The morning light felt hollow.
Kaen walked through the village square of Vael'Tharion with a mind full of shadows. The encounter with the Ashbound Shade haunted him—not for the fear it sparked, but for the questions it unearthed. What did it mean that his soul had been "bound before birth"? Why had it spoken of cycles and echoes?
He knew better than to ask the village elders. Ever since the Emberlight Trial, their gazes held a thin veil of fear when looking at him—respect tangled with something they couldn't name.
Kaen needed answers.
The only place left was the Tower of Cinderglass—a forbidden archive carved into a mountain on the village's edge. It was ancient, older than the village itself. Said to be sealed by the First Flame and guarded by knowledge that could "ignite or end an age."
Only one person had ever entered and returned with her mind intact.
Master Selyra.
She was the oldest living sage of the village and the only one who dared speak freely about fire that wasn't born from wood or coal. Fire that burned in truth, in memory, in destiny. Fire that left scars not on the skin—but the soul.
Kaen approached her stone hut near the canyon cliffs. Smoke curled from the top, laced with lavender and spiritroot—plants used to keep nightmares at bay.
Before he could knock, her voice called out.
"You saw it, didn't you? The Shade."
Kaen froze.
Selyra opened the door, her amber eyes not surprised but sad. "Come in. There's something I should have burned long ago."
Inside, her hut was cluttered with relics—feathers from sky serpents, broken spirit masks, and flameglass shards.
She reached behind a carved hearthstone and pulled out a scroll sealed in black wax—melting at the edges but still intact.
"This scroll was hidden by the first leader of this village. It wasn't meant to be found… unless the Ashbound spoke again."
Kaen stared at it. "What's inside?"
Selyra's hands trembled slightly as she gave it to him. "A prophecy… and a name older than any in the Flamebound Clans. Yours."
Kaen broke the seal.
Symbols unfamiliar to any language he knew swirled before his eyes—but somehow, he understood them. A flicker of pain coursed through his temples. Blood and fire. Love and loss. Light and shadow dancing in violent harmony.
Then, a single name stood out on the scroll like a burning brand:
Aetherkind.
Kaen stepped back, eyes wide. "What does this mean?"
Selyra inhaled deeply. "You are not just flame-touched, Kaen. You are one of the Aetherkind—a soul born of a forgotten lineage, tied to the flame between realms. And now that the Shade has found you… the ones who erased your kind will come next."
A deep silence followed.
Then Kaen clenched the scroll, fire dancing in his fingertips. "Let them come."