The campfire crackled under a veil of stars. Kael sat with his back against a log, rolling the pendant between his fingers. Thalia sharpened a blade nearby. Lyss lounged in a tree branch above, tossing a stone up and down.
"So…" Lyss broke the silence. "What is it, really? That thing you nearly shadow-choked me over?"
Kael held the pendant to the firelight. Its surface was blackened, but beneath the soot, faint runes shimmered — like veins in obsidian.
Thalia moved closer. "It's not just a relic. It's a key."
"To what?" Kael asked.
"To who you are."
---
The Secret Within
Thalia guided Kael's hand over the fire. As the heat licked the pendant, the outer layer peeled back, revealing a molten-red core etched with five sigils — one for each elemental kingdom.
At its center was a symbol Kael hadn't seen before — a flaming crown pierced by shadow.
"That mark," Thalia whispered, "is the brand of the Ember King. It only reveals itself when bonded to blood... his blood."
Kael's breath caught.
The pendant shifted again, and thin glowing lines unfurled outward — a map, sketched in ember-light across the air.
A circular trail of landmarks: forests, cliffs, a desert spiral, and one deep void with no name.
"That's not just any map," Lyss said, climbing down. "That's The Path of the Flame. Legend says it's the journey the Ember King took to become more than mortal."
"And now it's calling me," Kael murmured.
"Or testing you," Thalia added.
---
A Choice of Roads
They studied the map. It shimmered, and one sigil pulsed faintly — the Earth Kingdom, known as Stonevale.
"The first mark is always the hardest," Thalia said. "Stonevale's ruled by High Queen Runa. She outlawed all fire magic after the Ember War."
"If she learns who Kael is…" Lyss frowned, "…we'll be buried before we get near the next mark."
Kael looked between them. His life in Emberreach had been blacksmithing, surviving, hiding.
Now? He was supposed to walk the path of a lost king, hunted by his bloodline, marked by shadows.
"I'm not ready," he said quietly.
Thalia met his eyes. "No one ever is. But ready or not, the fire's lit."
---
A Marked Target
Before dawn, Thalia packed their gear. Lyss gathered food, whispering she knew people in Stonevale — "the kind who like to stir royal pots."
Kael, alone for a moment, watched the pendant again. Its embers had dimmed, but the fire remained — waiting.
And in the distance, unseen beneath black trees, a cloaked rider watched them.
Eyes glowing faintly violet.
"He's begun," the rider whispered. "The Heir walks. The Ash Blades will burn what remains."
---