Later, in the upper chambers of the Ember Keep, Qingsai sat cross-legged across from the same Emberlord who had spoken to him in private: Lord Kaelzen Vurn, one of the oldest living fire sages in Furnastra.
The chamber's air shimmered from the heat of the Eternal Pyre, a blue flame that never extinguished.
Kaelzen spoke:
> "You burn not like our warriors—wild, uncontrolled. You burn like a mirror, reflecting the flame's essence, not its fury."
He drew a glyph of fire in the air: Ignath — the first fire rune.
> "In Furnastra, fire is a language, not a weapon. Most of us yell with it. Few ever listen."
Qingsai leaned forward. "How do I learn it?"
> "Through scars. And stillness."
Kaelzen placed a firestone in Qingsai's hands. The boy nearly dropped it from the heat, but his Soulkindled mark shimmered faintly and the pain dulled.
> "You will meditate. You will listen to the Ember. And it will burn you until it loves you."
> "And if it never does?"
Kaelzen's eyes glowed like twin coals.
> "Then it will consume you."