Three days after the bone tower's collapse, the rift on the western ice plains suddenly caved in, revealing ruins never recorded in Snowrest's annals—a ancient temple slumbering beneath the ice for centuries.
When Commander Renault led men to clear the entrance, they found inscriptions blending Fire Tribe and ancient cult languages. A central relief depicted a female monarch with fire in her palms and cold light under her feet, strikingly similar in appearance to Aveline.
That night, Aveline visited the temple. The stone door opened of its own accord the moment her palm touched it.
The air held an ancient aura, with murals on the walls depicting battles between Fire and Snow deities. At the chamber's center, a massive ring of fire inscriptions glowed with a faint red light.
"Who is she?" Kalia whispered.
"She was the Snowflame Queen," a True Fire Priest stepped forward, his aged face trembling in the firelight. "Legend says the first Flame Queen to set foot in the Northern Border brought divine fire to the ice plains, swearing with her blood to seal the God of Absolute Cold."
"Are you saying she's my ancestor?" Aveline asked quietly.
"Blood seals do not lie." The old priest inserted an ancient sigil stone into the fire ring. The red light surged, illuminating the entire temple as a bloodline pattern emerged on the murals, stretching from the ancient queen to the palm of Aveline's hand, clear and distinct.
The crowd marveled, but Aveline only extended her hand slowly. The fire ring flickered gently, as if responding to her breath.
"I am no deity," she murmured. "But I am more than mortal."
She stepped into the fire ring's center. Flames spread soundlessly over her body without harm, instead igniting a golden-red hue in her eyes.
"Royal blood awakens," the old priest knelt in reverence. "The new monarch has arrived."
In the firelight, Aveline closed her eyes. Memories flooded in—her mother's night-time tears, her father's dying curse, the mystery of fire never harming her in youth.
She finally understood: her bloodline was no accident.
When she opened her eyes again, her voice rang like a fire-bell: "Seal this temple's secrets. Its records belong to the royal family alone."
"If enemies challenge us in the gods' name, then I shall respond as a god's heir."
That night, Aveline sat alone in the temple until dawn.
The ice plains wind stilled, but fire patterns lingered.
In the Far North, a rift opened quietly. Deep within the Ice Cult, a white-robed priestess jolted awake, murmuring an ancient name: "The Flame of Astaria... has returned."