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Chapter 20 – The Crucible's Teeth
Snow hissed into steam as Kael's flames surged, turning the narrow mountain pass into a furnace of chaos.
The first halberd came for his throat.
Kael ducked low, twisting as his palm shot upward—his knuckles laced in glowing script. The strike landed cleanly against the attacker's chest, hurling them into the cliff with a wet crunch.
> [Mission Progress: "Hold the Pass" — Objective 1 Complete]
More came. Two from either flank.
Behind him, Lys moved like a shadow—blade flashing in tight arcs. One assailant collapsed, gurgling on blood. The other staggered, only to take a heel to the face as she spun, low and precise.
Kael met the next halberd with Bonefire Fang, deflecting the blade before twisting—igniting his weapon in a flash of heat.
"Incinerate."
The sword howled, its flames melting the attacker's weapon in half and scorching through their visor. The man screamed and dropped.
Lys dropped beside him. "They're not mercs."
"No," Kael muttered, parrying another blow. "They're trained. Ritual fighters."
He didn't say it aloud, but he could feel it—each of them carried a faint spiritual residue. They weren't here for coin. They were fanatics.
Another attacker lunged. Kael caught their arm, twisted, and yanked the halberd free, turning the weapon in a smooth arc and impaling the next enemy who charged from behind.
> [Mission Progress: "Hold the Pass" — Objective 2 Complete]
Then she stepped through the swirling steam—tall, lean, with silver braids and eyes like shattered winter.
"You burn brighter than I expected," she said, drawing a curved blade etched with frozen runes. "I wanted to test the fire that melted Varkez Hollow."
Kael leveled Bonefire Fang. "You're not getting another Crucible."
"Not another," she whispered. "The final."
She moved—no blur, no warning. Just presence.
Kael barely raised his sword before impact. The blow threw him into the ice-covered wall. He dropped to his knees, gasping.
The woman advanced, cloak lifting in phantom wind.
Kael rose slowly, flames curling around him. "I don't know who I used to be," he said. "But I know what I am now."
She halted. "And what's that?"
"A choice."
He thrust Bonefire Fang into the ground. Ignite: Inner Crucible.
The flames shifted—deep blue now, and older. They burned with memory, not just heat. Echoes of ancient wyrms, battlefields long forgotten, and his own broken training surged into his limbs.
His aura thickened—alive with purpose.
When she struck again, Kael didn't retreat. He met her head-on.
His Gracebound Protocol pulsed at his core—script flaring as if reacting.
> [Mission Bonus: Hidden Path Unlocked — "Wyrm Recoil Strike" Acquired]
Kael twisted with her strike, turning defense into offense. Bonefire Fang slammed into her side with a ripple of force, denting her armor and knocking her back. She skidded on the frost, finally catching her footing.
Blood traced her lip. She eyed him differently now—not with hatred, but calculation.
"You were the Chainbearer."
Kael stepped forward, each breath steaming in the cold. "And you won't chain me again."
Before she could speak, Lys dropped beside him—cut up, breathing hard.
"Three left," she said. "The rest are running."
Kael kept his eyes on the silver-haired woman. "We don't want to be your enemies. But push again, and—"
"You'll show me what fire forgets," she finished. "So be it."
She raised two fingers to her temple. A pulse of spiritual resonance flashed through the air—a silent message.
Then she stepped back.
"You have until the next full turn of the twin moons," she said softly. "Then the Crucible will come for you—with the full memory of your sins."
Her form shimmered—and vanished into mist.
Kael exhaled, his hands trembling from the aftershock.
> [Mission Complete: "Hold the Pass" — Reward: 30 Grace Points]
[Updated Status: Total Grace Points – 110]
> [New Trait Acquired: "Grace in Chains: Echo 1/5"]
As always, the notifications echoed only in Kael's mind—seen and heard by him alone. Lys gave no sign of noticing anything. She couldn't see the glowing script that hovered for a heartbeat in his vision, nor hear the divine tone that accompanied it.
---
They climbed higher into the cliffs, stopping beneath a rocky ledge as night fell. Stormwinds howled across the peaks. Kael leaned against the stone, his fire low but steady.
Lys sat across from him, wrapping a wound on her arm. "Thanks for not holding back."
"We'd be dead if I had."
"You still burn different from the rest," she said. "Like someone trying to remember why they started burning."
Kael gave a tired smile. "Probably because I am."
She looked at him for a moment, then nodded. "Do you think it's true? That vision we saw… that mural?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "That man—they called him the Chainbearer. He broke Seals. Commanded wyrms. He didn't look cruel. Just… sure of himself. Like he thought he was doing the right thing."
"And now?"
"I'm not so sure anymore."
He glanced down discreetly at his forearm. The Gracebound script shimmered faintly there—visible only to him. Beneath the others, a new line pulsed softly:
> "Grace in Chains: Echo 1/5"
Kael traced it with his eyes, saying nothing.
Lys said nothing either. She hadn't seen it. She couldn't have.
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Far below the pass, in a sanctuary of ice-ringed braziers and silent monks, the silver-haired woman knelt before a dais of frost.
A figure sat above—cloaked in crimson and voidblack, their face veiled in shimmering scales.
She bowed. "The Chainbearer burns again. And he remembers."
The figure's voice was a whisper from the deep.
> "Then the Crucible must be prepared."
> "Let him burn. Let him remember. And when the Fifth Fragment is found…"
> "Bring him to me."
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