The gates of the Pierce estate groaned shut behind them.
Aaron walked ahead of Kain, guiding the barefoot child beside him. "Ashen" gripped his coat tightly, silent since they left Takoba. His pale hand trembled faintly with every gust of wind, but his eyes remained clear—skywashed and watching everything.
Kain sheathed his blade. "The Thorn won't stop there. You'll need to learn fast."
Aaron looked at him, then down at Ashen. "Both of us."
The mansion greeted them with its usual chill. Inside, nothing had changed… and that's what unsettled Aaron most.
Too quiet.
Too still.
They moved through the marble halls until Kain broke away. "I'll alert Lord Pierce."
Aaron led Ashen toward the west wing. He considered the servant quarters, but something pulled him elsewhere.
Not to his own room.
To the library.
---
The western library had always felt… off.
It was built like a cathedral: vaulted ceiling, walls lined with blackwood shelves, books wrapped in velvet, chains, or symbols in languages Aaron still couldn't read. The scent of old ink and secrets clung to the air.
He sat Ashen near a low-reading bench and crouched in front of him. "You okay?"
Ashen nodded.
"Do you know what they wanted from you?"
Ashen's voice came slow, distant. "They said I carry a piece of the storm… That I should've burned with the others."
Aaron's blood ran cold. "Others?"
Ashen's hands twitched. "There were three of us. They took them first. I ran. I think… they were like me."
Aaron sat beside him in stunned silence.
Before he could speak, a breeze drifted through the sealed room.
He turned.
No windows were open. No doors moved.
The temperature dropped. Candles flickered.
And then he saw them.
Eyes.
Dozens of faint, glowing eyes watching from between the books—some wide, some narrow, some human, some... not.
Ashen noticed them too. He clung tighter to Aaron's arm. "The room remembers."
Aaron stood slowly. "This room… is alive?"
Ashen nodded. "It used to belong to a Skyborn. Before the Pierce family stole it."
---
Suddenly, the center of the floor pulsed with blue light.
A glyph ignited beneath their feet—the same glyph Aaron saw in the chamber beyond the blue door.
And in the flicker of that glyph, a projection emerged from the shadows: a woman in royal armor, eyes glowing sky-blue, her face worn but noble.
She stared at Aaron and Ashen, voice echoing like ancient thunder.
> "Lineborn of Sky Flame… If you stand here, then I am no more. You have been hunted. You have burned. And now, you must choose."
Aaron's mouth moved, but no words came.
> "This house is not your cage. It is your crucible. But know this—within these walls lies a truth so heavy, it buried kingdoms. When the fire calls… answer."
Then—light gone. Silence returned.
Ashen collapsed onto the floor, breathing hard.
Aaron lifted him gently. "What the hell was that?"
Behind them, footsteps.
Frankfurt Pierce entered the library, his eyes dark and unreadable.
"You touched the memory glyph," he said simply.
Aaron looked at him. "What did it mean?"
Frankfurt approached. "It means the house has chosen to begin revealing the truth. And you—both of you—are no longer just my guests."
He looked at Ashen. "What's your name, child?"
Ashen hesitated. "He gave me one. Ashen."
Frankfurt studied him. "Fitting."
He turned to Aaron. "Tomorrow… your training begins. Not just with fire. But with memory, blood, and shadow. You've seen what hunts you."
Aaron stood, his voice steel. "I'm done running."
Frankfurt nodded. "Then may the fire show you mercy. Because no one else will."