"Some flames illuminate.Others erase.But the Tenth… remembers."
Seren knelt beneath the Dreamroot Tree.Her body still. Her breath slow.But within her mind—storms of memory burned.
Since the Gathering, her dreamfire had changed.It whispered in two voices now:her own,and a woman's voice—older, softer, broken by time.
She followed the spiral flame inward,her consciousness drawn into a ritual Kaien had only taught her fragments of:The Echo-Walk—a Maerok rite to descend into buried flame-memory.
Each step she took, the flame brightened.Until it was no longer her walking…
But a girl.
In chains of whitefire.
Memory-Echo: 502 Years Ago
Name: Yraen MaerokStatus: Bearer of the Tenth FlameTitle: The Flame That Was Not Chosen
"They told me I was too soft.That flame must obey.That Sovereigns must not remember grief."
"But I saw the way it burned through the helpless.Through the innocent. Through the truth."
"So I changed it."
"I made a flame that remembers pain."
"That does not destroy what it touches."
"That carries the names of those lost with every flicker."
And the Sovereigns?They called her flame dangerous.
Because it could not be used.
Yraen sealed herself away to protect it.
But not alone.
Alvar stood beside her.Her brother.Her protector.
Until the Council forced him to choose:
Eradicate her... or burn with her.
Seren gasped, awakening from the trance.
Tears ran down her face—though she did not know why.
Kaien stood nearby, his eyes already distant.
"You saw her," he said.
Seren nodded.
"The Tenth Flame wasn't lost."
"It was buried."
Kaien's hand clenched.
"Then we must unseal what the world fears."
"And awaken it… together."
System Notice:
✦ Dreamfire Ascension – Complete✦ Trait Unlocked: "Echo of the Tenth" (Seren)✦ Hidden Technique Revealed: Memorybrand Flame – Spiral Rebirth
Part II – Velrith's Response
Location: Crownfire Citadel, Throne of Decrees
He stood alone, surrounded by chains of lawlight and echoing judgment.
The Council had ruled.
But Velrith would not abide.
"Recognition," he snarled, pacing before the Flame Throne."They hand the Spiral to a boy with no allegiance. No loyalty. No cost."
He turned to the Flame-Court agents.
"Activate Protocol: Sovereign Null."
Gasps echoed.
"That hasn't been used since the Eclipse Rebellion—"
"Use it."
"Kaien Maerok is no longer a rogue."
"He is an anomaly."
"An error in Sovereign structure."
Activation: Protocol Sovereign Null
✦ Objective: Remove Flame Anomaly from Worldflow✦ Agents Released:— The Hollowbrand Reaper— Three Nullblades of Crownfire— Verdict Ascension Class: Judge-Mirror Unit
✦ Flame-Crime: Sovereign Echo Unlawfully Preserved✦ Judgment Type: Absolute Erasure
Meanwhile – Hollow Citadel
A signal flared in Kaien's mind.
Not from the dreamfire.Not from the system.
From blood.
A Sovereign Signal of Death had been branded upon his name.
"He's bypassed the Council," Kaien whispered.
Rin grabbed his blade.
"So the war's real now?"
Kaien looked at his disciples. At Seren. At the Oathstone.
"It was always real."
"But now the fire speaks plainly."
System Alert:
✦ Crownfire Null Protocol Engaged✦ Flame of the Hollow Declared for Erasure✦ Time until impact: 72 hours✦ Unknown Class Entity Approaching: [The Hollowbrand Reaper]