The moment Serayah stepped into the center of the vault, the world changed.
The scorched stones beneath her feet pulsed with ancient warmth, as if the breath of the gods had been sealed beneath them. The others—Amina, Ashar, and Kai—stood just behind her, weapons sheathed, eyes wide. The silence that filled the Vault of Embers was not empty. It was expectant.
"This is it," Serayah said, her voice hushed, reverent. "The place where Amariel divided the Flame."
Above them, the ceiling shimmered with tongues of suspended fire—each flicker a memory, each flick a breath of something once divine.
Amina took a step forward. "Do you feel that?" she asked. "The hum. It's… calling."
Ashar, his hand on the hilt of his sword, didn't reply. His eyes scanned the murals burned into the blackstone walls. Serpents of flame. Titans of smoke. A broken crown lying in ashes. And at the center of all of it—Amariel, her face half-shadowed, half-illuminated.
Serayah pressed her hand against the mural. Her skin glowed, the same divine energy bleeding from her veins.
And the Vault answered.
With a shudder.
With a scream.
With a birth.
The Heart of the Flame
From the far end of the chamber, a pedestal rose—slowly, as though remembering its own purpose. Upon it, encased in obsidian and ash, burned a flickering heart. Not a metaphorical one—a real one, suspended in midair, beating slow and heavy.
Kai took a step closer. "That's not just power. That's a soul."
"No," Serayah said. "That's her soul. Amariel's last piece. What she gave up to seal the Black Flame."
Ashar's voice was hoarse. "And now we're about to unseal it."
Amina reached out instinctively—but the heart pulsed, and visions crashed into her mind.
A Vision of the End
Cities devoured by wild flame.
Skies bleeding molten blood.
Lucien, kneeling in ash, his hands trembling.
And above him, a woman with burning hair and empty eyes—Serayah, consumed by the full Flame, no longer human.
"No!" Amina snapped back, reeling.
Serayah caught her. "What did you see?"
"You," Amina said breathlessly. "If we do this, if we unleash it—what's left of you will burn away."
Serayah's jaw clenched. "Then it's the price I'll pay."
A Rift Opens
But the decision was taken from them.
A wave of cold—unnatural, sharp, and hungry—sliced through the room. The heart flickered. Shadows curled into the vault, forming a figure.
Tall. Masked. Cloaked in midnight flame.
Lucien.
But he wasn't alone.
Behind him… stepped another.
Veins of liquid starlight. A smile carved from ruin.
"Vale," Ashar hissed.
Lucien's voice was hollow. "You shouldn't have come here."
"And yet," Serayah replied, stepping in front of the heart, "we're here."
Vale stepped forward. "That heart is not just Amariel's. It is the last tether between realms. Destroy it, and the Flame scatters. Unseal it… and the Old One returns."
Kai growled. "Vaeroth."
The name stopped everything. Even the fire stilled.
Vale smiled. "Very good, child."
The First Flame Unleashed
Serayah didn't wait.
She touched the heart.
It shattered like glass.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
The Vault exploded in color and pain and memory. A vortex of flame rose from the pedestal, wrapping around Serayah's body, lifting her off the ground. Her eyes turned white. Her veins pulsed gold.
The power of Amariel surged through her like a tidal wave.
Kai screamed.
Amina lunged—but was thrown back.
Ashar tried to reach her, but the floor cracked, splitting the chamber.
And from the rift in the heartstone, a new voice spoke.
Low. Layered. Terrifying.
<"I remember…">
Vaeroth had stirred.