Smoke rose from the western wing of Ardent Academy.
Ash fell like snow across its marble courtyards. Devourer banners were torn down and replaced with sigils of suppression bindings etched with soulfire to mark rebellion.
Kael's name was no longer whispered.
It was *proclaimed*.
"Kael Ardyn traitor to the Flame, breaker of the Triad, wielder of a corrupted blade," the voice echoed from a thousand soulmirrors across the Empire. "All initiates loyal to the Devourer Pact are ordered to hunt him down."
Kael stood at the edge of a shattered bridge, watching as guards stormed dormitories. Soulbinders, Hunters, and Flameborn enforcers began swarming Ardent's cities.
He lowered his hood.
"They move fast," Elira muttered, crouched beside him.
"They were waiting for this," Kael said. "They always knew someone would defect."
She looked at him. "What now?"
Kael glanced at the sealed map glowing in his hand. A gift from Selari after the reforge.
It pulsed with a new mark:
"Target Location: The Fourth Node — Crown of Thorns
Region: Glasswound Wilds, Forbidden Zone
Estimated Time: 5 Days (Stealth Route)"
"We move," Kael said. "Now."
---
*Elsewhere—*
In the palace city of *Sundralis*, the Hollow King convened with the remaining high Devourers. Among them stood *Seyric Drayle*, his arm bound in a new soulblade after his defeat by Kael.
"I want him dragged back in chains," the King growled.
Seyric bowed. "Give me the Soulhounds. I'll bring you his head."
"You'll bring me the blade," the King corrected. "His head is optional."
He turned toward the soul mirror, where Kael's silver Sealblade hovered mid-recording.
"Find the Fourth Node. Kill anyone who guards it. End the rebellion before it begins."
---
Day 2 – Glasswound Border
Kael and Elira moved fast through broken forests where light bent unnaturally and the air tasted like burned glass. This was no longer imperial land. It was deadland scarred by ancient soul experiments and abandoned wars.
But Kael felt the pulse.
The Fourth Node was somewhere beneath the earth here. Buried under a city that had once been erased from maps: *Vhal'Aras*, the Lost Soulhold.
They made camp by a collapsed monolith, where a Sealbearer mark had been carved long ago. It glowed faintly when Kael touched it.
System Notification:
"Sealbearer Signal Recognized.
> Reinforcements Nearby: 1
> Identity: Unknown
—Tracking..."
A rustle behind them.
Kael spun Sealblade drawn.
A boy emerged, wrapped in rags, his eyes hollow. A silver mark burned across his chest.
"I've been waiting for you," he rasped. "They call me Ashen. I was the first failed rebellion. But I know where the gate is."
---
*Meanwhile—*
Seyric Drayle crouched on a high ridge, a soulhound sniffing at the wind. He saw the faint trail of silverseal glow below.
He smiled.
"Found you."
He raised a signal flare of violet flame. From the mist, five Devourer Hunters emerged, cloaked in black soulsteel, blades burning in hand.