The forest was too quiet.
Kael had known silence before — in the hush before battle, in the aftermath of bloodshed. But this was different. This silence watched. It waited.
Liora's flames crackled low around her fingertips, casting eerie light through the trees. Her eyes were fixed on the darkness beyond the treeline.
"They're not soldiers," she said. "They're not even human anymore."
Kael stood beside her, sword unsheathed, eyes sharp. His guards flanked them, tense and uncertain. The prince had told them nothing — not of the girl, not of her bloodline, not of the danger.
"Tell me what's coming," Kael demanded. "Now."
Liora closed her eyes.
"The Ember Court called them Dreadborn," she whispered. "They're made from magic twisted by death. They feed on life — especially fire magic like mine."
"You said your mother sent them?"
Liora nodded slowly.
"She was once Queen of Flame," she said, bitterness in her voice. "Now she's something else — a vessel for whatever ancient curse consumed our bloodline. She thinks if she can kill me… the last living ember… the curse will be complete."
A chill ran down Kael's spine.
"And if she succeeds?" he asked.
Liora turned toward him, face pale in the flickering light.
"Then the Five Kingdoms will burn in her shadow."
The Dreadborn came with the fog — twisted things with hollow faces, skin like cracked glass, and eyes that glowed faintly red. There were dozens. Hundreds. Moving unnaturally fast, like mist pulled by wind.
"Hold the line!" Kael roared, sword raised high.
His men formed a wall, steel glinting in the firelight. Arrows flew — and passed straight through the Dreadborn like smoke.
"They're not real!" one soldier cried.
"No," Liora said grimly. "They're worse."
She raised her hands, and a ring of fire burst outward from her body, igniting the earth. Some of the creatures screamed as the flames struck them — not with heat, but with memory. Burning away whatever bound them to this world.
Kael fought at her side, sword dancing through the fog. Where his steel struck, the Dreadborn scattered like shadows at dawn. But for every one he cut down, two more rose from the smoke.
"We can't win like this!" he shouted over the roar of fire and screams.
"I know," Liora said. "That's why we run."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "You want to flee?"
"I want to live," she snapped. "So I can stop her. So I can end this."
The flames around her pulsed — not wild now, but focused. She raised both hands and slammed them to the ground.
With a thunderous boom, a wall of fire erupted, splitting the forest in two. The Dreadborn shrieked in frustration, trapped on the other side.
But the fire wouldn't last long.
"Come with me," Liora said. "There's a place we can go — a forgotten ruin in the old Emberlands. It's where my father died. It's where this curse began."
Kael hesitated for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Lead the way."
They rode hard through the night, leaving the fog behind. The trees thinned, and the air grew warmer — unnaturally so. The sky above flickered with red lightning.
Kael looked at Liora as they rode. She seemed lost in thought, her face a mask of pain and memory.
Finally, he broke the silence.
"Your father," he said. "Was he… like you?"
She smiled faintly. "No. He was kind. Too kind for a world like this. He was a prince from the North — fell in love with the Queen of Flame. Thought love could change destiny."
Kael's heart stirred.
"And it didn't?" he asked softly.
Liora looked at him, eyes shimmering gold.
"It did," she said. "But only for a moment."
They arrived at the ruins just before dawn.
The stone archways were blackened, half-buried in ash. A once-great temple, now swallowed by silence and sand. Strange runes pulsed faintly on the walls.
"This is where it ends," Liora said.
"No," Kael replied, his voice low. "This is where it begins."
As they stepped inside the ruin, a faint humming filled the air. The runes lit up, reacting to Liora's presence.
Suddenly, she cried out — falling to her knees.
"Liora!"
Kael rushed to her, but she clutched her head, her body shaking.
"She's here…" she whispered. "My mother… she's inside this place."
The temple shook.
From deep within, a voice echoed — soft and cruel.
"Welcome home, my daughter."