Location: Womb of Flame – Subterranean Depths Beneath the Temple
POV: Ashren Vale
Ashren didn't have time to react.
The ground beneath him groaned, then collapsed. The veiled emissary vanished in a blaze of smoke as molten light swallowed Ashren whole.
He fell—not like a mortal man—but like a star being summoned back to its maker.
The air around him became heat. The heat became memory.
And the memory became a voice.
"Welcome home, vessel."
---
Into the Flame's Heart
Ashren landed with a crack that would've broken a normal body.
He rose.
The cavern around him pulsed like a living lung—walls of black stone etched with molten veins, and suspended from the ceiling, massive braziers carved from dragon bone. Each held fire—but not of this world.
Blue. Silver. And one that burned without color.
Ashren stepped forward. His own flame pulsed wildly, as if bowing.
And then—he saw him.
Vauryx.
He sat on a throne of fused gods—shaped like screaming figures turned to stone mid-death.
He rose slowly. No rush. No fear.
"You carry my blood," Vauryx said. His voice was deep enough to echo across lifetimes.
Ashren narrowed his eyes. "I carry my father's legacy."
Vauryx chuckled, a sound like mountains collapsing.
"You carry the key to unlocking me."
---
The Offer
Vauryx extended his hand.
"Join me. We will burn away the last of the false gods. Cleanse the world that turned fire into fear."
Ashren took one step forward. Flame sparked along his fingers.
"And if I say no?"
Vauryx's eyes brightened.
"Then I rip your fire from your corpse and consume it. Slowly. Lovingly. As I did your ancestors."
Ashren didn't flinch.
"Then try."
---
The Clash
Fire erupted as Ashren launched himself forward. The cavern shook as flames clashed—his golden blaze against Vauryx's deep-crimson inferno.
Ashren struck fast—faster than he'd ever moved. Each blow landed with divine force, splitting rock and summoning echoes from ancient deaths.
But Vauryx did not bleed.
He only smiled.
"You burn well, boy."
Ashren's flame roared louder.
"I haven't even begun."
---
Final Scene – Above Ground
Seris stood at the broken temple edge, watching smoke spiral skyward.
She clutched the scroll tighter.
If Ashren died down there, Vauryx would rise—and not even gods could stop him.
She turned to Caelis and the Flameguard as they rode into the Ashlands.
"He's fighting alone," she said. "But if we die today… it'll be for something that matters."