The air smelled of ash.
Sid woke not to peace, but to fire that wasn't there — the scent of something half-destroyed, half-alive, curling around his senses like smoke that never cleared. His eyes fluttered open to darkness, broken only by the faint glow of runes carved into his shattered armor. The silence was thick, the kind that didn't comfort but warned.
His first instinct was to move. His arm screamed.
Pain lanced through his left arm — sharp, consuming, raw. It burned as if the fracture in his flesh was still open, pulsing with every beat of his heart. The skin itself seemed wrong. Black lines like veins spiraled from wrist to elbow, curling into golden patterns that shimmered and then faded.
Sid gritted his teeth and swung his legs over the side of the pallet. His fingers brushed the wound instinctively. A jolt of fire surged up his arm. He yanked back, gasping.
The door creaked open.
Nox stood in the doorway, eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. His normally composed expression was clouded by exhaustion, worry, and something deeper — fear. He stepped inside, his long cloak dragging against the floor, the glow of protective sigils pulsing around his hands.
"Still awake?" Nox's voice was hoarse but steady. He didn't bother with pleasantries.
Sid's jaw tightened. "The fire… it never stops."
Nox sighed, as if he'd been expecting that answer. He crossed the room slowly, kneeling beside Sid's bed. His eyes roved over the burning fracture.
"You shouldn't have survived," Nox muttered, more to himself than to Sid. "The First Seal was never meant to break… not like that. And yet, you're still here — scarred, but breathing."
Sid's eyes narrowed. "Then why am I still alive?"
Nox hesitated. His lips parted, then closed again before he finally spoke.
"Because the seal did more than hold back Ravh'Zereth's fury. It kept you from… unraveling. Now that it's broken, his essence flows into you, unrestrained. Every fragment you recover, every flame you channel — it will flood you deeper."
Sid's fingers clenched against the sheet. "So it's only going to get worse."
Nox's eyes darkened. "Yes. With every broken seal, his essence burrows deeper into your flesh, your mind, your soul. One day, you might not be able to tell where you end and the flame begins."
Sid's lips parted, but no words came. His eyes darted toward his arm again. The burning veins pulsed like they had a life of their own. He felt it. A whisper crawling beneath his skin.
Nox reached out and placed a hand gently on Sid's shoulder — firm, grounding. "That's why you need to master it. Control it before it controls you."
Sid's eyes flashed. "Control it? How? By letting them use me?"
Nox flinched, as if struck. But he caught himself quickly. "No. Listen to me." He leaned closer, his eyes filled with urgency. "The gods will offer power. The demons will offer strength. Neither will offer peace. You must decide how to wield what you carry, not let them decide for you."
Sid's breath trembled, half from pain, half from rage. "I'm not their puppet."
Nox's jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Good. Then you must train harder than any of them expect. If you don't master the fire, it will master you."
For a long moment, the two sat in silence. The only sound was the low hum of unstable energy leaking from Sid's arm, the faint crackling like distant lightning in a storm that never fully arrives.
Finally, Nox spoke again, more softly this time. "You're marked now. That scar… it's not just flesh. It's a beacon. Every god, every demon, every force tied to the Seal's breaking… they'll watch you. They'll try to claim you before you're ready. The sooner you learn to wield the flame as your own, the better your chances at keeping yourself alive."
Sid swallowed hard. "And if I can't?"
Nox's eyes did not waver. "Then it will consume you. And the world with you."
The words struck harder than the pain in his arm. Sid's fists tightened. His breath hitched.
For a brief moment, he wanted to tear the room apart, scream into the void, burn it all. But instead, he sat still, staring at the twisting patterns on his scarred arm. His eyes reflected both pain and something harder — determination forged in desperation.
Nox rose, his expression softening. "Rest while you can, Sid. The real battles are only beginning."
As he turned to leave, Sid whispered, barely audible:
"I'll fight it. I'll fight them all."
Nox paused at the threshold, glanced back once, and gave the smallest nod — a mixture of pride and dread — before disappearing into the corridor's darkness.
Sid lay back down, but sleep did not come. The burning lines on his arm pulsed rhythmically, as if beckoning him deeper into whatever awaited beyond the fractured seal.
Outside, the world trembled. Somewhere in the distance, reality groaned under the weight of cracks that no one could yet see.