Location: Echoes of the Past – Vauryx's Memory Realm
POV: Vauryx
Before the tyrant, before the destroyer of cities, before the god of wrath—
He was Vaelen.
A name now buried beneath flame and fury.
And this was how he lost it.
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The First Betrayal
He had once stood where Ashren now did—young, loyal, aflame with purpose.
Chosen by the Ember Council.
Blessed with the gift of the First Flame.
But when he returned from a border war, bearing victory and flame-kissed scars, he found his home in ashes.
The council had purged his family—accused of heresy, condemned in secret.
Their crime? Loving a mortal who healed with ice.
His crime? Mercy.
Vaelen's heart burned black that day.
He stood in the temple ruins and screamed a vow into the dying fire.
"If fire is faithless—I will remake it in my image."
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The Pact in the Deep
To destroy the Ember Council, he needed more than flame.
He descended into the molten roots of the world, to the hollow below all hollows, where forgotten gods still whispered in smoke.
There, he found something older than fire.
It had no name. No shape. Only hunger and memory.
It offered him a piece of itself. In exchange, it asked only one thing:
"Burn everything that ever bound you."
He agreed.
He died.
And rose as Vauryx.
---
Present – The Tyrant Reflects
Back in the Womb, Vauryx stumbled backward, blood (real blood—for the first time in centuries) dripping from his mouth.
Ashren's strike had done more than harm his body—it had cracked his past.
He saw Vaelen again in Ashren's eyes.
But where he had drowned in pain—Ashren rose with it.
Where he had burned the world—Ashren was trying to heal it.
That realization twisted through Vauryx like a blade.
He roared, summoning a vortex of flame.
"Let's see if your inheritance survives a god's despair!"
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Above – The March Begins
Caelis and the army descended into the breach, flames lighting their blades, hearts set on war.
Seris whispered, "He's holding Vauryx back—but not for long."
Caelis nodded. "Then we burn together."
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Final Scene – Two Flames, One Future
Ashren faced Vauryx again.
No words now. Only fire.
But in the silence between strikes, Ashren spoke into the inferno.
"You could've been more."
Vauryx spat fire.
"So could you."
They charged.
And the flame between them split the world.