Episode 56: "The Fallen Stirs"
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Midnight.
Kael stood alone in the Hall of Echoes, a chamber beneath the school where ancient spells were once practiced. The walls were mirrors of smoke—each one whispering fragments of past battles, names long forgotten, and fates that still lingered.
But tonight, they whispered only one thing:
> "The Fallen One… the Unbroken Flame… the Vault cracks."
Kael gritted his teeth. Every time he blinked, he saw it—that towering shadow on a mountain of broken swords, with bleeding red eyes and no face, only a mouth that never stopped chanting.
He touched Velmorth'Rael's hilt. The blade hummed… then shivered.
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Morning Comes With Questions
At breakfast, Tunde threw three spoons into the air and caught one.
"One of these days, I'm gonna start a circus and leave you magical crybabies behind."
Felix, sipping coffee: "A circus for what? Failed spells and failed love attempts?"
Rhea choked on her bread.
Tunde grinned. "You laugh now, but I've seen the future—I'm headlining Magic with Swag."
Lana sat beside Kael, quieter than usual. She glanced at him. "The visions… they're getting worse, aren't they?"
Kael nodded. "The Vault is where something ancient is trapped. And I think we've already cracked it open by sealing the shard inside my sword."
Rhea stood. "Then we need to find this Vault and seal it permanently."
"But," Felix added grimly, "what if it can't be sealed… because it was never meant to be?"
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Finding the Vault
By nightfall, they followed magical coordinates revealed by the blade. Deep in the mountains beyond the Mirror Valley, they found a blackened chasm. It pulsed with heat and despair.
"This is it," Kael whispered.
An old stone gate stood before them. Carvings of gods, demons, wolves, and stars. And one large sigil shaped like a flaming tear.
Tunde ran his hand across the wall. "What do we call this place? The Sad Volcano of Regret?"
Rhea gave him a tired smile. "Try again, Bard Boy."
Felix translated the rune aloud:
> "Vault of the Fallen Flame."
The moment Kael stepped forward, the gate opened on its own.
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Inside the Vault
The team entered a world made of obsidian and old fire. Lava flowed like blood in ancient veins. Statues lined the halls—some of humans, others of creatures with antlers, wings, or blades for faces.
Then came the altar.
A platform surrounded by ten swords—one missing, one glowing faintly.
Velmorth'Rael reacted instantly, pulling Kael toward the altar.
A voice echoed in all their minds:
> "He who holds the final blade has awakened the last seal. The price… must be paid."
Kael fell to his knees, overwhelmed. His golden aura surged and dimmed.
Lana ran to him. "What's happening?!"
Felix looked horrified. "The Vault… it's drawing on his god power."
Rhea gasped. "It's using him to open itself!"
Kael shouted through gritted teeth. "RUN!"
But it was too late.
The earth shook. The ceiling cracked. And from below, a creature emerged—
Towering. Pale. Head crowned with horns. Wings made of shadows. Chains dragging behind it.
The Fallen One.
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The Tragedy
In a flash, the creature attacked.
Lana was thrown back. Tunde shielded Rhea with a barrier that cracked on impact.
Felix tried summoning a protective rune—but he was too late.
A black spike of shadow flew—aimed straight for Rhea.
Tunde didn't think. He just moved.
> SPLASH.
The spike hit him instead.
He hit the ground, hard.
"TUNDE!!!" Rhea screamed, running to his side.
Kael, still half-glowing, forced himself up. His golden wolf aura surged back. But the creature had vanished—retreated into the mountain as if it had tested them.
Lana helped Rhea pull Tunde back to the exit, where his breathing was shallow but present.
"I'm… okay…" he mumbled. "But next time… someone else does the hero leap…"