Darkness. Silence. Then—whispers.
Kael stood alone in a clearing, the sky above painted with blood-red clouds. Before him lay his own lifeless body, armor shattered, sword broken. Around it, ghosts of his past comrades stared at him with hollow eyes.
"You led us to death," one murmured. "You chose pride over unity."
Kael clenched his fists. "I did what I had to."
"Did you?" another voice—his brother's. "Or did you just want to be a hero?"
His heart twisted. The old pain returned. He fell to his knees, but then remembered Lysara's words: "The truth sets you free. Even when it burns."
He stood again, this time not to fight, but to accept. "I made mistakes. I carry them. But I will not be chained by them."
The ghosts faded. The light returned.
Riven ran through fire, the battlefield endless. Screams echoed. Every man he failed to protect stood in his path, accusing, broken.
"Why are you still running?" a familiar voice asked—his captain, long dead. "You always run from guilt."
"I carry it every day," Riven growled, eyes stinging with smoke and tears. "But I'll use it to protect those I can still save."
With that, the fire died. His path cleared.
Seraphine's chains were not forged by flame—but by her own fears. She floated in a sky without stars, magic gone, voice stolen.
Useless, a phantom whispered. Powerless. Forgotten.
She closed her eyes. "Even without magic, I am more than a vessel. I am still Seraphine."
A single note—soft but clear—escaped her lips. Light bloomed from her chest. The chains shattered.
Lysara faced the deepest void: nothingness. No wind, no magic, no stars. Only silence.
"This is what you fear," Elyndor's voice echoed. "To be without meaning."
She closed her eyes. "Meaning is not given. It is chosen."
From her hand, the memory shard pulsed—and the void cracked. Her spirit returned.
All four emerged back into the golden chamber, standing stronger, steadier. Elyndor smiled, for the first time.
"You have passed. The soul must break before it can be reforged."
With a wave of his hand, the walls of the chamber peeled away—revealing a vast expanse: a hidden realm of ancient gods, fractured and sleeping. And in the distance, a tree of stars pulsed with infinite light.
"Come," Elyndor said. "The truth awaits. But so does the war."