Chapter 27 – Beneath the Ashes
The flames that devoured Kael'var had died, but the scent of smoke still clung to the stones like a curse. Rayan stood over the blackened remains of the Grand Hall. The throne once gleamed with obsidian and silver—now it lay in fractured ruin, a melted crown twisted into the flagstones.
Ash swirled with every step.
Beside him, Kara knelt, brushing away the soot from a strange marking etched into the floor.
"A seal," she whispered. "Buried under the throne."
Seth leaned closer, brows furrowed. "Runes this old shouldn't be here. This is pre-Eclipse… older than Seris's line."
Kara nodded. "Which means this throne… was built over something else."
Rayan's hand tightened on the hilt of his sword. "Then we dig."
It didn't take long. The remnants of the royal court had been too damaged to stand in their way. Beneath the shattered foundation, they unearthed a stone stairway that spiraled into darkness. Cold air breathed upward — not stale like decay, but sharp like secrets that never should've seen light.
Nera joined them as the last stone was removed.
"You feel that?" she whispered.
Rayan nodded. It was like the silence itself was listening.
Torches were lit. They descended.
---
The steps went on for hundreds of feet, winding downward through stone carved with long-dead language. The walls were smooth but chipped by claw marks — not animals, not tools. Something had tried to escape.
At the base, an ancient vault door waited. It was iron, reinforced with obsidian plating. A crest marked its center — three crowns stacked atop one another, each with a slash across it.
"Three kings," Kara muttered. "Three betrayals."
Rayan stepped forward. His fingers brushed the metal. It was warm.
Then it clicked — and slowly, the vault opened.
Inside was not a treasure.
It was a tomb.
---
Chapter 28 – Shadows That Breathe
The tomb smelled of old stone, ink, and blood too old to be fresh.
It stretched in a perfect circle, lit faintly by blue runes carved into the walls. In the center stood a dais, and upon it, a single throne — black, elegant, carved from stone that shimmered like glass.
And sitting upon it, still upright despite the centuries, was a corpse.
No rot. No crumbling bone. Its flesh was preserved — grey, silent, armored in a deep crimson robe.
Rayan stepped forward. "Who is he?"
Kara examined the walls. "This isn't a tomb."
Seth read aloud the words etched above the figure's head:
Here sleeps the First King, whose oath birthed the fire. Let none wake what the crowns have buried.
Suddenly, the torches flickered.
The corpse's eyes snapped open.
---
Steel sang from sheaths. Rayan drew his sword and shouted, "Back!"
But the figure didn't move. It only stared at them — deep, hollow eyes glowing faintly blue.
And then it spoke. "The Black Flame returns… too soon."
Its voice echoed across stone. Old. Measured. Not human.
Rayan stepped closer, sword raised. "Who are you?"
"I was once Iscaron, first bearer of the crown. I was the oath. I was the flame."
Silence fell.
"You should not have opened this vault," Iscaron rasped. "Not until the sun bled its final war."
Rayan's voice was firm. "The world burns already. Seris is gone. The empire falls. If you have answers, speak them now."
Iscaron's gaze moved to Kara. "You are the blood of the third betrayal. The final crown."
Kara's face paled.
"What does that mean?" she whispered.
But the corpse only began to crack. Its flesh, perfect for centuries, now broke like porcelain. Veins of light burst from its skin.
Seth shouted, "It's breaking! Move!"
---
The throne exploded in white fire.
Rayan was thrown across the vault. The flames didn't burn like normal — they tore, like memories ripping from his skull. Visions flashed before his eyes: three kings kneeling before a fire, swearing oaths. Then one plunged a dagger into the other. The flame turned black.
When he awoke, Kara was screaming.
Nera held her down — her veins glowed, her eyes bleeding silver.
"What's happening to her?" Rayan groaned.
"She touched the throne," Nera hissed. "Something… entered her. A memory. Or a soul."
The vault shook.
Stone began to collapse. Walls split.
Rayan rose, dragging Kara with him. Seth had grabbed the scrolls from the walls. They sprinted back up the stairs just as the vault door slammed shut behind them — this time, not with a click… but with a growl.
Something was awake now.
---
Back in Kael'var's ruins, the night air was freezing.
They laid Kara down on a bed of cloaks. Her breathing slowed, but she didn't wake.
"She holds something now," Nera said. "A part of that king. Or his curse."
Seth unrolled one of the scrolls he'd taken. "Look at this."
The scroll showed a map. Not of Kael'var.
But of the continent. And below it — beneath every capital — were marks. Circles. Vaults. Just like the one they opened.
"This was never about Kael'var," Rayan whispered.
Nera nodded. "It was about all the crowns. All the kings."
And then, from the distance, a raven landed — its feathers black, its eyes burning red.
In its claws was a sigil: the Black Flame.
On the back, a message:
"The Second Vault has been opened. The fire spreads. No king will stand."
Rayan crushed it in his hand.
"The war has changed."