In the obsidian halls of the Ash Empire's capital, beneath a sky choked with crimson stormclouds, the High Regent stood before a wall of flickering arcane projections—each one a different region now alight with phoenix fire.
Her advisors spoke in panicked whispers, voices drowned beneath the humming energy in the room. But she heard only one thing:
Kael Veradis had returned.
Not in his own body—but reborn within Ember Solara, the Flameborn who had claimed the Phoenix Heart. A soul fusion that hadn't occurred in over a thousand years.
"She has awakened the ancient flame… and the Magus soul inside her has begun to dominate," whispered the Archivist. "It's only a matter of time before she fully becomes him."
"No," the Regent said sharply, turning. "She's not him. Not yet. That girl still believes she can save the world."
She crossed the chamber, entering her private sanctum—a cathedral of glowing runes and caged artifacts. Within its heart stood a bound creature: part spirit, part spell construct, a relic from the Age of Collapse.
She fed it a drop of her blood. It shivered, then spoke in a hundred voices.
"What do you seek, Flamebreaker?"
The Regent's eyes narrowed.
"A way to separate the souls of a Flameborn vessel. One must live. The other... must burn."
---
Meanwhile, far across the continent…
Ember knelt before a lake of obsidian glass, her reflection shifting—half her own face, half Kael Veradis's smoldering gaze.
"You're not supposed to be here," she muttered.
Kael's voice answered, dry and ancient.
"Neither are you. You're alive because of me."
"You're a murderer."
"I'm a builder. You flamebearers burn everything, then wonder why the world hates you."
They both paused as Lysra approached from behind, holding a scroll etched in old runes.
"It's happening. The Regent has activated the Soulforge. She's going to try and tear you apart."
Kaelen drew his blade, the sky above flickering with distant flashes of war-magic.
"Then we strike first," he said. "Before she tears Ember in half to get to him."
But Ember stood slowly, the Phoenix Crown gleaming faintly atop her brow.
"No," she said. "We strike smart. Let her believe she's winning."
She turned to the Sanctum's horizon.
"Let her come for the Magus. I'll show her what happens when Flame and Soul walk as one."