The forests east of Virelyn had long been silent. After the war ended and the Shadow General fell beneath Arien's blade, nature reclaimed the battlefield with eerie stillness. But now, as twilight faded into the pale blue of moonrise, something stirred.
A flock of birds burst from the treetops with panicked cries. The mist along the roots of the Emberwood thickened, pulsing with a faint crimson glow. And deep within the trees, a whisper called out—not in voice, but in presence.
Kael knelt by the tree line, fingers brushing a blackened mark on the bark. The wood was warm. Burned, but not recently. The heat came from within.
Arien stood nearby, her glaive glowing softly, reacting to unseen energy.
"This tree," Kael murmured, "has been touched by the Emberstone."
Arien's breath caught. "You're certain?"
Kael nodded. "The magic is alive."
Behind them, Captain Rhian approached, leading a unit of seven elite scouts. Her long braid swayed as she moved, and though young, her face was hardened from years of watching comrades fall.
"No sign of movement in the north or west. But the wind changed an hour ago," Rhian said. "Smells like sulfur."
Kael stood. "The source is near."
Suddenly, a tremor shook the forest. Birds cried out again, but this time they didn't fly—they fell. Lifeless.
The mist turned blood-red.
And then, they heard it. A child's laughter.
But the sound came from nowhere. From everywhere.
Arien turned sharply, glaive raised. "Form up!"
The squad moved quickly, shields drawn. But the laughter grew louder—twisting, echoing, becoming a hundred voices at once.
Kael's eyes widened as a shadow coiled between the trees. It wasn't a beast. It wasn't human. It was… remembering them.
"Kael," Arien whispered, gripping his arm. "That thing—knows me."
A voice cut through the air like a blade.
"Protector. Queen. Children of fire… You opened the gates."
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward. Cloaked in black ash, face veiled by smoke, yet its eyes glowed silver with ancient pain.
Kael's pulse quickened. "Name yourself!"
The figure tilted its head. "You may call me Reven… the first Flamebound."
Arien gasped. "Flamebound? They were wiped out before the Age of Fire!"
Reven smiled without joy. "You wiped our bodies. But fire remembers."
He raised his hand, and the trees around them ignited—not in flame, but in memories. Ghostly images flickered in the firelight: the fall of kingdoms, Arien's coronation, Kael's first oath as Protector, and even—
Arien stumbled backward.
She saw herself as a child, surrounded by cloaked figures chanting in an unknown tongue.
Kael caught her. "Arien! What is it?"
She shook her head. "They… They bound something in me. I don't remember. I couldn't remember."
Reven stepped closer.
"You were born to silence the Emberstone. But your silence broke."
He stretched his arms wide. The mist swallowed the clearing.
"You lit the flame again."
And with a roar of wind and ash, everything exploded into fire.
The world was fire.
Searing heat wrapped around Kael as he shielded Arien with his body. The clearing was gone. Trees collapsed in silence, reduced to glowing embers mid-fall. Scouts scattered, some screaming, others blinded by the radiant storm that had erupted from Reven's magic.
But even within the chaos, Kael focused. He reached inward—not for strength, but for memory. His bond with the Emberblade pulsed in his hand, resonating with the ancient energy surging from the flame.
"Stand firm!" he shouted, voice cutting through the roar. "He's drawing on fire-forged memory! If we don't anchor our minds, we'll be pulled in!"
Captain Rhian dropped to her knees, gripping her head. "I'm… seeing things. My brother, my home—things I never told anyone…"
Kael turned to Arien. Her eyes glowed unnaturally, flickering gold and red.
He gripped her shoulders. "Arien, fight it. You're not a child anymore. You're the Queen of Flame."
Tears welled in her eyes, but she nodded, breathing through the storm.
"I… I remember the chant now," she whispered. "It was a sealing rite. They weren't protecting me—they were sealing power inside me."
Kael froze. "You hold part of the Emberstone?"
She met his gaze, trembling. "Not part. The heart."
The realization hit like a blade to the gut. Arien wasn't just chosen by fate—she was the Emberstone's vessel.
Reven's laughter echoed again, this time from every direction.
"You awaken slowly, Queen of Fire. But it is too late. I was the first Flamebound… but you shall be the last. When you burn, the world will follow."
Kael pulled her behind him, blade ready. "Then you'll have to go through me."
Reven raised a single hand. The flames surged toward them in a spiraling vortex. Kael gritted his teeth and drove the Emberblade into the earth, calling its deep magic.
A shimmering dome of gold flame erupted around them. Reven's fire met it—and shattered like glass.
The shockwave threw Reven back. He staggered but did not fall.
The scouts began to recover. Captain Rhian rose, face covered in ash but alive.
Arien stepped forward. Her glaive glowed like a second sun. "If I carry the heart of the Emberstone… then I choose how it burns."
She hurled her weapon.
The glaive flew like lightning, carving through the air, embedding into Reven's chest.
But there was no blood.
Instead, he screamed as his form turned to ash and memory, unraveling like a scroll in the wind.
For a moment, all was still.
But the ground beneath them trembled. The mist turned black.
Kael pulled Arien close. "This was only a shadow."
She nodded. "The true Reven… is beneath the Ashlands."
Kael turned to Rhian. "Rally the army. Send word to the Circle of Mages. The Flamebound rise again."
And deep below the surface, where fire never dies, unseen eyes opened.