The Whisper King raised his arms.
The sky turned black.
Fire and shadow twisted around him like a storm. The ground cracked.
Lightning tore across the clouds. The whole mountain shook.
Kael stood beside Serin, Lira, and Corren. The five shards glowed like stars — fire, wind, earth, water, and shadow — all shining at once.
"This is it," Serin said. "The final fight."
Kael clenched his fists. The emberstone in his palm burned like a heart ready to burst.
"We end this now," he said.
The Whisper King hurled a blast of dark flame at them.
Serin raised her staff. Wind curved around the group like a shield.
Corren vanished into smoke — then reappeared behind the King, slashing with a blade made of shadow.
The King blocked him with a growl and sent a shockwave through the temple.
Lira stomped her foot, and stone spikes shot from the ground, knocking the King off balance.
Kael shouted, "Now!"
He released his fire.
A wave of pure heat slammed into the King's chest — flames wrapping around the shadows like chains of light.
But the King laughed.
"You think you can win?" he roared. "You carry shards — but I am the Crown!"
He raised both hands.
A twisted crown of dark emberstone formed above him — glowing with red and black fire.
Then… the shards began to pull toward it.
Serin shouted, "He's trying to steal them — to rebuild the Ember Crown for himself!"
Lira gritted her teeth. "Not happening."
Kael closed his eyes.
He thought of the forge.
Of Master Ren.
Of the fire that chose him.
Then — he stepped forward, into the storm.
His body glowed red.
He reached inside — deeper than ever before — into the emberstone.
"We are the Crown," he said.
His fire connected with Serin's wind… with Lira's stone… with Corren's shadow… and with the water shard in Lira's hand.
Their lights combined — a beam of pure power — and struck the Whisper King's crown.
BOOM!
A blinding flash filled the temple.
The dark crown shattered.
The storm stopped.
And the Whisper King screamed… and vanished into ash.
Silence.
Then, slowly, the clouds broke — sunlight shining down for the first time in days.
Kael dropped to his knees, breathing hard.
"It's over," he said.
Serin helped him up. "No… it's just beginning."
Lira looked at her glowing shards. "What happens now?"
Corren spoke softly. "The shards are still inside us."
Kael looked toward the broken sky.
"Then maybe it's time we rebuild the world… together."