When they returned to the surface, the world had changed.
Bravestone was gone.
Nothing but smoke and scorched ruins remained. The enforcers had left nothing behind—no bodies, no banners, only ashes. Kael stared at the blackened remnants of the chapel where he once trained. A place of order, now reduced to silence.
Arien said nothing. She only stood there, the Emberblade strapped across her back, her expression carved from stone.
Teren cursed under his breath. "We should've been faster."
Maev placed a hand on the scorched ground, eyes closed. "This was a message. Not war. Warning."
Kael turned to Arien. "What now?"
She looked at the horizon, where storm clouds gathered. "Now we finish what the fire began."
---
That night, by a lonely campfire near the cliffs, Arien told them what she saw in the flames of the Emberblade.
"There was a city, long ago," she said. "Buried in the mountains. Called Pyraeth. It was the last stronghold of the flamebearers."
"You're saying it still exists?" Kael asked.
"In ruins," she replied. "But the magic there—the truth—is untouched."
Maev leaned forward. "Then that's where we go?"
Arien nodded. "But we won't be alone. The Crown has felt the sword awaken. They'll come."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Let them."
---
As they traveled east, word of the Flamebearer Reborn spread like wildfire. Villages long oppressed by the king's shadow sent food, scouts, even blades. A spark of rebellion, long smothered, had caught wind.
In the town of Eldmere, a smuggler named Joss joined them—fast-talking, sharp-eyed, and loyal to coin until Arien burned a bounty notice with her fingers. "You're worth more than gold now," he said. "You're legend."
Arien frowned. "I don't want to be legend. I want to change the world."
Joss grinned. "Then legend's the best place to start."
---
In the king's capital, behind walls of marble and fear, King Virell Vaelen sat upon his obsidian throne.
He stared at the message delivered by raven:
> The girl carries the Emberblade. She is no longer hidden.
She rides with the traitor Kael. And they move toward Pyraeth.
The king crumpled the scroll and cast it into the brazier. "Send the Black Flame," he ordered. "And awaken the Shadowbound. If fire has risen again, then so must darkness."
His advisor bowed. "And the traitor?"
The king's eyes blazed. "I want his head bathed in oil and hung from the gates. Crown intact."
---
But far from the capital, Arien stood atop a ridge, wind in her cloak and flames in her soul.
Kael came to stand beside her. "Do you think we'll make it?"
"I don't know," she said.
Then, softer, "But I know this: if I fall, I'll fall burning."
Kael touched her hand, briefly. "Then I'll burn beside you."
And below them, the mountain road to Pyraeth waited—twisting, ancient, and full of forgotten fire.
---