The streets of Ember City crackled with noise—then went silent.
Lanterns flickered again, every flame dipping to black before bursting into red. People paused mid-laugh, eyes widening as heat warped the air.
"Get back," Kaen said. His voice stayed calm, but frost crawled over the cobblestones.
Yuj nodded, drawing a thin arc of fire around them. The ring burned steady, warm enough to push the shadows aside.
For three heartbeats, nothing moved. Then the first body fell.
A vendor toppled sideways, his torch melting through his own sleeve. The flame that spilled from the wound wasn't red—it was iron-gray, like a forge cooled too soon.
The black heat spread. It slithered up walls, turned banners to dust, crept into every spark it touched. The festival became a furnace.
Alaric's voice boomed from the plaza: "Students! Form barriers! Contain, don't fight!"
"Contain what?" Yuj shouted. But the answer arrived before he finished.
From the smoke, a figure walked out wearing a white mask. No sound of footsteps, no heat, no cold — just a void where life should be.
Kaen's eyes narrowed. "That's the one from the roofs."
The masked man tilted his head slightly. "Ah. The seed and the vessel. Both awake so soon."
His voice was soft and hollow, like wind inside a bell.
"What do you want?" Yuj asked.
"To remind you of a promise made before you were born."
He raised a hand. Every flame within sight turned gray.
Kaen stepped forward, ice flaring around him. The heat flickered, pulled toward him as though recognizing a kindred curse. The temperature plunged. Frost formed on his lashes.
"Back off," Yuj warned. "That's not your fight."
"It is now." Kaen's breath steamed. "Fire that burns without purpose should be erased."
He launched forward, palm glowing blue-white. The masked man barely moved, just snapped his fingers. A shockwave erupted. Kaen hit the ground hard, ice shattering into dust.
"Your power is borrowed," the stranger said. "Let me return it to its owner."
The sigil on Kaen's neck blazed crimson, then black. He gasped, hands clawing at the mark.
"Kaen!" Yuj ran to him —but the moment his hand touched Kaen's shoulder, his own mark flared in response. Black veins crawled up his arm like roots seeking light.
Inside his head, a voice whispered: "Burn or be burned."
"Shut up," Yuj growled through his teeth, forcing heat back into the black. "Not today."
Alaric arrived, cane striking the ground. Scarlet runes exploded outward, pushing the corruption back a few meters.
"Varrin!" he shouted toward the dais. "Get the students out!"
But the headmaster stood still, expression unreadable.
"Ah," the masked man said, turning his head slightly. "So you did keep my gate open."
Varrin smiled faintly. "For now."
Yuj's stomach dropped. They knew each other.
The masked man spread his arms. "Then let us remind them what faith costs."
The ground cracked. From beneath the arena, pillars of iron fire erupted, curling into serpents of molten ash. Students screamed, running as the creatures slithered through the crowd, turning everything they touched to slag.
Alaric hurled a wave of red energy, cutting one serpent in half. Kaen rose again, eyes no longer his own — a red-black glow spilled from his pupils.
"Kaen!" Yuj yelled. "Fight it!"
The boy didn't answer. He lifted his hands, and frost and flame merged into a spiral that devoured the street.
"Control yourself!" Alaric snapped. "Kaen—listen to me!"
The voice that answered was two tones woven together: his and another's. "I am the Vessel. You cannot command me."
The masked man laughed softly. "Perfect."
Yuj felt his heart drop. He looked at Alaric. "What do I do?"
"End it," the teacher said, eyes hard. "Before he kills everyone."
"No." Yuj shook his head. "I won't kill my friend."
"Then find another way!"
Kaen moved again, hurling a storm of black flame. Yuj answered with pure red, the two colliding midair. The impact erased sound. For an instant there was only light and white pain.
When it cleared, Kaen stood amid ruins, mark on his neck pulsing like a second heart. He looked at Yuj — and something in his eyes flickered.
"Yuj…" His voice was his again for a breath. "Run."
"Not without you."
Yuj stepped closer, flames flickering along his arms like nervous birds. He remembered the training field, Alaric's lesson: 'Fire needs fuel. What's yours?'
He knew now.
It wasn't power. It wasn't glory.It was regret.
He closed his eyes, pulled on every memory of Yun — her laughter, her hand reaching through the flower field of his childhood. He let that ache ignite.
"Sorry, Kaen," he whispered. "Let me burn for both of us."
The black and red collided again. This time it didn't explode — it blossomed.
A lotus of living fire unfurled around them, petals shining with frosted edges. Inside its heart, Kaen froze mid-motion, eyes closed, peaceful at last.
Yuj fell to his knees, smoke rising from his hands where the mark had been.He felt nothing but wind and weight.
The masked man watched, head tilted. "Rehn's seed awakens through grief. How predictable."
He vanished in a curl of ash just as Alaric reached them.
"Yuj!" The teacher caught him before he hit the ground. "Stay with me."
"I…" Yuj's voice was faint. "Can't feel the fire anymore."
"Then you finally learned its lesson," Alaric said quietly. He looked at the lotus — flame and frost entwined, burning without smoke. "Everything burns. Not everything dies."
Above them, bells tolled across Ember City, turning the smoke to gold.
And somewhere far away, beneath the mountain, a sleeping god stirred.