The banners rose with the wind.
Not Kaien's—he had no sigil.Only the Oathstone pulsing behind him, its surface aglow with memory flame.
But the others brought colors.
They came in silence and in thunder, from corners of the world once thought forgotten.
Verdant Halo Envoy
From the western ridge, a radiant lotus unfurled in the air.
It floated forward, releasing mist fragrant with remembrance and rootfire.
Envoy: Mistress Yurei, Leaf-Scribe of SeyaraFlame Type: Verdant MemoryPurpose: Witness and Advise
She bowed low to Kaien.
"Sovereign Seyara sends light to what the world tried to bury."
"We come not to bind, but to remember."
Torrent Pyre Escort
A storm walked across the lowlands—lightning spiraling into sky-glass.
Envoy: Captain Vos, Flame Rain LegionFlame Type: TempestfirePurpose: Tactical Observation & Challenge Pending
He did not bow.
"Our Sovereign wishes to see what kind of fire echoes through the Maerok line now."
"We were told you could fight."
"Soon, we will find out."
The Wandering Bloom
No path marked her coming.
She simply stood, barefoot in the garden, as if she'd always been there.
Envoy: Aerris of the Seventh Bloom (Sovereign herself)Flame Type: Wildflame / Emotion BloomPurpose: Unknown
She walked beside Seren, touched the dreamfire once, and whispered:
"You've touched the Spiral Flame.Careful. It remembers you now."
To Kaien, she only said:
"Hello again, little Maerok."
Kaien furrowed his brow.
But said nothing.
The Crownfire Observers
They came cloaked in blacklight and gold. No greetings. No warmth.
Envoys: The Eight Ash-CouriersFlame Type: Verdict Flame (Condensed Form)Purpose: Surveillance and Threat Recording
They did not enter the Hollow fully.
Only stood at its edge.
One spoke:
"Your next move determines your future classification."
Kaien did not speak.
He burned a circle into the earth instead.
An old Maerok seal.
The Ash-Couriers recoiled—just slightly.
The Exiled Sovereign
Last of all came one not invited.
A figure cloaked in mirror-wrappings, wearing a crown of broken sigils.
He walked barefoot through the ash.
And the Hollow let him pass.
Name: Sovereign Talem, once of the Dusk FlameFlame Tier: Fragmented Sovereign (Lost Tier)Purpose: ???Affiliation: Unknown
He bowed to no one.
But stood before Kaien and whispered:
"Do you know what happens when flame refuses to become law?"
"It remembers itself as wildfire."
Then he walked past the Oathstone…and disappeared into the sanctum shadows.
System Update:
✦ Hollow Flame Resonance at Peak Stability✦ Political Pressure: Extreme✦ Sovereign Interest: 6 Active, 2 Unknown✦ Council Probability: 79%✦ Hidden Event Thread: "Ashblade Scion – Identity Conflict Pending"
Later That Night – Within the Inner Sanctum
Kaien sat with his core disciples—Seren, Nyel, Rin, Veyra—beneath the old dreamfire tree.
The leaves shimmered in flame-soul pulses, echoes of their work inscribed in every curl.
"They all want something," Nyel said.
"Alliance. Control. Memory."
"Or a final justification to end us," Seren added.
Rin cracked his knuckles.
"Let them try. We've bled to stand here."
Kaien looked out into the flickering dark.
"We can't win with flame alone," he said.
"We must win with remembrance."
"Of who we are."
"Of who we were never allowed to be."
Far above, the sky stirred.
A constellation flickered into alignment.
The Maerok Spiral—once erased from all Flame Records—glowed again.
And across the world, Sovereigns felt it.
Something was forming in the Hollow.
Not rebellion.
Not conquest.
But a truth too old to burn away.