Kaen's stance firmed as flames surged around him, curling upward like serpents testing their prey. The armored figure—twice his size and forged from a fusion of obsidian and smelted fire—stepped into the circle of dancing heat. The cavern itself responded, light pulsing with each of the giant's heavy footfalls.
"You stand before Vareth, Keeper of the Ember Vault," the guardian declared. "Only those whose spirit has withstood the burn of fate may claim the Gauntlet of Cinderglass."
Kaen didn't flinch. "Then let fate try me."
Vareth raised his arm, and a sword of living flame ignited into his grasp. Without warning, he charged.
Kaen barely dodged the first swing, the blade slicing the air with a deafening roar. Sparks exploded as it collided with stone. Kaen retaliated with swift movements, tapping into the rhythm of his shard's pulsing energy. He struck with focused bursts—each blow enhanced by flickers of blue fire lashing out from his fist.
But Vareth was relentless.
Every swing from the guardian left trails of scorched air and smoldering rock. Tane, Mira, and Selyra kept back, understanding this trial wasn't meant for them.
Kaen's vision blurred, his body already straining under the intensity of the heat. His mind raced—but not with fear. Instead, he felt the pull… a connection forming.
The Gauntlet.
It was watching. No—waiting.
In a brief moment of clarity, Kaen remembered something Lady Aenys once told him: "The true fire does not destroy. It chooses."
As Vareth lunged for a finishing blow, Kaen didn't dodge. He stepped forward into the arc, driving his shard-infused palm directly into the guardian's core.
A burst of light erupted between them. Fire and energy swirled wildly, lifting Kaen off his feet and suspending him mid-air.
The chamber fell into silence.
Then, Vareth knelt.
"The flame recognizes you," the guardian said, voice now softer, almost reverent. "You are the next bearer."
The Gauntlet of Cinderglass floated from the pedestal and hovered before Kaen.
It didn't burn him as it latched onto his arm. Instead, it felt… warm. Familiar. As though it had been part of him all along.
Symbols lit up along the length of the obsidian gauntlet. His shard pulsed in harmony. A new bond was forged.
Selyra stepped forward cautiously. "What now?"
Kaen turned, eyes glowing faintly with embers. "Now we follow the fire's echoes… and uncover what it's trying to warn us about."
Above them, the Vault's flames began to twist into patterns—like a map.
But the center of the map?
It burned with a furious red Kaen had never seen before.