The ruins of the Ash Temple jutted from Mount Nareth's peak like fractured teeth against the storm-grey sky. Aaron stepped lightly over ancient stones, a faint pulse of blue fire humming beneath his skin. Behind him, Ashen followed—silent, tense, shadows clinging to his pale frame.
Then the air grew colder.
From the swirling fog emerged Lucien Virell, his robes drifting like smoke, his presence bending the very wind. He smiled with a predator's grace.
"So the boy ascends," Lucien said, his voice smooth as ash. "Ready to rewrite the fire?"
Aaron's flame flared, bright and sharp.
"No. I'm ready to burn what doesn't belong."
Lucien's smile deepened.
"Then let's see what you truly belong to."
---
The world twisted beneath them.
Aaron's mind plunged into a realm of flickering ash and fire—an ethereal temple woven from memory and lies.
Visions lashed out:
A child screaming, trapped in a cage of mirrors.
Flames devouring a woman with sky-blue eyes.
Lucien's voice, cold and whispering:
"She chose wrong. She chose weak."
Aaron stood unyielding.
"Her choice made me. And now I choose myself."
From his palm, a blade of pure blue flame bloomed—no longer raw, no longer afraid. It slashed through Lucien's illusion, striking deep.
---
Lucien staggered back, blood streaking his cheek.
Ashen gasped, falling through the mental plane into the present.
"You've learned to strike," Lucien hissed, "but let's see how you handle what waits at home."
Aaron's flame dimmed, but his resolve burned brighter.
---
Far below, within the shadowed halls of the Pierce Estate, whispers gathered like storm clouds.
Kain moved silently through the western wing, eyes sharp, tracking a servant whose polished silver tarnished too slowly, whose steps lingered near forbidden doors.
That night, Kain discovered poison hidden in the wine meant for Lord Frankfurt.
---
Inside the chamber, Frankfurt Pierce uncorked a decanter and poured two glasses. Across from him sat the trembling servant, pale and cornered.
"You knew, didn't you?" the man whispered. "That I'm not who I claimed."
Frankfurt sipped slowly, eyes steady.
"You misquoted the prayer of House Eldemar on your first day. I waited for that slip."
The servant's face twisted with fear.
"He told us… once the Skyborn child remembers, he must die. Even you believed that once."
Frankfurt rose, voice calm but firm.
"Perhaps. But now… I believe in the fire's choice. And it did not choose you."
Kain entered silently, and the man was taken away.
---
Before dawn, Aaron and Ashen returned to the estate gates. Kain greeted them with a subtle nod.
"He's alive. But they're growing bolder."
Aaron's eyes narrowed—not in fear, but in calculation.
He stepped inside the great hall. Frankfurt waited by the roaring fireplace, calm and steady.
"They tried to poison you," Aaron said flatly.
Frankfurt gestured toward the flames.
"They'll try again. But now… they know who they need to fear."
Aaron's gaze locked on the fire. It no longer frightened him.