The entrance was hidden behind a crumbling well, long abandoned in the lower quarter of Velmaris. Ivy and dust covered its edges, but beneath the grime was a symbol—faint, etched in silver: the Flamecrest sigil.
Rylen knelt beside it and pressed two fingers to the mark. "This is it. The chamber hasn't been opened in decades."
Kaelin glanced around, uneasy. "How do you know it's safe?"
He looked up, his face hard. "It's not."
With a deep breath, he twisted the sigil. Stone groaned and shifted as a circular hatch opened beneath them, revealing a spiral staircase descending into darkness.
---
Below the City
The air was thick with damp and age. The spiral stairs led to a chamber lit by flickering blue flame that burned without fuel. Along the stone walls were murals—each depicting battles, ancient sigils, and a crowned woman standing amidst fire and ruin.
"Is that…?" Mira whispered, stepping forward.
Jericho nodded solemnly. "The Queen of Ashes."
Kaelin felt something stir in her chest as she looked at the final mural. It showed the queen surrounded by shadows, a circle of flames at her feet. And in her hand… a sword of light that looked exactly like the one Kaelin now carried.
"That sword," Kaelin whispered. "It's mine."
"No," Rylen said quietly. "It was hers. You're the first to awaken it in centuries. Which means… she knew this day would come."
---
In the Chamber's Heart
A raised platform held an ancient tome, wrapped in chains of silver. As Kaelin approached, the chains unraveled on their own.
"Wait," Ayla said. "Books like that are bound for a reason."
But Kaelin was already reaching forward.
Her fingers brushed the cover—and the flames in the room surged.
---
Vision
She was standing in a throne room of ash. A woman with eyes of molten gold sat upon the throne—regal, terrible, and beautiful.
"You're not ready," the Queen said, voice echoing like a scream and a lullaby all at once. "But she is watching."
Kaelin struggled to breathe. "Who are you?"
"I am the first Flameborn. The destroyer of tyrants. And the harbinger of their return."
"Are you my ancestor?"
"No," the Queen said, eyes narrowing. "I am your future—if you fail."
The vision shattered like glass.
---
Back in the Chamber
Kaelin gasped, collapsing to her knees. The book pulsed with warmth, as if alive.
Jericho steadied her. "What did you see?"
Kaelin's voice trembled. "She's waiting. And she's not alone. There are others... children of fire, like me."
Rylen exchanged a look with Mira. "Then the world's balance has already begun to shift."
---
Elsewhere…
In a hall of obsidian, lit only by the red glow of veins in the rock, a woman stood before a brazier of black flame.
Her face was veiled. Her hands—skeletal and crowned with rings—gripped a staff of bone.
A whisper slithered into her ear. "The heir has awakened."
The woman turned. "Then we bring the next pawn to the board."
From the shadows stepped a figure with glowing green eyes and jagged armor—a new character, the Warden of Hollowgate, known only as Tavros.