Chapter Thirty-Five– Ashes of Honor
The air inside David's fortress was tense. The aftermath of Andrew's arrival still lingered like a shadow stretched too long over the earth. Blood stained the marble floors—two generals gone in a single blow, the rest stunned into silence by the immortal Grand Swordmaster's warning.
Kael sat quietly, still tied until Mario, with a furious grunt, cut the ropes.
"Don't worry," Mario said, glaring around the room. "No one's hurting you or Lira again."
Lira trembled at Kael's side, her hand gripping his sleeve. She hadn't spoken since the generals had tried to reach her—before Andrew and Mihai had arrived like specters from legend.
David's voice boomed, snapping everyone's attention. "Enough mourning. You saw what he became. That was not the Andrew we once followed."
Mihai stepped forward, arms behind his back. "He is still Andrew. But he is also something more. The Berserk Soul… the Third Awakening of a swordmaster."
The generals, what was left of them, exchanged glances. No one dared speak.
Kael stood. "Then what now? He said there will never be a Dream Land again."
David narrowed his eyes. "That's because Andrew has forsaken what we built. Or maybe what we destroyed, trying to build it."
Lira looked up at Kael. "We can't stop him, can we?"
Mihai answered in David's place. "No. Not as we are now."
Later That Night
Kael sat on a cold stone ledge overlooking the inner courtyard. The stars above were dim, hiding behind ash-gray clouds. He held his sword, tracing the engraving Andrew had etched long ago: "Strike true, not hard."
Lira approached. "You've been quiet."
He looked up at her, his expression unreadable. "What am I really? Am I a key to stopping him, or just a warning of what comes next?"
Lira sat beside him. "You're still you. But… Kael, there's something strange happening."
She held out her hand. A faint ember pulsed just beneath her skin, tracing a line that looked almost like a phoenix wing.
"I didn't notice it until tonight. When I was almost taken, something awakened in me."
Kael leaned in. "I saw it too… the fire. You stopped shaking."
"I wasn't afraid anymore," she whispered. "I was angry."
From the shadows, an older man in a crimson and black cloak stepped out. His face bore the marks of age and war. One eye, blind. One hand, metallic. A general from a long-lost battalion.
"You don't know what you carry, girl," he said.
Kael stood, blade half drawn. "Who are you?"
The man bowed his head. "Once, I was called General Seran. I fought beside Mihai. I knew your father… Lira."
Lira froze. "My father…?"
"He was not from this land. He came across the sea. A man of fire, a man of liberty. His name was Sarius, wielder of the Liberty Flame. He died during the Battle of the Sealed Wall. But you… carry his mark."
Her hand trembled, the ember flaring brighter.
"Why now?" Kael asked. "Why appear now?"
Seran shook his head. "Because the Fires are waking. Life. Death. Liberty. Each calls to a successor. And if they awaken all three… the next war will not be for territory or revenge. It will be for existence itself."
Elsewhere – Deep in the Ashren Hills
A cloaked figure moved silently through dead grass and broken stones. The night wind howled around him, but his focus was singular.
He knelt, pulling a blade from the soil—blackened and burnt at the hilt.
"The last seal is loosening," he muttered.
A second figure appeared. Sleek, masked, and dressed in foreign robes.
"Rythe," the masked one said. "Your continent is lost."
Rythe smiled. "Perhaps. But even if the Fire of Death claims us… we will drag Andrew's immortality down with us."
Back in the Fortress – Dawn
David stood in the war chamber with Mihai, staring over maps and coordinates.
"We must find the last Fire's shrine," Mihai said.
David nodded. "And what about Kael and Lira?"
"They'll find their path soon. Kael walks the blade's edge between his father's rage… and his uncle's curse. Lira… may be the only one who can remind him what he's fighting for."
David looked up. "And Andrew?"
Mihai's eyes narrowed. "He'll come. But not as a shadow anymore."