Chapter 59
The wind outside the sanctum was wrong.
It moved against time—curling backward over trees, rippling through stone like memory stirred awake.
And at its center stood Kael… or the soul that had been waiting behind his eyes all along.
Eliendara watched as the name Caedros shimmered again in the Mirror of Flame.
Not a title.
A truth.
She stepped closer. "Who are you now?"
Kael turned slowly, eyes no longer shadowed by fear—but by something older.
"I am still Kael," he said. "But I'm remembering who I was before I forgot."
Matira and the council whispered among themselves. The stories of Caedros had not been myths—they were warnings. The First Flameborn, the godless spark, the one who refused to burn in any image but his own.
He had defied Valtheron once.
And vanished.
Now he walked again, in Kael's skin.
Inside the Crownfire sanctum, Kael touched his chest—and his palm glowed with a flame unlike any they'd seen.
Not red.Not gold.But deep violet, pulsing with rebellion.
The Heart of Embers responded to it, flaring brighter—as if recognizing an old friend.
Eliendara felt her own fire resonate with his. But it was different now.Wilder.Unbound.
And in her heart bloomed a question she didn't want to ask.
If Kael was becoming Caedros again…
Would he still be hers?
That night, she found him at the edge of the Flameforge Ridge, overlooking a valley untouched by gods or war.
"Tell me the truth," she said quietly. "Will you disappear?"
He didn't turn. "Parts of me are returning that I didn't know I lost. But I don't want to leave behind the man I became with you."
"And if you have to choose?"
He turned then—eyes burning with twin flames.
"I'll burn for us before I burn without you."
But deep below, in a realm without light, Valtheron raged.
His shadow spread faster now, hungrier.
Caedros was more than a threat.
He was unfinished business.
And this time… Valtheron wouldn't let him escape.
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 60: When Two Flames Collide
As Kael begins to wield the fire of Caedros,Eliendara must choose whether to stand by his side—Or stop him before his power consumes the world again.
But fate doesn't wait…
Because Valtheron is already at their gates.