert Outskirts, Inner Mongolia Border
The sun was merciless.
An ocean of golden dunes stretched in all directions as the team's armored sand crawler hummed across the surface. Every inch of it baked in heat and mystery.
Inside, Arjun stood near the rear window, the ancient scroll laid across a sand-table. Red ink marked their next target—Jinshan, a city said to have vanished beneath the sands during the Second Flame Rebellion. The map bore a strange annotation:
"Here rests the Emperor who never died."
Liu walked over, arms crossed. "You sure this place isn't a myth?"
Ayaka answered from the pilot seat. "Chinese authorities sealed the area off in the '80s. 'Unstable terrain' was the official reason. But I've seen the classified blueprints. There's a city under that sand."
Tharaka chuckled, adjusting his shoulder plate. "A city, an undead emperor, and a ghost army. Sounds like home."
Underground – Beneath Jinshan
Reaching the site was easy.
Uncovering the entrance required something more.
Miren stood before a circular pit half-buried under dunes. Faint whispers in Sanskrit echoed from below. She looked to Arjun. "You need to speak the command. It's encoded into your flame now."
He stepped forward. The words rose in his mind—not from memory, but instinct.
"Arthasaya Vahnijaa."
The sand roared.
With a grinding rumble, the pit's center gave way, revealing a spiral staircase descending into blackness. Cool, dry air rushed up to meet them.
One by one, they descended into a world lost to time.
Level One: The Jade Vestibule
They entered a corridor made of glimmering jade bricks. Carvings along the wall depicted an emperor with wings of ash and eyes like dying stars, seated on a throne of bones.
Arjun's chest burned faintly. He recognized the face.
"I've seen him before. In my dreams."
"Not a dream," Miren corrected softly. "A blood memory."
As they moved, stone statues lined the walls—warriors kneeling, frozen mid-prayer. But their bones showed through rotted robes.
"These were real men," Liu said. "Not carved."
"Preserved by fire," Tharaka whispered.
A sudden gust extinguished their torches.
The corridor grew cold.
The Dead That Speak
The room at the end was circular, domed, and filled with rows of thrones made of bone.
A voice echoed from the darkness.
"Who dares enter the realm of the Everflame?"
A skeletal figure stepped forward—taller than any human, with ivory armor fused into bone, its eyes twin flames.
Ayaka drew her blade. "Stand down, or—"
"Wait," Arjun said.
The figure turned toward him.
"The Son… returns."
Arjun felt his legs weaken. He couldn't breathe.
The figure dropped to one knee.
"I am Emperor Zhen. Once loyal to your mother, the Phoenix Queen. Now guardian of her tomb… and yours."
Liu lowered her weapon. "He knows you?"
Arjun stepped forward. "Tell me everything."
Zhen's Tale
Centuries ago, Zhen had been one of the Five Immortal Kings—generals created by the Phoenix Queen using a combination of the Godfire and ancient alchemy.
When the Phoenix Empire fell, Zhen buried his legion and sealed himself beneath the sand, awaiting the heir.
"You are that heir," Zhen said. "But others now seek what your mother died protecting."
He lifted his skeletal hand and waved it across the floor.
A magical map appeared—cities glowing with golden fire, others pulsing red like infected wounds.
"One by one, the Godfire fragments awaken. If they fall into the wrong hands, the world will burn again."
Arjun nodded, face pale but steady. "What's the next piece?"
Zhen pointed to a blinking symbol near the Black Sea.
"Russia. Below Volgograd. In a vault once held by the Tsardom. Go. I will hold the others off."
A Gift of Bones
Before they left, Zhen pressed a hand to Arjun's chest.
Ash bloomed across Arjun's skin like a tattoo—a phoenix of bone and flame.
"This mark will awaken your deeper gifts. But beware—your enemies will see it too."
As the group ascended the staircase, the bones of the dead stirred behind them.
Zhen stood before them, arms spread.
"Come then, false heirs. Let me teach you why the Empire was feared."
On the Surface
Back at the crawler, they loaded up, hearts heavy.
Inside, Arjun sat in silence.
Ayaka knelt beside him, took his hand.
"You're changing," she said softly.
"I don't know if it's me anymore," he replied.
"You're still you. But you're becoming… more."
The crawler roared to life, heading west.
In the distance, black smoke began rising from the desert.
The first battle for the fragments had begun.