Leon slept.
His body rested beside the dying campfire, deep in the forest above the ruin.
Astha kept watch, her spellbook on her lap, but even she couldn't sense what stirred inside his dreams.
Inside Leon's mind, fire flickered.
Then... he saw it.
đź’¤ The Dream
A field of ash stretched beneath a burning sky. Towers crumbled.
The land cracked with heat.
Leon stood there—but not as himself.
He was seeing through someone else's eyes.
A warrior stood ahead, cloaked in red, flames rising from his shoulders. Behind him, an army of knights bearing the Flameblood crest.
"We swore to protect the seal," the warrior said."But one of us broke the vow."
Another figure appeared—this one cloaked in silver shadows.
His voice was familiar, cold like the one from the Shadowbound.
"Flame cannot protect. It only destroys."
The two clashed—fire against shadow. Light against darkness.
Then… betrayal.
A dagger in the back.Blood in the fire.Screams.
đź—ˇ The Voice Returns
As the vision faded, the voice whispered again in Leon's mind—closer this time. Clear.
"You are not the first Flameblood…""But you are the last."
"And the fire inside you… is not just yours."
🌅 Morning
Leon woke with a gasp. Sweat dripped down his face.Â
The fire mark on his hand glowed faintly, like it had seen the same dream.
Astha was already packing their supplies.
"You're up," she said gently. "Sleep okay?"
Leon sat up slowly. "I saw… the Flamebloods. I think I saw one die. Betrayed by someone they trusted."
Astha looked at him, serious now. "A vision?"
"I don't know," he said. "But the voice—it keeps saying I'm the last."
He stood and looked toward the horizon.
"And I think someone inside the academy knows what really happened to the rest."
🏫 Meanwhile, At Ravenhart Academy…
Headmaster Veylan stood in his tower, hands behind his back.
A letter floated in the air before him—written in fire.
It read:
"He has awakened the Crimson Rite.The flame has remembered."
A cloaked woman stepped into the room, her voice calm.
"Should we bring him back?"
The Headmaster didn't answer for a long time.
Then he said, "No."
"Let him run.""The truth will find him soon enough."