The wind was heavy with heat.
Kael stood at the edge of a massive crater. The sand had collapsed inward, revealing stairs made of obsidian and gold, spiraling down into the earth.
At the bottom: firelight flickered.
"The tomb," Serin said. "It's no longer sealed."
Raeh nodded. "The Sun-Tyrant stirs. His body was broken, but not destroyed. If he claims even one shard…"
"He won't," Kael said. "We won't let him."
They began their descent.
The staircase twisted like a serpent through the bedrock. Carvings on the walls showed the story:
A god of sun and fire rising above the world.
A war of flame and light.
Five shards forged to tear him down.
A crown scattered, but never destroyed.
Lira ran her fingers across one carving.
"Do you feel that?" she whispered. "The pressure?"
Serin nodded. "He's awake. Not fully. But enough."
They reached a golden gate.
It opened on its own.
Beyond was the heart of the tomb — a wide, circular chamber, with a molten pit at the center.
Floating above it…
A massive figure, wrapped in flame and gold armor, eyes still closed.
But breathing.
The Sun-Tyrant.
His voice echoed, without opening his mouth.
"Five sparks. Five fools. You bring my pieces to me?"
Kael stepped forward. "We're here to stop you."
The Sun-Tyrant's eyes opened — blazing like twin suns.
"Then burn with me."
🔥 The tomb erupted.
The ground split.
Flames poured from the cracks.
The chamber became a storm of fire.
Serin spun her staff — wind shielding the group.
Corren vanished into shadow, striking the Tyrant's side with black energy — but it vanished in the flame.
Lira slammed her palms to the floor. Walls of stone rose to block molten blasts.
Kael leapt across the pit, emberstone in both hands.
"This ends now!"
He struck the Sun-Tyrant with pure flame — red, gold, and white combined.
But the Tyrant didn't fall.
He roared — and the force blasted all five backward.
"You hold shards. I am the source."
The five landed hard. The Tyrant floated above, gathering a crown of flame in the air — the original Ember Crown, reforging itself.
Serin whispered, "He's absorbing the shards."
Kael gritted his teeth. "We need to unite them first."
The five looked at one another — and nodded.
Kael raised his emberstone.
Lira held out hers.
Serin, Corren… and Raeh, too — the last piece of the old magic — stepped forward.
The five shards pulsed as one.
The chamber filled with blinding light.
Kael's voice rang out:
"We are the Crown now."
The light struck the Sun-Tyrant — not with heat, but balance.
He screamed.
The crown above him shattered.
The shards flew — and returned to the five who had earned them.
The flames died.
The pit cooled.
The god fell.
Not as a monster…
…but as a memory.
Kael looked around.
It was over.
Truly.