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Chapter 3: Emberhold's Flames
News traveled faster than wind in the kingdoms of the Ten Rings—especially when a new ring awakens. And in the far south, deep within the molten fortresses of Emberhold, the flames whispered Kaelen's name.
Queen Seryna the Scorched sat on her obsidian throne, her face half-shrouded by a crimson veil. Her burns had long since healed, but she wore the scars like armor. The Flame Ring pulsed on her hand, casting fiery reflections across the throne room.
Before her, a messenger knelt trembling.
"The boy has the Ring of Fate," he said. "It called to him… in the ruins near the Vale."
Seryna rose, slow and deliberate. The temperature in the room climbed with every step she took.
"Fate returns," she muttered, voice like cracking charcoal. "Then the cycle begins again."
She looked to her general.
"Send the Ash Riders. I want the boy brought to me—alive."
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Meanwhile, in the Forest of Ashen Pines
Kaelen and Aeris camped under the boughs of blackened trees. The firelight flickered across Aeris's face as she sharpened her blade.
"You're quiet," she said without looking up.
Kaelen stared at the ring. "What if I wasn't supposed to have it?"
Aeris stopped. "You weren't. No one is."
"But I do."
She studied him for a long moment. "Then we need to get you to Chronaris. Master Eidros might know how to contain it."
Kaelen frowned. "The Time Ring-bearer? Isn't he a myth?"
"Only if you're lucky."
A howl echoed through the trees.
Not wolves.
Something bigger.
Kaelen stood. "What was that?"
Aeris drew her bow. "Ash Riders. Emberhold's hunting dogs."
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Moments Later
They ran.
Through thickets. Over roots. The night burned behind them as torchlight spread across the woods. Riders on flame-breathing horses cut through the trees, their eyes glowing through bronze helms.
Kaelen stumbled—but the ring flared.
Time slowed. Just for a heartbeat.
He saw everything—where to step, how to duck, when to breathe. The ring's power hummed in his veins.
When it passed, he was ten feet ahead of Aeris, who stared at him in disbelief.
"You used it."
"I didn't mean to," he panted.
"Next time," she said, "mean it."
They disappeared into the mist.
But the Flame Queen's eyes were already turning north.
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