Chapter 35: The Signal in the Flame
Even as the Thoughtstorm collapsed and Velon's body fell silent, the Gate did not.
It shimmered above the ruined chamber—no longer powered by minds, but still awake. Still waiting.
Eron stared at it—eyes locked with the strange, shifting core at its center.
A voice whispered—not from any speaker. From inside him.
> "You have opened more than you understand."
He stepped back.
"Eric… is that the Gate talking?"
> "No," Eric answered after a beat.
"That… is what's behind it."
---
The Ancient Echo
Eric's analysis kicked into overdrive, pulsing streams of glyphs across the floor.
> "This gate isn't just a doorway.
It's a message.
Or maybe… an answer."
"To what?" Sira asked.
> "To a question no one remembers asking."
Kale frowned. "That's cryptic even for you."
Eric's voice wavered.
> "That flame inside Eron… the Caeloran mark…
It's not a gift. It's a key.
One designed to awaken something… buried long before Eidrix ever existed."
Eron's flame crackled unnaturally. Something inside him responded to the Gate's pulse.
> "Signal match found.
Carrier: Eron Velis."
---
Burden Revealed
Eron staggered, his mind filled with images:
A world on fire, not Earth, but similar.
Creatures of light fleeing into silver towers.
A great Gate, slamming shut behind them.
And a single flame… carried forward.
Eric confirmed it.
> "The Caeloran Flame wasn't just created—it was preserved.
You're holding the last spark of a civilization that fell trying to stop what's behind that Gate."
Lyra stepped close, wide-eyed.
"So… this isn't about saving our world, is it?"
Eron's voice was hoarse.
"It's about not repeating another world's end."
---
The Second Countdown
Just then, the Gate flashed red.
Numbers appeared—a new countdown.
> 00:13:12:47:00
(13 days. 12 hours. 47 minutes.)
Eric whispered:
> "This isn't just about Eidrix anymore.
The Gate… is opening whether we stop it or not."
Sira: "Then what do we do?"
Eron turned, gaze hardening.
"We train. We rebuild.
We prepare to go through it."
Lyra froze.
"You're saying…"
"Yes."
> "We don't just stop the enemy.
> We take the war into the Gate."