The air that seeped from the open gate was cold—not with the bite of winter, but with the breath of something ancient and watching.
Kael stepped through first. The obsidian arch shimmered behind him, sealing off the world he had known. Arien followed, her hand brushing the hilt of her twin daggers, her senses alert. Elandra came next, whispering protective runes, the glyphs glowing faintly across her palms. General Thorne brought up the rear, sword drawn.
They stood at the edge of the Forgotten Vale.
The world had shifted.
The sky above was not sky at all, but a swirling canvas of ember-lit clouds and falling ash. Towering trees, blackened and half-alive, groaned under unseen winds. The land pulsed beneath their feet, veins of molten fire threading through the stone like blood.
"This place..." Elandra whispered, her voice cracking with awe and dread, "is part of the Rift. A shard of the old world before the Sundering. We're not just west of Virelyn anymore—we're beyond the borders of reality."
Kael tightened his grip on his blade. "Then we move carefully. The Emberstone lies somewhere ahead."
They began their march.
As they crossed a bridge of glowing bones, Arien paused. She sensed it too—a presence. Watching. Following.
Then it struck.
A creature of shadow and smoke lunged from the trees. Its eyes burned crimson. It wore no armor, but its very body was forged of dark magic. A wraith from the wars of old.
Kael met its charge head-on, steel clashing with shadow. Sparks flew.
Arien flanked from the left, her daggers slicing through the creature's limbs. But every wound closed with smoke.
"This isn't working!" she shouted.
"Stand back!" Elandra raised her staff, and with a guttural chant, summoned a lance of pure fire from the sky. It struck the wraith, pinning it to the earth.
Then Kael's sword burst into flame.
Not ordinary fire—but the same golden blaze from the palace battle months ago.
It danced up his arm, flickering with purpose. Living.
"The Emberfire…" Thorne muttered in disbelief. "It's awakening in you again."
Kael plunged the burning sword into the creature's chest.
It screamed—a terrible, echoing wail—and disintegrated into cinders.
Silence followed. Even the winds stilled.
Elandra looked at Kael with wide eyes. "The gate called you flameborn. Now I know why."
"What does it mean?" Kael asked, breathless.
"It means you're bound to the Emberstone," she said. "Its light lives in you. That's why the enemy seeks it—because they fear you most of all."
Kael looked down at his sword, the flame slowly fading.
"They should."