The Ember Tower no longer burned alone.
Its light had sparked a thousand echoes — across the ruins of Ashvale, across the maps the Crown had long abandoned. And now, those echoes moved.
Flameborn.
Not soldiers. Not rebels.
But descendants of fire, answering a call they never expected to hear again.
[System Update: Regional Flame Signal Detected | Active Threads Linked: 46 | Passive Echoes Pending: 112]
Selina moved along the ridge, her scout lens scanning the horizon. "Three more clusters responding southeast. One's got pulse rifles. The other two are forging weapons old-style. Hammer and memory."
Kael leaned against a stone, sharpening a blade he hadn't drawn in weeks. "So… this is real? Not just one village. A network?"
Ava dropped a flame pin into a map crystal. "More than that. It's structure. Sovereign-era echo bases reactivating. And someone's leading it."
They looked at Rivan.
He wasn't standing at the center.
