Aria stood at the edge of a shimmering ravine, her boots resting on warm, red earth. The journey to Emberlight Hollow had taken days through winding hills and ash-filled valleys. It was a place spoken of only in old fables — a land where fire slept beneath the stone and time moved differently.
Kael stood beside her, his hand resting on the hilt of his curved blade. "This is the first Flame Beacon," he said. "But it's not just guarded by magic — it's watched by something older."
"Older than what?" Aria asked.
"Older than flame," he replied.
They descended the ridge into the hollow. The air smelled of coal and dust, but beneath it pulsed a warmth that felt almost... alive. Strange fungi glowed faintly along the stone walls, casting long shadows.
Deeper they walked until they found it: a towering stone gate, carved with swirling patterns and runes that danced when touched by light. In the center of the gate was a pedestal, and on it, a flame that did not flicker.
The First Beacon.
But as Aria stepped forward, the flame pulsed—and the earth beneath her cracked.
From the fissure rose a creature — black as obsidian, its body molten in parts, with hollow eyes glowing orange.
Kael drew his blade. "The Hollowfire Guardian."
Aria's mark flared brightly. She knew this was her test.
---
The battle was unlike anything she had faced before.
The Guardian moved like smoke and stone, every step melting the floor around it. Aria reached deep inside her, drawing on the stars on her palm, and raised a wall of blue flame to defend Kael.
Kael struck from the side, distracting the beast. But nothing seemed to truly wound it.
Then Aria realized — it wasn't meant to be defeated. It was meant to be understood.
She closed her eyes.
She let the stars guide her. The flame on the pedestal pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat.
The Guardian paused. Its movements slowed.
She stepped toward it—not with fear, but with trust.
The Guardian looked into her, then knelt.
The flame on the pedestal flared upward — and split into three shards of emberlight.
One shard floated into her chest.
She gasped as warmth filled her, and her mind was flooded with a vision — of her eldest brother, Elias, chained in a sky-temple, eyes closed, whispering her name.
Aria fell to her knees.
"I saw Elias," she said. "He's alive... but imprisoned."
Kael helped her up. "Then we know where to go next."
Aria turned to look back at the flame behind her.
"One flame down," she said. "Two to go."