The ash didn't stop falling
Even though the Gate behind them no longer bled
It hung in the air like snow that had forgotten what warmth meant
Kael walked at the front
The fire in him flickering with every step
Not weaker
Just… remembering
Lirae stayed close
She bled from her left eye
The rune backlash from the Gate had scorched part of her arm
But she said nothing
Only looked ahead
Veyne hadn't woken yet
He stirred
Muttered
Sweated
As if he walked through dreams full of teeth
They reached the edge of the Emberhymn ruin
It stood like a mausoleum city
Broken towers
Cinder-blasted stones
And statues melted by a war that history denied ever happened
This is where he fell
Lirae whispered
Emberhymn the First Flame
They say when he died
The gods choked on smoke for a century
Kael didn't reply
He touched the ruined wall
It pulsed beneath his fingers
The stone was warm
Like a corpse still clinging to its soul
We need to find the vault
Lirae said
But this place is warded
Twice-dead magic
It feeds on memory
I have memories
Kael said quietly
They just don't all belong to me
The moment they crossed the main arch
Everything shifted
Night fell instantly
Not real night
But a dream's idea of it
They stood in a version of Emberhymn that hadn't fallen
Its towers burned with golden fire
Its people walked in silence
Eyes glowing with reverence and fear
We're inside a memory
Lirae muttered
A living one
Careful what you feel
It'll feed the flame
Kael looked down
His clothes had changed
No longer the black ash-weave
But a robe of molten silk
Symbols burned down his arms
He remembered wearing this
No
He was this
Someone shouted
Ashborn
Deliverer of Flame
Come forth
The First is waiting
Kael's breath caught
He walked through the street
The people knelt
Statues bowed
Then he entered the great vault
It was not made of stone
It was made of names
Whispers etched into air
Memories solidified as architecture
At the center sat a man
Not old
Not young
Fire lived beneath his skin
Eyes black as coal
Hair white as starlight
Emberhymn
You finally came back
He said
His voice thundered inside Kael's bones
I don't understand
Kael whispered
You will
You just have to remember why we fell
Emberhymn stood
He held out a single burning shard
A piece of his own soul
Take it
And I'll show you the end
The one we started
Kael reached
The second his fingers touched the shard
Fire consumed him
Not pain
Not death
Truth
He saw himself
A past self
Ashborn
General of the Flame Choir
He had betrayed Emberhymn
Not to kill him
But to end a war the gods refused to lose
He remembered the scream
He remembered the blade he drove into Emberhymn's chest
He remembered the whisper
Burn me
Or they will burn all
Then darkness
Kael fell from the memory
Landing on real stone
Back in the ruins
Back in the ash
Lirae caught him
What did you see
The truth
He said
His voice hollow
I killed him
And he asked me to
Veyne sat up nearby
Eyes wide
He saw it too
He felt it
The boy trembled
We're not supposed to be alive
We're pieces left behind
By a war that never ended
Then the ground beneath them cracked
Something rose from the tomb
Not a monster
Not a god
A mirror
It looked like Kael
Exactly
Down to the scars
But its eyes were empty
You gave him mercy
It said
But you left me behind
And I remember everything
The copy attacked
Kael fought it
Flame against flame
But it wasn't just a battle
It was penance
Every strike
Every blow
Brought back memories
Of the Choir he led
Of the cities they burned
Of the songs sung in screams
Lirae couldn't interfere
The runes held her back
This was Kael's trial
Veyne wept
In the final moment
Kael let the double strike his heart
The flame surged
But did not kill
Instead
It merged
The mirror screamed
And collapsed into Kael
Burning away
Kael fell to one knee
And now
He remembered everything
Not just the fall
But the plan
The true purpose of the Flame
He stood
Eyes glowing red-gold
We go north now
He said
To the Spire of the Withered Sky
Lirae looked shaken
That place was sealed with god-forged chains
Then we break them
Kael said
Because that's where they buried the last gate