Elira awoke beneath the shattered ceiling of the Temple of Embers, her breath visible in the icy air, though a fire burned within her. The ember's light still pulsed faintly beneath her ribs — not painful, but alive, as if watching her from inside.
The shadows were gone. The whispers had quieted.
But she was not alone.
A soft scuff echoed through the ruins. She rose quickly, drawing her dagger. A young man stepped into view, unarmed, hood pulled low over his brow. His cloak bore the symbol of the Flame Warden — the order long believed extinct.
> "You're late," he said calmly. "I've been waiting."
> "Who are you?" she asked, eyes narrowed.
> "Kael. I was sent when the ember flared. That means the Pact has seen you now. You've drawn their gaze."
> "I didn't ask for this," Elira muttered.
Kael's gaze softened. "None of us did. But once the ember chooses, you don't walk away. You burn forward."
He turned, motioning toward a descending staircase she hadn't seen before — hidden beneath a fallen stone slab now mysteriously moved.
> "What's down there?" she asked.
> "The Echo Vault," he replied. "The memories of the First Flame. And answers to questions you don't yet know to ask."
Elira hesitated. The idea of stepping deeper into forgotten things chilled her more than the Vale's wind. But her steps followed his, down spiral stairs carved before time had names.
The vault was quiet — not silent. The walls murmured. A great, circular chamber awaited at the bottom, its center filled with a pool of molten light, perfectly still.
Kael reached into his satchel and withdrew a sliver of glass, placing it into the pool. Images swirled to life above it — cities buried in ash, creatures bound in fire, and a tower taller than any mountain.
> "This," Kael said, "is Mareth's Gate. The source of the dark. He opened it once. And he intends to do it again."
Elira's heart sank. She'd heard the name in the flames.
> "Why would anyone want that?" she asked.
Kael's voice was low. "Because what waits behind it promises power. And the Shadow Pact listens too easily."
A pulse of heat struck her chest. The ember reacted to the image of the gate, flickering with warning.
Elira looked at Kael. "Then we stop him."
He studied her a long moment.
> "You may be the last light left in this world," he said quietly. "So we begin at dawn."
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