Chapter 68
Crossing the Rift felt like breathing backward.
The world didn't shift around them—they shifted around the world.
One step forward…
And flame no longer answered.
Kael felt it first—his connection to the Heart dimming, his bloodfire quieting to an ember.
Eliendara's hand tightened around his.
Neither spoke.
Because even silence had weight here.
They emerged into a land painted in silver and stillness.
Mist curled low across fields of white bark and pale grass.The sky hung heavy—not with clouds, but with memory.
Not a single fire burned.
Not a single sound stirred.
But something was watching.
Eliendara knelt and touched the ground. "It's warm… but not from heat."
Kael closed his eyes, reaching inward for flame—and found instead a soft rhythm beneath his ribs.
Not fire.Not void.Something… older.
They wandered until night fell—though the stars here were wrong. They spun in circles, never holding still.
And then they found it:
A city of stone, untouched by age. Towers curved like bone, windows glowed with silver light. No doors. No guards.
Just waiting.
Kael stepped forward, and the gate opened soundlessly.
Not in welcome.Not in threat.
In recognition.
They entered.
And immediately, a voice echoed—not aloud, but in their chests.
"You carry the fire that should not have been.And the name that should not return."
Kael stopped.
"Who are you?" he asked aloud.
And from the mist, it stepped forward.
Tall.Cloaked in threads of starlight.Eyes like liquid moonlight.
"I am the First Name.And I am here to unmake what you've reignited."
Eliendara stepped between them.
"He ended a god who devoured whole histories. He chose love over legacy."
The figure tilted its head.
"And that is why he's dangerous."
The silver wind howled.
The city pulsed.
And Kael realized—
This wasn't a world without fire.
It was a world where fire had been banished.
And now, it had returned… in him.
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 69: The First Name
The origin of gods begins to unfold.Kael's existence threatens the balance of a world that once erased flame entirely.
And as ancient truths awaken,a choice approaches:
Burn the truth…or let it consume everything.