Riven stood before the mural, staring at the name now carved into history.
Himself.
Son of flame.
Bearer of will.
He clenched his fists.
"No," he whispered.
Kaelis stepped beside him.
"What do you mean 'no'?"
He turned to face her, eyes burning with something between fear and fury.
"I'm not their replacement," he said. "I'm not some echo of what they were."
Vorathax watched from the shadows, expression unreadable.
"You are more than an echo," the dragon god said. "You are the embodiment of their final breath—their last act of defiance."
Riven shook his head.
"I don't want to be a symbol. I want to be **me**."
Kaelis looked between them both.
"This isn't about what you want," she said quietly. "It's about what the world needs."
Vorathax inclined his head.
"And what does it need, child of fire?"
She hesitated.
Then answered:
"A future without gods deciding our fate."
---
As if in response to her words, the ember-altar pulsed again.
This time, the flames did not reach for Riven.
They reached for her.
Kaelis gasped as warmth spread through her chest, igniting something deep inside her. Her vision blurred, then sharpened. Colors bled into each other like ink in water. And suddenly, she saw—not just the chamber, but everything beneath it.
Beneath the stone.
Beneath the memory.
Something vast.
Something waiting.
She staggered back.
"What the hell was that?" she breathed.
Riven caught her arm.
"You're Marked," he said. "But not like me."
"No," Vorathax murmured, eyes narrowing. "She is something else entirely."
Kaelis looked up at him.
"What am I?"
The dragon god studied her carefully.
"You are the first of a new kind," he said. "Not born from fire… but born to shape it."
She frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will," he said simply. "When the time comes."
---
Above, in Emberreach, the city stirred.
The Whispering Gate had opened.
Word spread like wildfire.
A new name had been carved into the stone.
Riven.
Son of Flame.
Bearer of Will.
Some hailed it as prophecy fulfilled.
Others feared it meant the return of the old ways.
And still others…
Waited.
In the halls of the Council of Flame, the elders debated in hushed voices.
In the temples of the forgotten gods, priests lit long-dormant fires.
And in the deepest corners of the world, something ancient listened.
Something that had waited centuries for this moment.
And now, it was waking.
---
Back in the cavern, Riven paced.
"We can't let this happen again," he said. "We can't let the gods decide what happens next."
Kaelis crossed her arms.
"Then what do we do? Walk away?"
He stopped pacing.
"No," he said. "We finish it."
She raised an eyebrow.
"How?"
He looked at her.
"We break the cycle."
Vorathax tilted his head.
"Ambitious," he mused. "And foolish."
Riven met his gaze.
"Maybe. But it has to be done."
Vorathax studied him for a long moment.
Then nodded.
"There is a way," the dragon god admitted. "But it will cost you everything."
Kaelis stepped forward.
"Tell us."
Vorathax smiled faintly.
"To break the cycle, you must sever the link between past and present. You must unmake the divine spark."
He looked at Riven.
"That means you must die."
Silence filled the chamber.
Then—
Kaelis spoke.
"What about me?"
Vorathax's smile faded.
"You," he said softly, "must become what even gods cannot control."