Morning in Elarith Peaks wasn't quiet.
The wind carried echoes—howls from distant beasts, the dull tremor of shifting stone, and sometimes… whispers. Kael wasn't sure if those were real, or just remnants from the Veilborn's assault still lingering in his mind.
He sat cross-legged, aura pulsing steadily around him as he meditated atop a jagged outcrop overlooking the valley. Every breath he took filtered ash and clarity—his Ashen Aura adapting, mutating, refining itself with each passing hour. Since the battle, it hadn't gone dormant. It was awake.
"You ever sleep?" Drayke asked, casually juggling a fruit between flaming fingers.
Kael didn't open his eyes. "You ever shut up in the morning?"
"Touché."
Drayke sat beside him, unusually quiet for a moment.
"…I saw what you did to the Veilborn. That thing was pure nightmare fuel."
"I barely won."
"You still won."
Kael opened his eyes now, the golden flicker in his irises subdued but deep. "It wasn't just the fight. That thing—it showed me a version of the future where everything burns."
Drayke leaned forward, elbows on knees. "Did I die cool?"
"You died screaming."
"…Damn. Well—at least I went out loud."
Kael couldn't help the brief smirk that flickered across his face.
But the moment shattered when Lyra came sprinting up the slope, hair loose, eyes wide with alarm.
"Kael. Incoming airship. Sunspire colors."
Drayke stood immediately. "They found us?"
"No—they're landing. Ten clicks out. They've got a sigil up—Sunflare Vanguard's elite."
Kael's expression darkened.
"Veyl Solane."
Ten Minutes Later – Ridge Overlook
Kael, Lyra, and Drayke crouched behind a ridge, observing the clearing below. A sleek, silver Sunspire warship hovered just above the rockbed, its engines barely humming.
From it descended soldiers in golden armor, etched with solar sigils—Sunflare Vanguard, elite of the elite.
And at the helm, as expected, a tall woman with sharp silver hair, eyes like razors, and a voice that seemed to part the clouds.
Veyl Solane.
"She doesn't move unless it's high-priority," Lyra whispered. "We're not just a report to her. We're a mission."
Kael's jaw tensed.
A soldier below spoke up. "Commander Veyl. No signs of movement. Should we initiate scan protocols?"
"No," Veyl replied. "He's here. I can feel it."
She turned toward the ridge.
And said, clearly, "Kael Arclight. You've drawn the attention of more than just monsters. I'm not here to capture you. I'm here to offer you something the world no longer can."
Kael's brows furrowed.
Drayke grinned. "Well, I was hoping to punch someone this morning."
But Lyra grabbed Kael's wrist gently.
"Wait. Hear her out. You'll know if she's lying."
Kael stepped over the ridge. Slowly. Calmly.
Veyl's soldiers raised their weapons. She raised a hand to lower them.
They stared at each other—two warriors on opposite sides of a very thin line.
"You said you're not here to capture me," Kael said.
"I meant it," Veyl answered. "Your battle with the Veilborn was recorded. The ash echoes are still scattered across the Peaks. You stood alone… and you lived. That makes you valuable."
Kael's voice dropped. "I'm not a tool."
"Then be a weapon."
That silenced the mountains themselves.
Veyl stepped forward.
"The Eternals are stirring. We've confirmed three Corruption Wells. Dungeon Lords are defecting. The Vanguard can't contain this alone."
"So what?" Kael asked. "You want me to play soldier for you now?"
"I want you to survive. And for that, you'll need power. Resources. Access to relics that aren't in the public registry."
She pulled out a sealed scroll—marked with the crimson sigil of the Vanguard's inner sanctum.
"A relic forgotten since the First Fracture," she said. "One that resonates with adaptive aura types. I'll give it to you—on one condition."
Kael crossed his arms.
"You take the field against the Eternal known as Yrrax, the Womb of Shadows."
Even Drayke flinched. "That thing still exists?"
Kael said nothing for a moment.
Then he stepped forward—and took the scroll.
Later – That Night
Kael sat beside the fire again, the sealed scroll resting in his lap.
He hadn't opened it yet.
His aura trembled just being near it. Something old. Heavy. Hungry.
"You sure about this?" Lyra asked.
"No," he said. "But we don't have time to be sure anymore."
Drayke laughed. "That's the spirit."
He looked up at the stars—still one missing.
A sign.
Not just of danger.
Of war.
Kael clenched his fist. His aura flickered gray and red.
"Haaah… what a strong aura."