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Chapter 10: The Ash Pact
The skies over Elarion turned the color of dying embers.
Far from the green sanctuary of Verdenthorn, across cracked deserts and the bones of empires, the Ashlands stirred. Smoke billowed from the volcanic pits. The ground trembled.
At the center of it all stood a blackened spire—Obsidia, home of the Ash Pact, keepers of the Flame Ring.
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A Message in Fire
In the Verdenthorn grove, Kaelen watched the Nature Ring spin slowly in his hand, its glow dimmer than the others. He looked to Aeris.
"They're calling the Flame," he said. "I can feel it."
Before she could answer, a falcon made of fire dove through the trees and exploded into embers—leaving behind only a message scorched into the grass:
"Bring the rings. Or burn with them."
Aeris narrowed her eyes. "That's an invitation to war."
Kaelen nodded grimly. "We ride for Obsidia."
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Crossing the Deadlands
Their path took them through the Deadlands, a stretch of cursed terrain where nothing grew and shadows whispered secrets. At night, Kaelen dreamt of fire—of a voice behind the flames whispering:
"Four rings. Four chains. Break them all, or be broken."
Each time he woke, the Fate Ring burned hotter.
Aeris kept silent, but he could see worry in her eyes. The more rings Kaelen held, the more he changed. His memories sharpened. His gaze grew colder.
And something inside him stirred.
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The Flame Queen
At the gates of Obsidia, fire danced on stone. The Flame Queen, Seraphine of the Cinder Veil, greeted them with a smile that could melt steel. Her hair was molten copper, her eyes twin furnaces.
"You've come far," she said. "For power you barely understand."
Kaelen stood firm. "I came to stop what's coming."
Seraphine laughed. "Then you are already too late. The rings are waking. The world must follow."
She held up her hand, and the Flame Ring blazed.
Aeris stepped forward. "What do you want, Seraphine?"
Seraphine's smile faded. "Balance. Ten rings, ten rulers. The world was meant to burn, then begin again. It's written in the Pact."
Kaelen's voice was steel. "I won't let that happen."
Seraphine narrowed her eyes. "Then let's see if your fate burns brighter than mine."
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A Duel of Fire and Fate
Flames erupted. Kaelen drew power from all three rings—Fate, Frost, Nature—and the ground itself screamed.
The duel ignited the sky.
Ring against ring.
Will against destiny.
But even as they clashed, the Herald of Ten watched from afar, smiling.
Because every strike brought Kaelen closer… to unlocking the final ring.
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