The forest closed in around them—branches clawed, roots tangled, and the sky above was lost to a roiling gray. Behind them, the heat followed like a living beast. Leaves withered in their wake, birds fell silent, and even the wind seemed afraid to breathe.
Elara clutched the Heart tightly as she ran, its glow pulsing faster with every step.
"We won't outrun him!" Sira shouted, dodging a falling branch as flame licked its bark.
"We're not meant to," Rin replied, suddenly veering to the left. "There's a place nearby. An old sanctuary—forgotten even by the maps."
Elara followed without hesitation, trusting Rin's instinct. The trail narrowed, then opened into a small hollow ringed by stones covered in moss and moon-symbols. The air was different here—cool, untouched. Sacred.
Rin skidded to a stop. "This place was once a haven for the Keepers of Elsewhere. He can't burn it. Not easily."
Sira turned sharply, blades drawn. "Then we make our stand here."
Before she could finish, the Ashbringer appeared at the forest's edge.
He didn't walk. He glided—fire curling at his feet, the silver mask glinting in the dim light.
"You hold something that doesn't belong to you," he said, voice calm, as though carved from stone.
Elara stepped forward. Her hands trembled, but her voice did not. "It belongs to Elsewhere. Not to you. Not anymore."
The Ashbringer tilted his head. "Then you will return it to the ashes."
He raised his staff, and the sanctuary shook. Flame leapt from the ground—but stopped at the stone ring, unable to pass. His expression darkened.
"You remember this place," Rin said coldly. "You were one of us."
"That was another life," the Ashbringer said, his voice suddenly bitter. "One where hope failed, and fire was mercy."
The Heart pulsed violently. Elara felt it—not just heat, but something deeper. A flicker of memory. A warning.
"There's more to him," she murmured. "The Heart knows."
And as the Ashbringer raised his staff again, the Heart in Elara's hands flared bright—and for a moment, *he* recoiled.
"Did you see that?" Sira whispered. "He fears it."
Elara's eyes locked with the mask. "He fears what's left of himself