The air was heavy.
Not with heat this time, but with pressure — the kind that made Kael feel like the world was breathing against him. Every inhale pressed against his skin, every exhale pulled at something deep in his chest. The Ember Sea was unlike any realm they had crossed.
It wasn't water. Not truly. From a distance, it shimmered like molten glass stretched endlessly across the horizon. Rivers of slow, glowing magma drifted beneath a crust of hardened ash, shifting unpredictably with each pulse of the worldheart below.
Kael stood at the edge of a scorched cliff, the latest rift closing behind him with a sigh. Elira and the Vessel — the girl they'd saved from the City of Glass — landed behind him, coughing as the ash filled their lungs.
The Vessel clutched her arms tightly. Her name was Nyra. She hadn't spoken much since they pulled her from the cage of dreaming fire. Her eyes still glowed faintly, even when closed. A child of flame, born to a world that had long forgotten her.
Kael glanced back. "Is she stable?"
Elira checked Nyra's pulse, then nodded. "For now. She sleeps like her soul is elsewhere."
Kael didn't answer. He could feel it too. A pressure, not just in the world, but inside Nyra. As if the Vessel was not only carrying ancient flame — but containing it.
They didn't have long.
---
By midday, they were crossing one of the ash bridges. The terrain changed constantly here, molten tides carving new paths and closing old ones. Heat shimmered off the horizon, but it wasn't unbearable. Kael suspected the gauntlet was protecting them more than he realized.
"We need shelter before night," Elira said, scanning the smoldering terrain. "Or something close to it."
"There," Kael pointed. A ridge of black stone jutted from the sea like a broken tooth. Around it, he could just make out the ruins of an outpost. Old. Forgotten.
They reached the remains within the hour.
It had once been a stronghold — or perhaps a temple. Cracked obsidian walls bore the marks of battle. Symbols had been burned into the stone: spirals of flame, sigils of the old gods, and the mark of the Ashbound.
Nyra stirred.
Kael turned quickly. Her eyes were open now, but unfocused.
"It speaks here," she murmured. "The fire."
Kael knelt. "What does it say?"
Nyra blinked slowly. "It remembers. It wants to be whole."
---
They took refuge beneath a half-collapsed dome. Kael sat near the edge, watching the Ember Sea ripple under the strange stars. There was no sun here, only embers in the sky, pulsing in rhythm with the magma tides below.
Elira joined him. Her armor was scorched in places. She looked tired, but her eyes stayed sharp.
"Do you know what this place is?" she asked.
Kael nodded slowly. "This is where the fire began. The First Flame was born in the sea below. When the gods shattered the realms, a fragment of its heart fell here."
"And now we're walking across it," she said, voice low.
"Looking for another Vessel," Kael replied. "The one buried beneath the embers."
Nyra was watching them now. Not speaking. Just watching.
---
They descended the next morning.
A staircase had revealed itself near the old altar. Not carved — formed. As if the ash itself had shaped a path down into the burning world.
Kael led the way. The deeper they went, the brighter the world became. Heat pressed against them, but not with pain. It felt more like memory — old grief rekindled.
Whispers echoed in the dark.
Not words.
Names.
Kael. Elira. Nyra.
"It knows us," Elira breathed.
Kael tightened his grip on the gauntlet. "Or remembers who we were."
They reached the chamber at the bottom.
It was vast. A cathedral of flame. The floor was molten, but walkable — held firm by ancient bindings. At the center, a massive brazier burned with white fire.
Above it floated a figure.
A man, suspended in fire. His body wrapped in golden chains, his eyes closed, his breath slow.
Kael stepped forward.
The man opened his eyes.
The flame recoiled.
---
"You found me late," the man said. His voice echoed like thunder in a cavern.
Kael bowed his head. "We came as fast as we could."
"I am Sareth," the man said. "The Ember Chain. Last of the Bound Wardens."
"Then you are the next Vessel," Kael said.
Sareth laughed. "No, boy. I am the lock. The one who keeps the Vessel sealed."
Kael froze. "Sealed?"
"The true Vessel of this realm lies beneath," Sareth said. "And she is not like the others. She does not sleep. She remembers everything."
Elira stepped beside Kael. "Then why keep her locked away?"
Sareth's eyes dimmed. "Because her fire does not purify. It consumes."
---
The ground trembled.
Kael turned. Nyra had stepped to the edge of the brazier.
"She calls to me," Nyra whispered.
"No," Sareth boomed. "You are not ready. If the Seal is broken too soon — the Ember Sea will rise. It will burn through the realms until nothing remains."
Kael looked at the gauntlet. It was glowing white-hot now, almost shaking.
"But if we leave her here," he said, "She'll be taken. Like the others."
Sareth met his gaze. "Then you must bind her fire. Not awaken it. Not yet."
Kael stepped toward the brazier. "Tell me how."
---
The ritual was old. Dangerous.
Nyra would serve as the link. Her flame would create the tether. Kael would wield the gauntlet to seal the power. Elira would anchor them in the world.
They began at dusk.
The brazier flared as Kael and Nyra stepped inside. Flame did not burn them. It welcomed.
And from below — she rose.
The Vessel.
She looked like a girl of seventeen. Her eyes were embers. Her hair was ash and fire. She did not speak. But her presence was overwhelming.
Kael felt the urge to kneel. Not from reverence.
From fear.
Nyra reached out.
Flame met flame.
The Vessel tilted her head. Curious. Then placed her hand over Nyra's.
Fire screamed.
Kael activated the gauntlet.
Symbols erupted across the chamber. Chains of light shot out, circling both Vessels, binding their fire.
The Vessel roared.
Not in pain.
In defiance.
---
Kael held fast.
Elira shouted words in the old tongue, her blade raised high, glowing with borrowed heat.
The chains tightened.
The flame surged.
And then—
Stillness.
The Vessel collapsed into Kael's arms.
Her fire dimmed. Bound, but alive.
Sareth floated downward, smiling faintly. "You have done what I could not. You gave her choice."
Kael looked at the two girls — Nyra barely conscious, the Ember Vessel asleep.
"How long will it last?" Elira asked.
Sareth shook his head. "That depends on what hunts you."
Kael rose. "Then we keep moving."
Outside, the sea trembled. Something was coming.
The next hunt had begun.