The trees burned gold.
Not with fire—at least, not yet—but with something deeper. A presence. A heat that wasn't heat. The forest bowed beneath it, branches wilting, leaves curling at the edges, not blackened but scorched by reverence.
Elira stepped in front of Caelan instinctively, one hand on the hilt of her dagger, the other gripping the edge of her cloak. "We need to move."
But Caelan didn't. He stood taller now, steadier than before. The chaos inside him had coiled into something tight, restrained. The Veil's touch still shimmered faintly across his skin, fading, settling like embers in his veins.
He tilted his head, listening.
"She's close," he whispered.
"She?"
"I saw her in the Veil. Silver eyes. A crown of fire. She doesn't walk—she descends."
Then—
Crack.
A tree snapped in half, cleaved by something unseen. No blade. No force. Just... will.
Flames rushed in to fill the silence.
From the treeline, a figure emerged. She walked barefoot. Her white robes, frayed at the hem, shimmered like glass dipped in sunlight. Her long golden hair flowed unnaturally, as if underwater. But it was her eyes that burned into Caelan's soul—silver, bright as forged steel in a forge's heart, rimmed in red flame.
Elira's voice tightened. "She's not alone, is she?"
"No," Caelan said. "She never is."
Behind the girl, the trees parted—not physically, but spiritually. The Weave bent for her. Shadows twisted into forms: ghostly knights made of golden cinders, drifting behind her like echoes of war long past. Constructs of the Weave. Guarding her. Worshipping her.
She stopped ten paces away.
"You're late," she said, her voice soft, almost childlike. "I've been looking for you, Ash-Bound."
Caelan didn't move. "You're one of them."
The girl smiled. It didn't reach her eyes.
"I am the first," she said.
The Weave trembled. And the Eclipsed Veil answered.
[Eclipsed Veil: Eclipse Resonance Detected]Designation: Heir #1 – Ardynna Serel, Flame-CrownedThread Dominance: Pyreweave (Stage II Mastery)Soul Fracture: Purity Through Fire
Warning:Combat Advantage: SevereRecommended Response: Evade or Submit
Elira took a step forward. "If you're looking for a fight—"
Ardynna's gaze flicked to her. "You are not Eclipse-born. You are nothing."
Elira choked on her words—not from fear. From pressure. Her throat seized, as if heat itself had solidified in her lungs. The Pyreweave bled outward, not just energy—but command.
Caelan moved.
In an instant, the Ashweave wrapped around Elira, yanking her back, forming a translucent shell of coiling smoke between her and Ardynna. The Pyreweave licked against it, but did not consume it.
The girl's expression flickered with interest.
"You're further than I expected," she said. "The Veil clings to you like a beast that's tasted its first kill."
Caelan stepped forward. "You're not here to fight."
"No," Ardynna said. "Not yet."
She raised her hand—and one of the ghostly knight constructs stepped forward, offering her a flame-wrapped scroll.
She dropped it at Caelan's feet.
"Your presence is required," she said. "At the Crownless Concord. The others will be there. All of us. One moon's time. Refuse—and I will come again. Not alone."
Then she turned—and as she walked away, the trees righted themselves, branches reknitting, the ground smoothing behind her footsteps.
Caelan exhaled only when her aura faded entirely.
Elira stumbled to her feet. "What the hell was that?"
"A warning," Caelan said.
He knelt, picked up the burning scroll. It didn't burn him. Inside, only three words:
"You are chosen."