The fire inside Ember surged like a wild storm, fierce and unyielding. Heat radiated from her like the core of a star, burning away the shadows that had clung to the cavern for centuries. Every muscle in her body trembled with raw, chaotic power — a force both terrifying and magnificent, desperate to break free from its cage.
What is this place now? she wondered, eyes blazing as she took in the ash-strewn ground beneath her feet. The air was thick with smoke and the sharp scent of molten rock — harsh and biting, like the breath of a living furnace. This was the world she had once ruled, yet it was unrecognizable. Ruined. Silent.
Her voice, rough from long silence, broke the heavy stillness. "Where… where am I?"
From the shadows emerged a figure cloaked in dust and soot, his gaze sharp and steady despite the ruin around them.
"You are awake," he said quietly, voice gravelly but calm. "I have waited for you, Ember. The world has changed since your slumber."
Ember's fiery eyes narrowed. "Who are you? Why do you stand in the ashes of my domain?"
The man bowed his head slightly. "I am Kaelen, a scholar and guardian of the old knowledge. I have watched over what remains, waiting for the fire to return."
Her flames flickered uncertainly as doubt and pain warred within her. "I am no longer queen here. The world has forgotten me."
Kaelen's eyes softened with quiet determination. "Forgotten, yes. But not gone. Your awakening has not gone unnoticed. Dark forces stir once more."
Ember's heart, a firestorm within, tightened with resolve.
If I am to rise again, she thought fiercely, I must master this flame — or be consumed by it.
She met Kaelen's gaze, voice steady despite the weight of centuries. "Then let us begin. The fate of the realms may rest on my shoulders."
The volcano rumbled, a warning and a call to arms.
Ember's journey had truly begun.
To be continued…