Location: Temple Ruins of Surn-Kai – Edge of the Ashlands
POV: Seris Lang
Seris lingered behind as Ashren walked with the veiled emissary toward the deeper temple. Something about the runes—scorched into the stones, etched into pillars, woven into the dust—called her.
It was music, almost.
But not sung.
Written.
A forgotten flame-script—the language of the original flame-born—slumbered across the walls. Only a priest of the Ember Sanctum could even see it. And Seris… Seris was not just a priest anymore.
She was blessed by fire.
The Song of the End
She knelt before the wall, tracing the glyphs with burning fingertips. The ancient words ignited softly, each letter sparking to life beneath her touch.
A phrase emerged:
"When gods weep, the fire remembers."
Then another, buried beneath layers of soot:
"The First Flame cannot be destroyed. Only fed."
A chill ran through her, despite the heat.
Ashren's power wasn't a gift.
It was a summon.
The boy hadn't been cursed by Vaelira.
He had been chosen by something older.
The Ritual Chamber
She found a stairwell hidden behind a melted altar. It led into a chamber pulsing with residual flame—a memory sealed in stone.
In the center stood a pedestal.
On it, a scroll.
Bound in human bone.
Written in the same forgotten script.
She unrolled it, heart hammering. The pages told the story of Vauryx's Reign—how he consumed entire flameborn lineages, how he devoured memories and turned gods into shadows.
And worse still—
He had been sealed by the first Flamebearer.
And now, that bearer's descendant had been lured to this place.
Ashren.
Back Above
Seris burst from the stairwell, eyes wild. "Ashren!"
He turned mid-step, brows furrowed.
"This is a trap," she gasped. "You're not being invited. You're being fed to him."
The emissary dropped his veil, revealing a charred, eyeless face.
"A gift must walk willingly," he rasped.
Then the flames around the temple roared—and the ground split open.
Final Scene – Vauryx Rises
Far below, in the Womb of Flame, molten chains snapped.
Eyes of star-fire opened.
Vauryx smiled.
"The vessel comes."
And the world began to burn anew.