Chapter 38: The Forgotten Flame
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The wind howled across the shattered remains of the Eastern Expanse — a dead zone long abandoned after the wars of flame and frost. Ash drifted like snow through broken towers, and bones whispered in the wind.
High atop a crumbling observatory, a lone figure stood with his back to the world.
His cloak was old, frayed at the ends, yet beneath it, faint flickers of crimson energy pulsed against dark armor etched with ancient runes. His eyes glowed — not with light, but with memory.
He had no name here. The people who once spoke it were gone.
But once… he was known as Kael Velis.
The firstborn.
The forgotten son.
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A faint tremor ran through the earth. His eyes closed.
He felt it. That pulse. The beat of a flame long extinguished… returning.
> "So," he whispered. "Father really left it behind."
He looked westward, where the spire of Caelora now glowed like a torch piercing the sky.
> "Eron. You found it."
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He turned and walked back into the dark observatory. Ancient crystal plates floated midair, connected by runes and thin strands of soul-thread. At the center was a hollow forge — cold, cracked, and silent.
He raised a hand. Blood seeped from his fingertips and danced through the air.
The forge awakened with a growl, angry and ancient.
> [Blood Signature Confirmed: Kael Velis]
[Sovereign Access: Dormant Tier Unlocked]
[Warning: Core Fragment Detected — Resonating with External Source]
A faint light blinked red at the center of the forge. It was damaged. Barely alive. But now… it responded.
Kael's voice was hard. "So the city listens to him. The core answers him. That means…"
He turned away, eyes burning.
> "He's not ready for what follows."
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Far below, in the depths of the observatory, the shadows stirred.
An armored figure knelt before a twisted flame.
> "Your orders, my Sovereign?"
Kael didn't answer at first. He stepped to the edge of the broken balcony, wind tearing at his cloak.
Then softly, with quiet fury:
> "Prepare the Red Sigil. If the Eternal Pyre has awakened... so will they."
> "And send word to the Ashborn. Their exile ends tonight."
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Meanwhile, back in Caelora…
Eric's tone shifted. Alert. Analytical.
> "Multiple dormant systems in the outer regions are activating... I'm detecting synchronized echoes from the Eastern Expanse."
Eron, still kneeling in the seal, raised his head.
> "Kael…"
He felt it too.
The flame inside him — the one just awakened — pulsed not in triumph… but in warning.
Something was coming. And it carried the same blood.