Damarak lay behind them, a city claimed not by conquest, but by necessity. The smoke from the fires still clung to Kael's cloak as he stood before the war council, gathered in a makeshift tent on the outskirts of the ruined fortress.
The mood was grim.
Victory had come, yes—but at a cost.
"We lost over two hundred men taking the city," Bael reported, his brow furrowed. "Mostly in the northern quarter, where the loyalists made their final stand."
Kael didn't flinch. He stared at the map splayed before him on the table, its worn corners curling in the desert heat.
"And the survivors?"
Liora answered, arms crossed. "Some fled north to Azrana. Others… surrendered. They're being held outside the southern walls."
Kael nodded. "Treat the wounded. Send the rest back to the villages—let them go. I don't want to be a tyrant wearing a different crown."
There was silence in the tent.
Then Bael said what everyone was thinking.
"And Azrana? You know they'll be ready. The Emperor's forces will outnumber us five to one. You're walking into a slaughter."
Kael's eyes didn't waver.
"If I don't walk into it, no one else ever will."
---
That night, Kael wandered the broken streets of Damarak alone. The people watched him with wary eyes from their doorways and windows—some fearful, others grateful, most simply exhausted.
He stopped in front of the old temple.
Its roof had partially collapsed during the fighting, and a statue of the desert god Aukar lay cracked in the sand, one stone arm outstretched toward the stars.
"You never did answer me," Kael whispered. "Not in all these years."
His fingers brushed the edge of the fallen statue.
"But I'll finish what I started. With or without your help."
---
By dawn, the army moved again.
Scouts rode ahead, sweeping the path toward Azrana, while Kael and the rest pressed north. The desert stretched endlessly before them—days of sand, rock, and blistering sun.
Tensions rose. Supplies were thin. Tempers shorter.
But Kael kept them moving.
Every soldier under his command had a reason to follow him. He had freed their homes. Buried their dead. Fought beside them, bled beside them. He was not a king, but something rarer.
He was one of them.
---
Three days into the march, a scout returned with urgency in his eyes.
"A caravan. Headed south. Imperial banners."
Kael's instincts flared. "How many?"
"Ten riders. Two heavy wagons. Guarded, but not well."
Bael smirked. "Supplies?"
Kael nodded. "Let's find out."
---
The ambush was swift and clean.
Kael's riders circled the caravan under the cover of the dunes. Arrows flew, swords clashed, and within minutes, the guards were dead or bound.
Inside the largest wagon, they found what they didn't expect—crates of weapons, yes, but also something more valuable.
A prisoner.
A young man, shackled and bruised, with the markings of Azrana's inner court.
Kael knelt before him.
"Name."
The prisoner looked up, defiant. "Narek. I was a scribe for the Emperor. Not a soldier."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "And yet you're in chains."
"I know too much," Narek said quietly. "He thought I'd speak."
"Will you?"
Narek hesitated. Then nodded.
"Azrana is preparing for war—but there's more. The Emperor… he's searching for something. Something buried beneath the city. They say it's older than the empire itself. A relic of the First Flame."
Kael frowned. "Myths."
"No," Narek insisted. "It's real. And he believes it will make him a god."
---
That night, Kael stared into the campfire.
The First Flame.
He remembered the tales from his childhood—ancient power, sealed beneath the sands, said to grant dominion over life and death.
He had dismissed them as stories.
But if the Emperor believed them… then he had to take the threat seriously.
Azrana wasn't just a city now. It was a ticking clock.
If the Emperor reached that relic first, no army Kael commanded would be enough.
---
The next morning, he gathered the command.
"We're changing course," he said. "We march directly to Azrana. No more diversions. No more delays."
Bael opened his mouth to protest, but Kael cut him off.
"This war ends in Azrana. Or it doesn't end at all."