The chamber shuddered violently as the Core's energy flared out in wild arcs of flame and lightning. Cracks raced across the floor like fissures of molten glass. Ember raised her arm to shield her eyes from the blinding light as the Warden stepped into the flame, unharmed, feeding on the chaos.
"He's bonding with it!" Eryssa yelled, gripping a talisman tightly. "The Core is ancient—it wasn't meant to be controlled by force!"
"I'm not trying to control it," the Warden said, his voice deeper now, laced with unnatural echoes. "I'm becoming what the Flameborn never dared to be. Whole."
He reached out again, and the shards embedded in Ember's armor screamed with heat, vibrating violently as if trying to tear free.
"No," Ember growled, clutching her chest. "You don't get to steal this."
Drawing the Blade of Cinder, she charged, its runes igniting with her will. Orin followed, flanking the Warden with blade and flame, while Lysra conjured a barrier to shield Eryssa as she began a counter-ritual.
The Warden moved like a force of nature—faster, heavier, crackling with power. Ember met him blow for blow, their weapons clashing with sonic eruptions. Each strike sent shockwaves through the chamber, threatening to collapse it entirely.
"You were never meant to carry the Flame," he sneered. "You fear it. You hesitate."
"I respect it," Ember spat, dodging his next strike. "You're just feeding your ego!"
The Core pulsed between them—now flickering between stability and collapse. Ember could feel it choosing. Watching.
Behind her, Eryssa completed the incantation. A ring of containment symbols ignited beneath the Warden's feet, slowing his movements.
"You think you've won?" he hissed.
"I think," Ember said, raising her blade, "it's time someone reminded the flame what it means to protect, not destroy."
She plunged the Blade of Cinder into the Core.
Time stopped.
The flame surged outward—not as fire, but as memory, rushing through every shard, every soul touched by the Flameborn legacy. The chamber roared as the energy exploded in a blinding cascade of golden light.
When the light faded, the Warden was gone.
And Ember knelt at the center of the Heart of the Flame, its energy now quiet… and bound to her.