❖❖❖
The world didn't burn all at once.
It cracked. Slowly. Quietly. From within.
And from those cracks… rose the Flamelords.
Kaen trained day and night atop Mount Kurogane. After the Flamegate trial, his Soulfire no longer obeyed him — it roared. Unpredictable. Hungry.
"Your flame is evolving," said Daizo, watching Kaen scorch through an obsidian boulder with a mere shout.
Kaen panted. "Then why can't I control it?"
"Because it's no longer just your flame."
Meanwhile, Mira was changing too.
Though the curse had lifted, fragments of Ashara still lingered inside her. Her dreams spoke in foreign tongues. Her fingers sparked violet when she was afraid. She could hear whispers from fire.
But she hid it.
From Kaen.
From everyone.
Except Seer Nami.
"You were chosen," Nami whispered. "By fate… or something darker."
On the twelfth day of training, a messenger arrived from the southern coast.
The city of Ishkara was under siege.
But not by Gloamspawn.
By humans — robed in red armor, wielding controlled Soulfire.
Flamelords.
Daizo gathered the Ashen Blades at the Flame Citadel.
"These rebels are not merely warriors. They are traitors," he said. "They claim to worship a figure known as Ashara. They believe the age of restraint must end — and that flame should rule."
Kaen clenched his fists.
"They're using her name…"
Mira's face paled. "They think I'm a goddess."
"They don't just think," Nami replied grimly. "They've seen visions. Of you. Crowned in fire."
❖❖❖
Kaen, Mira, Daizo, and a force of Ashen Blades rode south — through volcanic gorges and whispering woods. Every mile burned hotter. Villages abandoned. Ash in the wells. Fields scorched.
At Ishkara, they saw the scale of the rebellion:
Thousands gathered beneath a burning banner shaped like Mira's pendant.
At the center of it all stood a man in gold-and-scarlet armor, his cape blazing with living fire.
"General Sorek."
A former Ashen Blade. A legend. Thought dead for years.
He raised his hand — and split the sea beside him with a flaming spear.
Kaen volunteered to infiltrate their ranks — alone.
Daizo resisted at first, but Kaen insisted.
"If I get close, I can learn the truth. And stop this before it becomes war."
Mira grabbed his arm. "What if they know who you are?"
Kaen smiled.
"Then I'll remind them who I was born to be."
❖❖❖
Disguised in scorched robes and covered in ash, Kaen entered the rebel camp at dusk.
The rebels called themselves The Phoenix Order.
They trained with stolen techniques, ignited weapons, and rituals powered by corrupted Soulfire.
But Kaen saw something worse:
Children learning to burn.
A young girl, no older than ten, lit a candle with her tears.
"They're making soldiers," he thought. "Not warriors."
That night, Kaen snuck into the command tent.
There he found letters.
Plans.
Maps.
And a scroll… sealed with violet wax.
He opened it.
Inside was a sigil — the exact one burned into Mira's back during her worst night of the curse.
And at the bottom, a line in ancient runes:
"The Ashara will reign from ash to star. All who burn shall kneel."
Kaen's blood froze.
Then—
A hand clapped his shoulder.
"Looking for something, boy?"
It was General Sorek.
Kaen spun, ready to draw — but Sorek didn't flinch.
He smiled.
"I know who you are, Flameborn."
Kaen narrowed his eyes. "Then you know I won't let you use her name."
Sorek chuckled. "You think this is about her?"
He walked to the tent's edge and flung it open.
The camp stood quiet, stars above.
"Look at them," Sorek said. "They were nothing. Slaves. Orphans. Crushed by kings who feared their fire. I gave them purpose. I gave them flame."
"You gave them fear."
"I gave them hope."
Kaen drew Emberfang.
Sorek raised his spear.
The air ignited between them.
But Sorek didn't strike.
Instead, he said:
"If you want the truth… come to the Obsidian Spire. Bring the girl. Or this rebellion becomes a war."
With that, he vanished into flame.
❖❖❖
Back at the Flame Citadel, Mira stared at the ancient sigil Kaen had recovered.
She didn't speak for a long time.
Finally, she said:
"I've seen this. In the fire. But not just in dreams. It's like… it's part of my blood."
Kaen looked at her.
"We don't have to go."
"Yes," she said. "We do."
They left that night.
Alone.
Together.
To the Obsidian Spire, deep in the Deadlands.
Where legends say the first Soulfire was born.
Where truth and fate would burn together.
Far away, in the ruined sky-temple of the east, the red-eyed figure from before watched them through a pool of emberlight.
Behind him, nine others stood.
Flamelords.
Each with a cursed flame of their own.
Each waiting.
And one of them whispered:
"Let her come. Let her awaken."
✴️ END OF CHAPTER 6