The path to Stonevale was carved through jagged cliffs and forests where even birds fell quiet.
As they approached the Earth Kingdom's border, the air grew colder. The trees became rigid and gray, like statues mourning something ancient. Kael couldn't shake the feeling that the very land was holding its breath.
"Stonevale doesn't fear war," Thalia said. "It fears what fire leaves behind."
"You mean ash?" Kael asked.
"I mean memory."
---
The City of Whispering Walls
They arrived at the outer gates of Beldrin, Stonevale's capital — a city built entirely of black marble and granite. No banners. No color. The guards wore earthen armor and said little.
Inside, it was no different. Streets wound like tunnels. Walls leaned inward. Voices were hushed. Kael felt like he was walking through a mausoleum that hadn't realized it was dead yet.
"We need to find someone named Corin, an archivist," Thalia said. "He knows the old paths."
"You sure he's not buried in this stonehole?" Lyss muttered.
"If he's not," Thalia replied, "he's watching us already."
---
The Archivist's Warning
They found Corin in the old library beneath a crumbled hall — a man with clay-streaked hands and scrolls tied in his beard.
"Shadowblood," he said the moment Kael entered. "And here I thought the earth was done shaking."
Kael stepped back. "I'm not here to cause trouble."
"Good," Corin replied. "Because Stonevale buries its trouble."
He guided them through passages beneath the city — old tunnels filled with carvings of a time before the Ember War. There, Corin unsealed a vault and revealed the Stone Tablet of Varn.
The ancient carving showed the Ember King walking with a figure cloaked in stone. Below them: fire consuming roots, cities, and a crown crumbling.
"The second mark lies beneath the Earth Queen's Throne," Corin said. "But you'll never reach it. Runa has declared war on flame. If she knows what you carry…" he trailed off, eyeing Kael.
"Then she'll execute me."
"Worse," Corin said. "She'll use you."
---
A Kingdom's Rage
As they prepared to leave the library, a tremor shook the ground.
"That's not natural," Thalia warned.
Corin's eyes widened. "You were followed."
Suddenly the wall burst in. Three armored Ash Blades stepped through the dust — blades glowing with fire-killing sigils.
"By order of the High Queen, surrender the heir," one snarled.
Kael gripped the pendant. Shadows twitched around his fingertips.
"Don't," Thalia warned. "Not here. Not under stone."
But Lyss had already vanished.
The Ash Blades struck first — swift, cruel. Thalia parried with steel. Kael ducked and rolled, the pendant flaring briefly, disorienting one of the enemies.
Suddenly — the ceiling cracked.
"MOVE!" Corin shouted.
They ran, the library collapsing behind them in a storm of stone and silence.
---
The Escape Below
They escaped into the mountain tunnels — a forgotten path once carved by the Ember King himself.
Lyss met them ahead, scratched but grinning. "Told you this place was cursed."
Kael turned back once, seeing the city crumble behind smoke and flame.
"Stonevale's silence is broken," Thalia said. "And the Earth Queen will not let it pass unpunished."
Kael clutched the pendant. Another mark burned faintly into its edge — the second of five.
"Then we keep moving," he said. "The path's not done."
---