Episode 3
Rain lashed Kael's face as he staggered through the overgrown woods. His cloak, if it could still be called that, clung to his back like a wet rag. Every breath filled his lungs with mist and rot. The forest felt alive — not with wildlife, but with something older. Watching.
The pendant Seren gave him pulsed faintly at his chest, its golden ember guiding him deeper.
He hadn't eaten since the Sanctum, and fatigue gnawed at his limbs. The ground was a thick stew of mud, roots, and broken dreams. Trees twisted unnaturally, their bark charred like they'd been scorched from the inside. Some even bore claw marks, deep and fresh.
Was this place ever safe? he wondered.
A sudden noise — a sharp snap of branches — made him whirl. Flame flickered at his fingertips, instinctively called. His heart thundered.
Then he saw her.
A girl, no older than seventeen, stood at the treeline. Her cloak was moss-green, her eyes piercing silver. She held a curved dagger, not threateningly, but ready.
"You shouldn't be here," she said.
"I didn't choose to be," Kael replied.
Her eyes narrowed. "That pendant... where did you get it?"
Kael hesitated. "From someone named Seren."
The girl stepped closer. "Seren of the Ashen Veil?"
"Yes."
She lowered the dagger but didn't sheath it. "You're either the one we've been waiting for… or a very stupid thief."
"Can't I be both?"
That made her smirk. A little. "Name?"
"Kael."
She nodded. "Follow me, Kael. If you're lying, the forest will deal with you."
---
She moved like wind between the trees — silent, swift, confident. Kael struggled to keep up, tripping over roots and low branches.
They arrived at a hidden grove surrounded by massive stones carved with glowing runes. In the center stood a fire — not normal fire, but pale blue and whispering like it spoke a forgotten tongue.
"This is the Cradle," the girl said. "Only Flameborn can find it."
Kael's breath caught. "I found it?"
"No," she corrected. "It found you."
Others emerged from the shadows — three, maybe four people — all wrapped in cloaks, all wary. One, an older man with a metal arm and a scorched eye, stepped forward.
"You've brought a stranger," he growled.
"He wears Seren's mark," the girl replied.
The man studied Kael. "We were told no more would come. The Circle has taken everything."
"He summoned the flame in Ardentia," she added. "In public."
That silenced the grove.
Another figure, a woman with tattoos down her neck, stepped forward. "If that's true, he's already marked. The Inquisitors will track him anywhere."
"Then we can't stay here," said a third. "We move to Emberhollow. Tonight."
The man with the metal arm nodded. "Agreed. But first—" He turned to Kael. "—show us. Light the flame. Prove you're what Seren believed."
Kael swallowed hard. He looked at his hands.
What if it didn't work?
He closed his eyes.
He thought of the moment the shadow attacked in Ardentia. He thought of Seren standing in fire. Of the sword, waiting in the Sanctum.
A whisper stirred in his mind.
Breathe in the flame. Let it remember you.
He opened his eyes — and fire bloomed in his palm. Warm, gold, alive.
Gasps echoed.
The old man nodded slowly. "Welcome home, Flameborn."
---
That night, Kael sat beside the whispering fire. The girl sat across from him.
"You still haven't told me your name," he said.
She looked up, moonlight catching her silver eyes. "Lira."
"Are you… Flameborn?"
"I was born to one. My mother died in the Siege of Zevrin. I've carried the blood, but the flame never came to me."
Kael frowned. "Can that happen?"
Lira shrugged. "Not everyone wakes. Not everyone is chosen. The Circle calls it a curse. We call it a responsibility."
He nodded, staring into the flames. "Why me?"
Lira's voice softened. "We've asked that question for centuries."
Suddenly, the wind shifted.
Lira stood. "Scouts."
The man with the metal arm appeared from behind a tree. "Circle hunters. Less than a mile."
"How many?" Kael asked.
"Too many for a fair fight."
Kael stood. "Then we don't fight fair."
---
They moved quickly.
Kael was shoved into the center of the group as they trekked toward a hidden path. The pendant pulsed again, guiding them down a side trail.
But the woods began to change.
Shadows moved on their own. Roots curled to trip them. One of the younger scouts screamed as a tree swallowed him whole.
Lira grabbed Kael's hand. "The forest is turning. The Circle's summoned a Shade!"
"What does that mean?"
"It means we run faster!"
Behind them, the sound of metal striking bark echoed like thunder.
Then — a shriek.
Not human.
A creature stepped out of the mist. Tall, robed in tattered black, with a skull-like face and burning violet eyes. In one hand it held a staff wrapped in chains; in the other, a glowing orb pulsing with stolen fire.
"Inquisitor," Lira breathed. "A Seer."
The Seer raised the orb. "Flameborn. You are marked. Return the fire — or be unmade."
The others drew blades. Lira reached for her dagger.
Kael stepped forward.
"No."
"Kael—"
"I'll buy you time. Get the others out."
Lira stared at him, torn — but the man with the metal arm grabbed her and pulled her away.
Kael faced the Seer.
The pendant at his chest burned hot.
He let go.
The flame exploded from his chest, surrounding him in a swirling vortex of gold and white. The Seer snarled and raised its staff, firing a beam of voidlight.
Kael threw his hands forward.
Fire and darkness collided — and the world broke.
"Your likes and comments mean the world to us! They cost you nothing but give us the encouragement we need to keep writing. Let us know you're enjoying the story!"Please support me with power stone and add to you're collection