The embers of change had become wildfire.
Across the outer districts of Duskfall, those who once knelt now stood. Altharion's disciples trained openly in alleyways and rooftops. Runes danced on walls. Glyphs shimmered behind boarded-up windows. What was once hidden had become movement.
But not everyone burned with purpose.
Some flickered in secret.
Selene's Quarters - Two Nights After the Leviathan Battle
Selene couldn't sleep. The soul-sealing stone sat beside her, humming faintly. Its glow had grown stronger since the day it was given.
She stared at it.
A symbol of a choice she didn't want to make.
Below her window, she could hear Altharion speaking again. Another lesson. Another sermon of power and liberation. But to her, his words had started to sound like echoes of something older. Something darker.
She had questions. But no answers.
Only a voice.
That same soft whisper from before: "There is another way."
She turned.
The grey-cloaked figure stood at the threshold, uninvited, yet not unwelcome. His face remained hidden, his aura faint but controlled. Like someone trained not just in magic, but in restraint.
"You come too easily through our wards," she said coldly.
"Because I was part of their design."
That silenced her.
He stepped closer. "Altharion's power grows daily. But power without tether becomes ruin. You see it, don't you? He teaches freedom, but demands loyalty. He promises rebirth, but burns the past."
Selene tightened her jaw. "You speak as if you knew him."
"I did."
That rattled her more than she expected.
He handed her another object: a ring, black as obsidian, etched with runes she didn't recognize.
"When the moment comes, place it on his finger. It will not harm him. Not directly. But it will bind what must not be loosed."
She hesitated. "Why me?"
"Because he trusts you. And you still believe there's a part of him worth saving."
She looked down at the ring.
And when she looked back up, the man was gone.
Cathedral Rooftop - Just Before Dawn
Altharion stared out across the slums. Fires burned in ordered rows. Disciples meditated. Wards hummed across rooftops like veins of light.
He could feel the world reacting. Like a beast stirring under threat.
"They're watching," he said.
Selene approached quietly. "They always were."
He glanced at her, eyes softening.
"You doubt me."
She didn't deny it.
"You wield destruction like a staff, Altharion. But do you remember what it was like to build?"
He paused.
A long silence passed.
"Every empire I built, they tore down. Every truth I spoke, they sealed. I will not build only to be buried again."
Selene opened her hand.
The ring glinted in the rising light.
"Then let this be a promise," she said. "That when the fire grows too wild… someone will bring you back."
He stared at it.
Then, to her surprise, he took it.
"Very well, Selene. Let the flame have its anchor."