The Valley of Last Flame had always been quiet.
But tonight, the silence cracked.
Mara stood with Kael and the First Spark before the Circle of Ember-Stone, a broken ring of obsidian spires sunken into ash.
Beneath each pillar, a sarcophagus slept — etched not in names, but songs, lyrics that once summoned fire from the heavens.
Kael whispered, "Are they still in there?"
The Spark nodded. "They are not dead. Only unnamed. Hidden."
Mara stepped forward, her voice trembling but steady.
> "Then let's give them back what was taken."
---
The Naming Song
The First Spark raised both hands. Flame spiraled up her arms — ancient and gold, unclaimed by the Spiral.
"Every Flamecaller gave up their name willingly," she said. "To protect the world from what their power could become if corrupted."
Mara looked to Kael.
"We'll need them to stand against the Queen."
Kael placed his palm on the central stone.
And together, they spoke:
> "We name you not as weapons.
Not as kings.
But as fire that remembers why it burned."
The valley shuddered.
---
The Rise of the Thirteen
One by one, the stones cracked.
Flames poured upward — not wild, but focused, each glowing a different color: sapphire, crimson, silver, green.
Out stepped the Flamecallers.
A woman with coals braided through her hair.
A child with flame-forged arms.
A man whose shadow burned brighter than his form.
Each bore no name on their lips — until Mara stepped forward, offering them truth.
"You were not forgotten. You were sealed. The Queen wanted your silence."
Kael raised his blade.
> "Will you burn for the world once more?"
They bowed.
> "We never stopped."
---
The Queen Reacts
Far above, in the throne of endless flame, Queen Azereth felt the shift.
"They're waking the Thirteen," she hissed. "The oathbound fire."
Her Mirror-Speakers trembled. "Should we begin the Eclipse Protocol?"
"No. Not yet." Her eyes narrowed.
"Send the Eclipsed Child."
The Mirror-Speakers recoiled.
"But… he's not ready."
"Exactly. Let them see what happens when memory wakes wrong."
---
A Fire Not Meant to Burn
Back in the valley, as the last of the Thirteen stepped forward, the ground shook violently.
A spiral of smoke rose from the east — dark, wild, and mourning.
The Spark turned pale.
"That is not ours."
Kael's grip tightened. "What is it?"
Mara's voice dropped.
> "It's a Flame…
that was never meant to be lit."
Out of the smoke stepped a child, no older than ten. His eyes burned backward, undoing light itself.
He looked at Mara and said, in a voice filled with every erased name:
> "You stole my fire.
Now I'll burn yours."
---