Kael stared at the boy in the coffin—at himself, and yet not. The child's eyes held eons of fire and sorrow, glowing like molten gold.
"If you are me," Kael said, "then who am I?"
The boy tilted his head, a soft laugh escaping his lips. "You are what became after the sealing. I am what remained behind—the unburned, unbound part of you."
Liam stepped closer, uneasy. "Is this… some kind of trap?"
The boy looked at him, and for a moment, Liam's sword twitched in its sheath on its own. Kael raised a hand, keeping everyone back.
"What gate are you guarding?" he asked.
"It lies below," the boy said, voice distant. "Deeper than stone. Older than language. The gods called it Veyth'ra'el—the Vault of Endings. Your mother sealed it with her life, your father with his magic. And I... with my soul."
A tremor shook the ground beneath them.
Zafira stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "Why now? Why awaken? What has changed?"
The boy's smile faded.
"Because something is stirring within the Vault. Something that remembers your name, Kael. Something that's waiting."
The moment the words left the boy's lips, Seraphine staggered.
The world around her spun—light bent, the tomb's walls rippled, and suddenly she stood in a different place.
She was on a field of blackened roses. Above her, a mirror sky cracked with crimson lightning. In front of her stood herself—but older, wild-eyed, draped in shadow and silver flame.
"Who are you?" Seraphine whispered.
The mirror-self smiled sadly. "I am what you will become… if you open the gate."
"Why would I?"
"Because you'll think it's the only way to save him."
Flashes of fire—Kael writhing, blood pouring from his mouth. A god descending, wings of shadow, laughter like blades.
"No—no, this isn't real—"
"It is," the vision hissed. "The Vault knows you. It remembers you. Just like it remembers him."
Seraphine jolted back into the tomb, gasping.
Zafira caught her. "What did you see?"
"…Me," Seraphine whispered. "And the end of everything."
Kael touched the edge of the dais. Runes flared, forming a spiral staircase of floating obsidian, descending into the dark.
The boy—his echo—watched him.
"The Vault is not just sealed with fire," he said. "It's sealed with memory. You'll need to remember what was erased."
"What was erased?"
The boy's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Your true name."
Kael stiffened. "What?"
Zafira's eyes widened. "That would explain it... Your aura has always felt fragmented. A missing piece of identity. Of power."
Kael clenched his fists. "Then I'm going down there."
Seraphine grabbed his hand. "Are you sure? What if the gate breaks?"
He looked at her, firelight dancing in his eyes.
"Then we make sure we don't."
The descent was silent. No echoes. No breath. Even time seemed to stop.
At the bottom was a massive gate of charred bone and etched gold, sealed by seven chains of fire. Words glowed in ancient Infernal:
To open is to forget. To forget is to awaken.
Kael reached out.
But before he could touch it, a figure emerged from the darkness behind the gate—its face hidden beneath a crown of ash, its voice echoing like thunder wrapped in silk.
"At last," it said. "The Emberborn returns."
Kael took a step back.
"Who are you?"
The figure raised its head.
"I am the Unmade King. The first god born before time. You are my flame. My heir. My jailer. My key."
A bolt of power lashed against the gate—cracks splintered across the chains.
"Let me out, Kael. And I will give you everything. Power. Justice. Your true name."
Seraphine stepped forward. "Don't listen to it. That's not a god—it's a curse."
The Unmade King turned its gaze on her. "And you, child of broken light… You will shatter the world. Just like your mother did."
Seraphine froze. "…My mother?"
Kael snarled, stepping in front of her. "You're not getting out. Not through me."
The Unmade King grinned, all teeth and void.
"Then I'll wait. But not long. You've already begun to remember, haven't you?"
Kael's vision flickered—a battlefield, fire everywhere, his mother's scream, a name on her lips—
Aeren'Kael.
His knees buckled.
Liam caught him.
"We need to leave," Zafira said grimly. "Before the gate opens on its own."
Back in the tomb's upper levels, the boy in the coffin was gone.
But Kael's name now burned behind his eyes. Aeren'Kael. The name he was born with. The name they tried to erase.
Seraphine held his hand tightly.
"We'll face it together," she said. "Whatever you are. Whoever you were."
And beneath them, the Vault of Endings throbbed once… like a heartbeat.