The violet eyes hovered in the darkness, immense, unblinking, and ancient.
Kael instinctively stepped back, but the Vault wouldn't let him retreat. Shadows curled around him, trapping him.
Aelira raised her voidglass blade, its edges humming with anti-shadow magic.
"That's not just a beast," she said, her voice tight. "That's a Bound Sentinel. It was made during the Umbra War to guard the innermost relic."
The creature growled, no, spoke. Its voice sounded like gravel scraping against iron.
"The Umbraflame has returned, incomplete, unshaped."
Kael's crescent burn flared. Pain coursed through his veins like wildfire. He dropped to one knee, clutching his chest.
"Kael!" Aelira shouted.
But the Sentinel didn't strike. It lowered its massive head and sniffed the air. The smoke around its face formed broken glyphs in midair.
"Blood of the banished, child of the flame, prove your right."
The shadows beneath the beast shifted, forming a circle of silver symbols around Kael's feet. A trial circle, a test bound in blood oaths and ancient rites.
Aelira's eyes widened. "It wants to test your soul."
Kael staggered to his feet. "And if I fail?"
"You die."
The circle ignited.
Within the Trial Circle
Kael stood on a blackened plain surrounded by cold flames. Above him, stars blinked out one by one until only darkness remained.
A figure stepped forward from the shadows.
Kael gasped.
It was him - but older. His hair was white with age, his eyes hollow. In this twisted realm, he wore armor wreathed in shadowflame, and his smile looked cruel.
"I am the version of you who gave in," the phantom said. "The Kael who burned cities, betrayed allies, and crowned himself god."
Kael shook his head. "That's not me."
The older Kael laughed. "It will be, unless you stop hiding from the flame."
The phantom raised a blade made of pure Umbra.
"Survive me," he hissed. "And you earn the right to command the Vault."
Back in the Vault
Outside the trial circle, Aelira stood firm as the Sentinel growled and shifted uneasily.
"Few survive their first trial," it said. "But the last heir must."
The air cracked like lightning.
Inside the circle, Kael fought. Steel met flame. Doubt clashed with will.
Finally, with a roar of pain and fury, Kael unleashed his power - not from fear, but from acceptance. The Umbraflame exploded from within, not as chaos, but as controlled fire.
The older version of himself disintegrated into ash.
The trial circle dissolved.
The Sentinel bowed low.
"He is worthy."
Kael collapsed into Aelira's arms, his eyes wide with shock and something new - understanding.
"What just happened?" he asked.
Aelira smiled faintly. "You passed. And now, the Vault belongs to you."
Far below them, the sealed gate at the Vault's core creaked open, revealing a stone dais with a glowing obsidian shard.
The Heart of Umbraflame.
A weapon?
A key?
Or a curse?
Only Kael could decide.