The skies over Eldrakar turned red.
Not with sunset—but with a flare of unnatural fire.
Civilians paused. Children stopped playing. Priests dropped their incense.
A spiral of dark crimson light ascended from the southern mountains—a place long forbidden.
From beneath the Monolith of the Dead Flame.
---
Amina's Awakening
Amina stood before the Tri-Flame, hands trembling.
The silver-eyed girl still haunted her thoughts. A name echoed faintly in her mind—Serai.
She didn't know who the girl was, or why she called her mother.
But something in her soul… ached.
The Tri-Flame pulsed when Amina reached toward it.
And in a sudden burst, it flooded her with memory.
Not hers. Someone else's.
A battlefield of ash.
A woman kneeling beside a lifeless man—his chest seared by silver fire.
The woman looked up.
She wore Amina's face.
But her eyes… were Amariel's.
---
Kai's Confrontation
In the Flameguard archives, Kai studied ancient texts.
He found one page, brittle and nearly erased, labeled "The Unburnt."
It spoke of a being who could not be consumed by flame.
A child born in the heart of fire, immune to its destruction.
Zorai'el's child.
His heir.
"The Unburnt has no loyalty to the Flame nor to the Void," the passage read.
"They are both bridge and blade."
Kai's jaw clenched.
Whoever this child was… they could bring salvation—or end everything.
He had to find them before Zorai'el did.
---
Valec's Fracture Deepens
Valec sat by a secluded riverbank.
He watched the reflection of flames on the water, heart pounding.
The mirror's crack from before haunted him. It had grown.
Each night, it spread across his soul like frost.
He didn't tell Amina.
Didn't tell Kai.
But when he closed his eyes now… he saw Zorai'el's memories.
He fought wars Valec had never seen.
He burned cities Valec had never known.
And worst of all… he felt pride.
Valec gasped as his veins glowed faintly red.
"Not now," he whispered.
But deep inside, a voice laughed.
"You are already mine."
---
A Council in Chaos
Back at Flameguard Citadel, the High Council convened.
Panicked. Divided.
One elder shouted, "We must bind the Flame! Lock it away before Zorai'el rises fully!"
Another hissed, "We do that, and the world freezes. Balance dies!"
Kai burst into the chamber. "There's another way."
He dropped the ancient page onto the flame-lit table.
"We find the child."
Eyes turned toward him.
"Before he does."
---
Far Beyond the Veil…
In a chamber lit by dying stars, Zorai'el knelt before a cocoon of molten crystal.
Inside, a faint heartbeat pulsed.
"Awaken, my legacy."
"For the age of balance… is over."