Chapter 12
The letter arrived on the wing of a white hawk—an ancient custom rarely practiced anymore.
Its envelope was made of thick parchment, dusted with ash. The seal was a symbol neither Kael nor Elira recognized: a flame curled into an eye, with seven jagged lines beneath it.
No name. No signature. Just a single line inked in crimson:
"Come to Emberfall.What was buried must rise."
Kael wanted to burn it.
"It's a trap," he said, holding the letter over the hearth. "This symbol isn't from the Empire. Not from any known house or sect."
"But it knows my name," Elira said. "And my grave."
He turned to her. "You're not going."
"I have to."
"Then I'm going with you."
They left at dusk.
Emberfall Mountain was a jagged scar on the southern edge of the northern realm—barren, cold, and long abandoned by civilization. But the closer they got, the more Elira felt it.
Something familiar.
Something buried.
The temple wasn't visible from the outside. It revealed itself when Elira's feet touched the scorched stone path at the base of the cliff. The ground shook faintly, and a sigil burned itself into the rocks.
A doorway appeared from nothing. Silent. Waiting.
Kael reached for her hand. "Stay close."
They entered.
The inside was vast—larger than the mountain should've allowed. Pillars of blackened stone lined the walls. In the center stood a shrine… and a figure cloaked in gold and red, face hidden behind a mask of obsidian.
He did not look up.
"You came," the priest said. His voice echoed oddly—too many layers, like he was speaking through time.
"Who are you?" Elira asked.
"I am the Keeper of What Was Stolen," the priest said. "I tend to graves that were never dug."
Elira's breath hitched. "What do you know about me?"
The priest turned and pointed to the far wall.
"Go there. See it for yourself."
She stepped away from Kael and walked across the cold floor. The wall was blank at first… but then began to shift.
A crypt.
A plaque.
"Eliendara of the Gate.Bound by Seven.Burned by One."
Elira staggered back.
Kael joined her, eyes dark. "This… was her?"
"She is you," the priest said. "And you are her reborn. The name Elira was forged to bind you. But Eliendara was born to end the cycle."
Elira turned to him. "Cycle?"
The priest finally removed his mask.
His face was not human.
Not entirely.
His eyes were black—not dark, but void. His skin was smooth like porcelain, cracked along his cheek, glowing from within. He smiled, and his teeth were not teeth at all… but jagged shards of glass.
"You are the gate," he said softly. "And I am what stands before it."
Kael moved in front of her. "You brought us here to trap her?"
"No," the priest said. "To warn her."
His voice turned hollow.
"The ones who created her are awakening. The Seven who Sealed the Blood. And if she doesn't reclaim what was taken…"
He reached into his robe and dropped something onto the ground.
A ring. Identical to the one Kael had given her—but blackened and cracked.
"…she will not survive their return."
The ground trembled.
And the crypt wall split open—revealing a coffin sealed with runes.
Kael drew his blade instantly.
Elira moved forward.
The name carved into the coffin was the same as the plaque.
Eliendara.
And inside it… a body.
Her body.
Unaged.
Untouched.
Eyes open.
And glowing.
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 13: The Living Corpse
Elira stares into the eyes of her own corpse—yet the body inside the coffin breathes. A fragment of her soul has been left behind… trapped in eternal sleep.
To awaken it, she must make a choice: sacrifice part of her current self—or risk becoming two souls in one body.
And the coffin has already begun to crack.