The flame inside Kael was no longer just fire—it was a storm.
As he emerged from the Vault of the Forgotten Flame, the mark across his chest shimmered with celestial runes. His steps cracked the earth, his heartbeat echoed like war drums, and his senses were heightened beyond measure.
But even with the awakening of this ancient power, something twisted in his gut.
> Fear.
Because with new power came a darker cost.
And the wind whispered death.
> "Shadowhold is burning."
---
Return to Shadowhold – The Fall Begins
Kael raced through forest and fog.
With each step, images pierced his mind—visions from his bloodline's link with the Moonborn flame.
—Sylah wounded.
—Elric battling his own brother's ghost.
—Lina, cornered in the heart of camp, holding a silver dagger to her chest.
Kael howled.
The howl split the sky and echoed for miles.
But when he reached the clearing, it was too late.
Shadowhold was under siege.
---
The Crimson Beasts
They weren't just wolves.
They were Devoured—monstrous hybrids of beast and parasite. Hunched backs, jaws split three ways, eyes filled with rot. Crimson enchantments etched into their skin like brands of ownership.
These weren't random attacks.
> They were designed to break Kael's new family.
From the treetops, arrows screamed down from blood-archers. The few surviving Moonborn warriors were overwhelmed, their defenses torn apart.
Kael's fury ignited.
The ground beneath him splintered as he unleashed his Ascendant Flame.
Silver fire roared from his body in a sphere, incinerating the first wave of Devoured in a blinding flash.
He roared:
> "MOONBORN! TO ME!"
---
The War Within the Camp
Kael cut through the enemy like a blade through silk.
He found Rane, the berserker, surrounded by corpses and still swinging his hammer with only one arm. Kael pulled him from the fight and threw him into a defensive ring of runes.
He found Sylah, her leg pierced with blacksteel. She refused to be carried, still slashing at the air.
"I told you," she growled. "Going alone was a mistake."
Kael tore the spear from her leg and crushed the Devoured attacking her.
"I brought something back," he said. "Hope."
Then they heard it.
> Lina's scream.
---
Lina's Stand
At the center of the camp, the cousin had arrived—not fully, but through a projected form made of shadow and bone.
Her body was tall and lithe, her eyes twin abysses, and in her hand she held Elric's limp form, pulsing with dark runes.
Lina stood between her and the Flame Altar.
"Let him go!" Lina shouted.
The cousin smirked. "You're not the one I came for."
She looked up.
Kael had arrived.
She dropped Elric's body.
The shadow of her form turned toward him, slow and graceful.
> "Do you like the gift I left for you, cousin?"
Kael bared his fangs. "I'll burn every cursed breath you take."
---
The Choice of the Flame
Kael charged.
Their powers clashed in a shockwave that tore trees from roots and hurled Devoured and Moonborn alike across the clearing.
But the cousin was not fully present—she was testing him. Pushing him.
"You're strong now," she whispered. "But strength without sacrifice is just noise."
She pointed to Elric's body. The dark runes were spreading.
> "He's infected. In ten heartbeats, he becomes Devoured. If you burn me… you'll burn him too."
Kael hesitated.
Then Sylah shouted: "You can't save everyone, Kael!"
Kael's hands trembled.
Flames surged at his fingertips.
Elric groaned, eyes fluttering open, mouth leaking black.
Kael whispered, "I'm sorry."
> He plunged the Fang of Varok into Elric's heart.
The runes died.
The cousin's shadow laughed.
"You killed your own again, just like your father did."
She vanished.
Leaving smoke… and sorrow.
---
Aftermath – Cracks in the Pack
They buried Elric beside his brother.
The camp, though battered, survived.
But something had changed.
The Moonborn looked at Kael now not just as a leader, but as a weapon. A power that could both save… and destroy.
Sylah confronted him.
"You should've waited. We might've saved Elric."
"I couldn't risk it," Kael said, voice heavy. "If the infection spread—"
"You didn't choose safety," she snapped. "You chose fear. You killed him because you're afraid of what you could lose."
Kael's eyes flashed. "And what would you have done?"
She stared.
"I don't know."
---
In the Deep Woods – The Cousin's True Body Awakens
Far away, in a fortress grown from the roots of the world, the cousin awoke.
Her projection dissolved.
Blood ran down her nose. She laughed, wiping it away.
"He
's ready," she whispered.
"Rhaziel, prepare the Rites. Bring me the Book of Unmaking."
Rhaziel bowed.
"And the boy?" he asked.
She looked up.
> "Kael thinks he's ascended. He hasn't even begun to fall."