The Ashhounds struck like a storm.
They didn't howl. They didn't bark.They came in absolute silence—ember-eyed, smoke-bodied, leaving trails of ash where they stepped.
Kael didn't have time to think. He reacted—blade flashing, fire erupting from the Solari Rune etched into his chest. Cinder rose behind him, a towering inferno with wings.
"Strike fast," Cinder snarled through their link. "They don't bleed. They burn."
Ash and Thunder
Thalorin landed beside them, lightning bursting from his jaws. Lira flipped down from his saddle mid-flight, twin blades sparking as she slashed into a charging hound. It exploded in a burst of smoke—but two more came at her from behind.
"On your left!" Kael shouted.
She spun just in time, blades crossing, catching the creatures' claws in a crackle of steel and stormlight.
Finnel stood back, hands trembling, bow drawn. His dragon—Zephyron, the wind wyrm—flew overhead, buffeting the battlefield with cutting gusts. Finn took a shaky breath, then let loose an arrow—it pierced one Ashhound's core, the runes on the shaft glowing.
It worked.But it took everything he had not to run.
Kael's Power Awakens
Kael fought like he was born for this. But something inside him was… different now.
The fire responded faster. Deeper. It wasn't just in his blade—it was in his bones.
When he stepped, flame trailed behind his boots. When he shouted, the very air seemed to ignite.
"You're changing," Cinder warned. "The Rune is waking more than your strength."
"I don't care," Kael growled, slashing downward with a flame-sheathed arc. "I'll burn whatever comes."
"That is the problem."
Ambush – The Packlord Appears
From the treeline, the Ashhound Packlord stepped out. Twice the size of the others. Its jaws dripped molten ichor, and around its neck hung a shattered dragon scale, blackened with rot.
Kael saw it—and froze.
That scale… belonged to Ebonmaw, the black dragon of legend. One of the First Flame's guardians. Long thought dead.
"Move!" Lira shouted, tackling him aside as the beast's fire breath scorched the clearing.
Kael rolled, came up with blade ready. "This thing— It's no beast. It's cursed."
"Then let us be its cure."Cinder roared, and fire surged.
The Final Clash
The Packlord lunged.
Cinder met it mid-air, jaws locking as flame and rot collided. Kael used the opening—he vaulted onto the beast's back, Rune glowing bright enough to blind.
"You carry Ebonmaw's scale," he snarled. "Let's see how you like his fire."
He drove the Solari blade straight into the beast's skull. A blast of pure firelight erupted like a small sun.
The Ashhounds howled. The Packlord shrieked.
And then… silence.
Ash drifted down like snow.
Aftermath – The Message Within
When the fire cleared, only blackened bones remained. But in the center… floated a single glowing ember.
Kael picked it up. It pulsed once—and seared an image into his mind.
A massive obsidian gate with golden rings. Chained dragons guarding its entrance. And a voice whispered, not with sound—but memory:
"The First Vault has opened. And one flame must enter… and not return."
Kael stumbled back, shaken.
Cinder landed beside him, weak but alive. "You saw it too?"
Kael nodded slowly.
"Then we know where we're going next."