Kaelion and Raik moved cautiously through the battered forest.
Both were exhausted — Kaelion still trying to understand how he had even survived the last battle. His body ached, and the Earth Stone inside him felt... heavier, like it was resting after using so much power at once.
Raik walked ahead, scanning the woods.
"We'll need to find shelter soon, rookie. Soul Knights won't stop hunting us."
Kaelion nodded but barely heard him.
Something was pulling at him... a strange tug in the air.
The wind had changed.
A soft breeze brushed past his face, carrying a familiar scent — sweet, like wildflowers and rain.
Suddenly, out of the trees ahead, a figure appeared.
She stood tall and proud, her white hair flowing like silk in the wind, Tempeststone glowing faintly around her neck.
Sylena.
Kaelion's eyes widened.
"Sylena...?"
She smiled — the same gentle, confident smile he remembered — but there was urgency in her voice.
"Kaelion. You're in danger. Worse than you know."
"The Soul King... he's moving faster than anyone expected."
Raik stepped forward cautiously, eyeing her.
"Friend of yours?"
Kaelion nodded.
Sylena approached slowly, her presence calming the swirling tension in the air.
Her white cloak fluttered behind her, the air around her humming with invisible power.
"I felt the Earth Stone awaken. I came as fast as I could." she said, her violet eyes locking with Kaelion's.
"But you're not safe anymore. You need to get stronger... and fast."
Kaelion's fists tightened at his sides.
He wanted to ask her so many things — about the stones, the Soul King, why all of this was happening — but before he could speak, the sky above rumbled.
Thunder crackled.
The Soul King's forces were closing in again.
Sylena turned toward the noise, her hands beginning to glow with crackling wind energy.
"There's no more time. I'll help you escape. But after this, Kaelion... your true journey begins."
Kaelion nodded, feeling the earth pulse beneath him again.
For the first time in a long time, he wasn't running alone.
He had allies.
And he was ready to fight.