Far from the safehouse where Andy and Nia sharpened their blades and vows, Ashen stirred.
Deep beneath Solaris, where the earth itself had been hollowed into a cathedral of fire, the Divine Beast Phoenix slumbered on an altar of obsidian. Flames licked along its colossal wings, each feather like molten glass, shedding sparks that fell as embers to the cavern floor. With every breath, the chamber pulsed—the heartbeat of Solaris itself tied to his chest.
Priests in crimson robes knelt in concentric circles, heads bowed low, chanting words that were not theirs. Their voices were guided, woven together by the will of the creature above them. Ashen did not need to speak aloud; his thoughts alone bent their tongues.
"The seeds are deep. The chains hold strong. Faith burns where swords cannot reach."
Solaris's people moved above ground as if of their own free will, yet every prayer at a shrine, every child's song, fed the conflagration that was Ashen's strength. He did not rage or flail like beasts of lesser mind. He waited, for patience was the fire that consumed slowly but completely.
A ripple coursed through the flames along his wings, golden turning to black at the edges. He had felt it—interference. The chosen pair, the bonded ones, gnawed at the corruption. Their Bond's light pressed against his dominion like cracks in a wall of embers.
His molten eyes opened, casting the cavern in light. Images flared across his mind: a boy whose blood sang of dragons, a girl whose heart burned brighter than priests' pyres. Together, their rings pulsed with a resonance he despised.
Ashen's cry shook the cavern, a sound like a thousand wings aflame. Priests collapsed in ecstasy, their bodies writhing as the false fire consumed them in devotion.
"They rise against me… and in rising, they fall. For no flame rivals mine. I am rebirth eternal. I am ash unending."
Above ground, Solaris trembled. Shrines across the city suddenly ignited brighter, their flames leaping skyward. Citizens fell to their knees, some weeping, others laughing with mad joy. "The Savior watches!" they cried.
But in the highest shrine, one priest whispered with fear instead of awe. "Then why does He stir? What does He fear?"
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