Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Fire of Death
The wind howled through the highlands as Kael and Lira rode beneath a crimson dusk sky. Their path was winding and dangerous, a forgotten route that hadn't been traveled in years—a road to an old war hero.
The one they now sought was a legend—Mario, Andrew's top general. Once a war titan, now rumored to live in the quiet hills near the Ashren border, far from the tides of the Pale Eye and the screams of battle.
But Kael wasn't coming for a sword.
He was coming for answers.
When they arrived at the secluded village nestled in the hills, guarded by tall pines and stone pillars inscribed with Andrew's crest, it felt like stepping into the past. Everything was peaceful. Still. Too still.
A woman opened the door of a modest house, her silver hair blowing gently in the wind. Her eyes widened the moment she saw Kael.
"Kael?"
It was her. Natalia.
She was older now, but her features had softened—not with age, but with peace.
Kael froze.
"Mother…"
The basket in her hands fell. In a blink, she rushed forward, arms wrapping around him as if the years between them had been erased.
"My boy… my son… you're alive…"
Kael dropped to his knees, burying his face in her embrace, tears running down his face as Lira stood nearby, silent, letting him have this moment.
Natalia wept too, holding him like he was still a child, like she feared he would vanish again.
Inside the house, Mario watched from the doorway, arms folded, his once fearsome armor traded for a tunic and a simple sword by the hearth. His smile was proud, but his eyes were heavy with the weight of all they had lost.
Later that night, Kael, Lira, and Mario sat around a fire. The air was thick with old memories.
"Andrew gave all of us one last command," Mario said, sipping from a wooden cup. "He said, 'Hide. Survive. Wait for me.' So we scattered. The world thought we died."
Kael leaned forward. "Do you know where he is now?"
Mario shook his head. **"Not exactly. But I know this—Andrew is no longer a man. He became something else during that war. Something… eternal. He became the shadows themselves. He doesn't age. Doesn't bleed. The last time I saw him, he vanished into the dark, his eyes burning like stars. I believe he's still watching."
Kael's grip on his cup tightened.
Mario stood, walking to an old map on the wall. He pointed to the southern forest—an untouched, myth-shrouded place on the continent's edge.
"If you're looking for the next path—go here."
He tapped a blackened mark etched into the parchment.
"The Forest of Life."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "That's where Green Wolf is?"
Mario nodded.
**"Yes .Radu. The man with the green armor. He fought beside Andrew longer than any of us. He's still loyal, and he's waiting. But be warned… he lives near the Fire of Death, one of the Three Eternal Fires—Life, Death, and Liberty."
"Why's it called the Fire of Death?" Lira asked.
Mario's eyes darkened. "Because everything near it dies. Monsters swarm the land. The trees scream at night. And even time seems to rot. It's no place for the faint-hearted."
Kael stood.
"We've come too far to stop now."
Natalia, still beside the fire, looked at him, her hand trembling.
"Please… be careful, Kael. I just got you back…"
Kael smiled gently and hugged her one last time. "I will. I promise."
But outside, in the shadows beyond the light of the home—something watched.
Eyes glowing like the edge of dusk.
A presence ancient and vast.
Andrew.
He stood alone, cloaked in a darkness that pulsed like living magic, his face unchanged by time.
He watched her son. Watched Natalia.
A whisper left his lips, unheard by any.
"Not yet… not until he's ready."
And then, he vanished once more.