In the silence that followed Ashspire's fall, a different kind of fire stirred—one that didn't crackle or roar, but whispered in tongues older than time. Belarion stood in the Ashen Hollow's sanctum, now repurposed as the central chamber of the reformed sect. The flames in the braziers bowed to him, casting long shadows that danced with reverence.
The System pulsed.
[Hidden Achievement Unlocked: Dominion Over Flame]
[New Questline Unlocked: Beneath the World Flame — Investigate the source of the Eternal Ember buried below Ashspire's roots.]
Kaelira handed him a scroll wrapped in crimson silk. "Recovered from Marvek's private vault. Sealed with three flame spirits and an oathbound glyph. I had to singe my soul just to open it."
Belarion unrolled it slowly. The writing wasn't ink—it was scorched into the parchment with phoenix tears and dragon ash.
A map. Not of lands above, but the world below.
The Hidden Layers
According to the scroll, deep beneath the surface of the continent lay the Ignial Deep—a hollowed world where the first flames of creation were kindled by primordial beings. Only sects sanctioned by the World Flame Accord even knew of its existence.
"It's alive," Kaelira said, her voice hushed. "The flame below isn't just an artifact. It's thinking. Remembering. Maybe… hungering."
Belarion narrowed his eyes. "Then it's time I speak with it."
He turned toward the new command seal now embedded in the center of the sanctum. It shimmered like obsidian blood, etched with sigils of dominion. Using it, he summoned the spiritual tunnel hidden beneath the sect—the Emberfall Gate.
Descending into the Emberfall
Few dared to journey downward. The further they traveled, the more their cultivator senses frayed. Time unraveled. Mana twisted into unfamiliar laws.
Belarion descended alone.
With every step, the temperature dropped instead of rose. That was the first anomaly. Here, flame did not warm—it leeched heat, as if trying to balance a cosmic debt.
System prompt flickered.
[Welcome to Emberfall Depths – Outer Rim Layer. Timeflow Desync Detected. Mental Stability Checks Engaged. Energy Regulation Adjusted.]
He passed through a forest of petrified flame—red trees of solid fire that didn't burn but wept. Their bark was hot and sorrowful to the touch, leaking tears that hissed into ash.
In the center of the grove, a monolith stood. Old, broken, and bleeding fire like a wound.
[System Notice: Found 'Obelisk of Flame Memory'. Parsing Mental Echoes...]
A burst of voices rang through his head:
—"They tried to control it..."
—"No one burns forever..."
—"The Emberborn betrayed us..."
The visions were fragmentary—images of titanic beings of fire fighting one another, their spirits unraveling in wars lost to history. Then, one name echoed clear:
Vaerok, The Flame Dreamer.
And beneath it, the prophecy:
"When flame no longer warms but weeps, the Dreamer stirs. The one who speaks in sparks shall awaken him."
Belarion clenched his fist. "Is that me? Or something I'm meant to face?"
The Chamber of Mourning Flame
Past the grove, the terrain changed. Obsidian bones jutted from the ground. Strange insects made of smoke danced in the air. And ahead, nestled in a cracked crater, lay a heart-shaped brazier—burning a cold flame that glowed blue-white.
Kaelira had followed in secret. She appeared from the shadows, bruised and breathless.
"I had to see," she gasped. "The fire here—it's not just ancient. It's grieving. Mourning. What died down here?"
Belarion said nothing. He stepped toward the brazier.
[System Prompt: Touch the Mourning Flame? This may alter spiritual alignment and reveal sealed memories.]
"Yes."
The moment his hand touched the flame, pain flooded every cell. Not physical pain—but spiritual anguish. He saw glimpses of a world before the current one. Where flame was not elemental—but divine.
He saw a child, burning with starlight, cast out of the heavens for teaching mortals how to master fire. He saw gods devoured by their own creations. He saw… himself, or someone who looked like him, standing at the center of it all.
Then he woke up.
Kaelira was holding him. "You were gone for hours."
"Seconds," he muttered. "It felt like seconds."
"No," she said. "Up there? Six days have passed."
[System Alert: Time Anomaly Confirmed. Temporal Desync Resetting...]
Belarion rose. His eyes now held flecks of blue within the gold—embers of mourning flame.
"I know where we go next," he said.
"Where?"
"To find Vaerok. The Flame Dreamer."
End of Chapter 8
Next: Chapter 9 – The Dream That Burns Back.