The chamber was silent again.Too silent.
Ariya stood beneath the frozen flame, her mark glowing so hot it felt like a second heart. The others hadn't dared speak. Even Kael seemed frozen, one hand on his blade, the other clutching her elbow.
Then…
The floor shook. Just a pulse. A single, sharp tremor beneath their boots.
"Uh… that's new," Jax muttered.
From behind the murals, deep inside the obsidian walls, came a sound like stone grinding against stone. Slow. Old. Alive.
"Something's waking up," Lyra said tightly. "Ariya—"
"I didn't do anything," Ariya whispered. "I just—"
The flame above her crackled for the first time.
It moved.
Just a flicker — but that was enough.
The murals began to shift, their flames dancing on their own. Runes lit up across the chamber floor. A circle. A seal.
And then came the roar.
It wasn't loud. It wasn't even angry.It was ancient.Low. Rattling. The sound of something pulled from sleep it had never meant to wake from.
The obsidian behind the largest mural split open with a thunderous crack.
The walls peeled back like petals, revealing a cavern veiled in shadow… and at its center, a shape.
Massive. Coiled. Covered in black-gold scales that shimmered faintly with runes. A creature unlike anything in their world. Horned. Winged. Eyes shut.
Sleeping.
A dragon?
No. Not exactly.
It was something older.
The air turned thick. The flame above Ariya pulsed again — this time, in time with the creature's chest.
"Ariya…" Kael began, stepping between her and the beast.
But it was too late.
The creature opened its eyes.
And they were the same molten gold as her mark.
It didn't roar.
It bowed.
Its great head lowered, pressing gently to the floor as if… kneeling.
Jax's mouth fell open. "That's either really good or really, really bad."
The creature's voice came not from its mouth… but from the air around them, echoing through their bones.
"She returns. The Flamebearer rises."
"W-what are you?" Ariya asked.
"I am called Velkar. Born of flame. Forged by the First. Bound to the Mark."
The creature lifted its head slightly. Its voice turned softer.
"You wear it now, girl of ash. You are the first to awaken me in a thousand years."
Ariya stepped forward, slowly, heart pounding.
"Why me?"
"Because your fire burns true. Because your soul remembers."The creature looked at her more closely. "And because the world will soon need you… more than it knows."
"What do you mean?" Kael demanded. "What's coming?"
Velkar turned to him.
"A shadow rises. One once bound to fire… now twisted by ice."
Ruvan.
Ariya didn't say it. But she knew. So did Velkar.
"You will face him," the creature said softly. "And when you do… you must decide. Burn him. Or bind him."
The flames around the murals began to dim. The temple itself began to cool.
Velkar's wings folded in again.
"I will sleep once more. Until your fire calls me again."
"Wait," Ariya said. "How do I control this? How do I stop hurting people?"
Velkar's eyes narrowed, glowing.
"Control is not your path, Flamebearer. Truth is."
Then, with one final tremor, the creature pulled itself back into the shadows…
…and was gone.
No one spoke for a long time.
Then Jax cleared his throat. "So… we have a fire goddess, a ghost-dragon, and a death prince possibly stalking us through dreams."
"Sounds about right," Lyra muttered.
Kael looked at Ariya.
"What do we do now?"
Ariya stood beneath the fading flame.
"We train. We prepare. And we don't run anymore."
Her mark flared.
Far across the world, in a cold chamber lit by Shardlight…
Prince Ruvan opened his eyes.
And smiled.