The descent was silent.
Ash flaked from the walls like snow as Kael moved deeper into the earth, each step drawing him further from the sky and closer to something ancient — something wrong.
Lyra followed close, her footsteps ghostlike, blades drawn and eyes sharp. Neither spoke.
The obsidian stairs led them to a hall carved from black stone, vast and echoing, its walls lined with braziers that lit the moment Kael entered — not with flame, but with burning memory.
Visions flickered along the stone:
Battles waged by forgotten kings. Sorcerers weaving storms of fire. And at the center of them all — a single figure, cloaked in crimson, holding a blade that screamed with red lightning.
"Ashrend," Lyra whispered. "That's your sword… but older."
"No," Kael muttered, narrowing his eyes. "That's not Ashrend. That's what it was before."
They continued down the hall.
At its end stood a door of scorched metal — sealed with seven glowing glyphs.
Kael approached, and the glyphs responded to his presence, flaring with red light and unraveling one by one.
When the last glyph broke apart, the vault groaned open.
Inside was a chamber bathed in emberlight. At its center floated a crystal shard — jagged, burning from within — the second Veilstone Fragment.
And behind it…
A throne.
Empty.
But not unoccupied.
A voice rippled through the chamber. Deep. Disembodied. Ancient.
"So the vessel awakens."
Kael tightened his grip on Ashrend. "You knew I'd come."
"You carry his blood… and something darker. You are what was left when the world broke."
Lyra stepped in front of Kael, daggers raised. "Who are you?"
The flames twisted — coalescing into the shape of a man cloaked in shadow and embers.
"I am what remains of the First Flame. The guardian of this shard. The echo of a truth your kind buried in fear."
Kael stepped forward. "Then speak it."
"No… prove it."
The flame figure pointed a hand at Kael.
The Veilstone Fragment blazed.
Suddenly, Kael was thrown into darkness — a trial of mind, flame, and blood.
He stood in a mirror world — a battlefield suspended in void.
His companions were gone.
Before him stood a reflection of himself — crimson-eyed, red-haired… but wrong. His aura radiated malice. His blade was darker. His smile cruel.
The mirror Kael raised his sword.
"Let's see if you're worthy of the truth you seek."
The duel began.
Ashrend clashed with its twisted twin — red lightning screaming through the void. Each blow shook the battlefield, sparks flying like falling stars.
Kael struck high — his mirror parried and countered low. They were equals in form, but not in purpose.
Kael fought with restraint, precision.
His reflection fought with rage.
"Crimson Rend."
"Shatterfang Spiral."
"Blightnova Slash."
Each named attack left gashes in the void.
But Kael's heart was steady. With each swing, he remembered the faces of his fallen comrades. The oath he'd taken. The blood on his hands — and why he had to keep walking.
Finally, he whispered the words:
"Heartsunder."
A technique he hadn't used since Rivenhart.
He drove Ashrend through his reflection's chest. The mirror Kael gasped — then smiled.
"Then you are not him… yet."
The reflection shattered into sparks.
Kael awoke, kneeling in the chamber again.
Lyra was at his side, breathing hard. "You vanished for a moment. The shard reacted. I thought—"
He stood, reaching for the floating Veilstone Fragment.
As his fingers closed around it, red lightning surged across his arm, and for a heartbeat — he saw everything:
A world before Velaryn. A battle at the end of time. And a throne surrounded by flame and ruin… waiting.
The shard embedded itself into the hilt of Ashrend.
The blade pulsed. Its glow deeper. Hungrier.
Kael exhaled. "We have what we came for. Let's return."
But as they turned to leave…
The flames whispered again.
"One shard remains. And the one who holds it… knows you're coming."
Back at the surface, the Stormbreaker Company prepared to march. The Ashen Wastes lay quiet behind them — but the sky ahead rumbled.
A storm was gathering. And Kael was no longer just a warrior.
He was the flame reborn.