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Chapter 35 – Flamesworn
The sky had turned the color of dried blood by the time they reached the first ridge outside Vael'Tor. Smoke coiled behind them like a dying serpent, rising in lazy spirals that refused to fade. Kael didn't look back. The Watcher's warning still echoed in his mind, etched like fire across his thoughts.
The Emberwind stirs… the first seals crack…
He could still feel the Watcher's presence lingering, as if part of that robed figure had never truly left. Every breath was heavier. Every step forward felt like stepping deeper into the unknown.
Lys broke the silence first. "You said a name, back there. Vireya."
Kael didn't answer immediately. He kept walking until the trail leveled out, until the sheer cliffs gave way to open stone and narrow pathways carved by ancient lava flows. When he finally stopped, he turned to her. "It was a memory. Another fragment."
She raised an eyebrow. "And who is she?"
"I don't know yet," he admitted. "But she was important. To the person I was before."
"That person isn't gone," Lys said, voice lower. "Even if the System buried him."
Kael gave a grim smile. "Maybe. Or maybe I'm just what's left."
They pressed on, down a gully where the stone turned almost silver beneath their feet, streaked with ancient runes worn to smoothness by centuries of wind. The path led them to an old outpost—collapsed towers, charred sigils on the stone, and banners long turned to ash. A faded emblem marked the center: a flaming eye wreathed in wings. Kael stopped.
He knelt and brushed away the soot. As his fingers touched the cracked sigil, the Gracebound System flickered.
> Memory Node Detected: Ember Sanctum Echo
Warning: Interference detected. Legacy Imprint unstable. Proceed with caution.
Kael exhaled and let the memory take him.
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[Legacy Imprint: Ember Sanctum – Accessing Memory Core]
He was surrounded by heat. Real heat. The kind that melts armor and makes skin blister. Yet he stood unharmed at the center of a forge the size of a cathedral. Surrounding him were pillars of flame, held in place by chains of molten steel. Dragons circled above—not living ones, but echoes made of ember and smoke.
"You were always the most stubborn of us," a voice said.
Kael turned. Vireya stood there, wreathed in flames that didn't burn. Her armor shimmered, marked with runes he couldn't decipher. Her eyes were the same crimson from before.
"You kept believing we could fix it. That we could rewrite the story if we were just strong enough."
Kael stepped closer. "Didn't we try?"
"We did." Her voice cracked. "And it cost us everything."
He looked around. The forge, the dragons, the flames—it was all falling apart. Cracks spread through the memory. Time was ending here.
"I need to remember," Kael said. "Everything."
She placed a hand over his heart. "Then burn. Let the fire show you."
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> Legacy Imprint Absorbed
Passive Ability Gained: Flamesworn Vow
[Flamesworn Vow: When at 50% health or below, fire abilities cost no energy and deal double damage for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 3 minutes.]
+25 Grace Points
Total GP: 220
Resonance Level: 5/10
Unlock: Flameform (Locked – requires catalyst)
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Kael staggered back from the imprint, chest heaving. The memory had hit like a wave—heat, sorrow, power. Vireya's voice still rang in his ears.
Lys caught him before he fell. "Another one?"
He nodded. "I'm not just collecting pieces of a weapon. I'm collecting… her."
Lys frowned. "You think Vireya's tied to the core fragments?"
"I think she is the key. Or part of it. And someone doesn't want me remembering."
The ground trembled beneath them. A sound echoed from deeper in the ravine—heavy, guttural, not quite alive.
Kael turned toward the sound, hands already glowing with heat. "We're not alone."
Sareth appeared a moment later, sliding down the ridge to join them, breath short. "Something followed us from Vael'Tor. I couldn't see it clearly. It moves like smoke. And it's fast."
> Gracebound System Alert
Incoming Hostile: Designation—Cindervore
Classification: Flamewrought Wraith
Threat Level: High
Suggested Action: Engage with caution. Weak to cold-based attacks.
Lys narrowed her eyes. "We don't have cold-based attacks."
Kael stepped forward. "Then we make do."
The first tendril of black flame slithered into view, followed by a massive, skeletal form rising from the ravine—its bones wrapped in molten chains, its eyes glowing like dying stars. It shrieked, and the ash around them ignited.
Kael clenched his fists. The warmth in his chest ignited. The core pulsed.
Flamesworn.
The vow was no longer just memory. It was part of him now.
"Let's burn it down."
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