The Vault of Echoes opened with a hiss like a thousand whispers exhaled at once. The massive eye-shaped door creaked inward, revealing a hall bathed in amber light. Ancient energy crackled in the air, pressing against their skin like invisible static.
Kael stepped in first, blade drawn. "Feels like we're being watched."
"We are," Ashara replied grimly. "Every emberbearer who fell... every god who touched this place... left a piece of themselves here."
Liora entered last. As she crossed the threshold, the flames on her blade dimmed, shifting to a deep, pulsing gold. The chamber didn't reject her—it acknowledged her.
The ceiling of the Vault arched high above them, lined with floating relics—blades, crowns, bones, and scrolls sealed in glass. Each artifact hovered in a shaft of light, frozen in time.
Liora stared upward, her voice a whisper. "These are their memories."
Ashara nodded. "And their regrets."
At the far end of the chamber stood a dais with a stone pedestal, atop which rested a flame in a silver brazier—calm, contained, yet burning without fuel. The godfire.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "That's what we came for."
But the moment they stepped toward it, the flames flickered—and a figure appeared beside the brazier.
She was cloaked in shadow and silver, with eyes like pale dawn. Her presence stilled the air.
Ashara's voice trembled. "High Flamekeeper Naerys. She was the last guardian of the godfire."
Naerys looked directly at Liora. "You come to claim what was never meant to be touched again."
Liora held her ground. "The ember called. The world is dying."
"Then let it," Naerys said softly. "The godfire was sealed for a reason. Its light cannot be controlled—only obeyed. And it has no loyalty."
Kael stepped forward. "We didn't come to steal it. Only to stop what's coming."
Naerys tilted her head. "Then you must make a choice."
The brazier flared, and the chamber darkened. Visions surged into Liora's mind—entire cities burned by unleashed godfire, gods weeping over their creations, kingdoms collapsing under the weight of divine power.
"I don't want that," Liora gasped. "I want to save them."
Naerys raised her hand. "Then surrender the ember. Let the flame rest."
Silence fell.
Liora looked down at her hands, the faint golden glow pulsing. Every lesson, every vision, every scar—brought her here.
"I can't," she said.
Naerys's expression didn't change. "Then you will burn."
A shockwave erupted.
Kael was thrown back. Ashara shielded herself with a glyph.
The brazier's flame rose high, twisting into a serpentine form of living fire.
Naerys vanished into it.
The Vault shook.
Liora stepped forward, the Flameblade raised. "I won't surrender. But I will earn it."
The godfire lashed out, and the Vault became fire and light.
The true trial had begun.