Seven nights later, the Ashborne Clan gathered for the Awakening Ceremony. Youths lined the courtyard, eager to prove themselves. Elders looked on.
Then the gates groaned open.
A figure entered. Thin, ragged, robes torn and bloodstained—yet his eyes burned. Each barefoot step left a scorched mark upon the stone.
Gasps rippled."The cripple? Alive?""He fell into the Abyss!"
The patriarch's face drained of color. No… the ember…
Kael raised a hand. Flame ignited—not red, not gold, but black edged in crimson. Lanterns dimmed, swallowed by its glow.
"This… is no qi," an elder whispered."It devours light itself."
Kael's voice cut the silence."You stripped me of name and dignity. But in the abyss, I found something greater. From this day—I am no longer your cripple. I am the bearer of the Eternal Ember."
Flames roared skyward, drowning the stars.
For the first time in centuries, the Ashborne Clan trembled.