Chapter 42: Echoes of the Ember
The battlefield dissolved around him.
For an instant, the roar of steel and shadow vanished, replaced by silence. The golden flame within his chest surged, and with it came fragments—memories long buried, voices half-forgotten.
Le Wai staggered, but the world before his eyes was no longer Kael or the circling beasts. It was a vision, painted in firelight.
A dim cavern.
A boy—himself, younger, frail—kneeling before a crumbling altar. His small hands clutched a shard of crystal, its glow weak yet warm.
A voice echoed from the darkness, not cruel, not kind—merely vast.
"Do you seek strength, child? Or do you seek survival?"
The boy trembled, tears streaking down his face. His village had burned, his family's cries still haunted his ears. He had no answer… only the desperate will to keep moving.
"I… I don't want to disappear," the child whispered. "Even if I break… even if I suffer… I want to stand."
The crystal pulsed, as though the flame inside it acknowledged his plea.
"Then you shall carry the ember. A fragment of what once was. Fragile, but unyielding. It will not grant you power freely—you must bleed, struggle, and shatter before it awakens. Only on the edge of collapse will its fire answer."
The memory burned away, scattering like sparks in the wind.
Le Wai's eyes snapped open. The battlefield returned, harsh and merciless, Kael's blade locked against his own. But now—now he understood.
The ember was not a gift. It was a burden he had chosen long ago, without even realizing the cost. Every wound, every drop of blood spilled had been fuel, kindling for this moment.
Kael's fury deepened as he felt the shift in Le Wai's strength.
"What trickery is this?"
Le Wai's lips curled into a faint, bloodied smile.
"No trick. Just… the fire I chose to carry."
The golden flame around him flared, brighter than before. It was unstable, surging wildly, but it held a promise—one that sent shivers even through the shadows.
And in the distance, the mastermind's unseen presence stirred, its voice edged with recognition and unease.
"So… the ember lives after all."