Chapter 10: The Spire Awakens
The mountains rose like jagged fangs against the frozen sky. Wind howled down from their peaks, thick with snow and ancient magic. At their center stood the Spire of Winds, a towering citadel made from glass-like stone and swirling air, built in an age when gods still walked the earth.
Kavin stood at the edge of the cliff, staring up at the storm-crowned monument.
This was it.
The final step of Season One.
He had faced fire, shadow, and soul.
Now, the world would decide if he was worthy of awakening the Old Power.
Seraphine stepped beside him, her cloak of frost whipping in the wind. "The Spire knows you're coming."
Riven murmured a spell to shield them from the biting cold. "Its magic is alive. And it will test you."
Kavin clenched his fist. "Let it try."
They crossed the threshold.
The moment they entered, the storm silenced.
Inside the Spire, there was no snow. No sound. Only air that shimmered with raw magic. Runes carved into the walls pulsed softly—responding to Kavin's presence.
Each step they took felt heavier.
Then—at the heart of the Spire—they reached the Chamber of Echoes.
A vast circular hall with a floating altar of glowing stone at its center. It pulsed with gold, silver, and blue.
Riven whispered, "The Source of Winds. Pure elemental magic."
Kavin stepped forward.
And that's when the air ripped open behind them.
The Reaper had come.
A figure of pure black steel and shadow, carrying a sword longer than any man was tall. No face. No words. Only the shriek of death.
Kavin turned just in time to block the first blow.
Clang!
The force of it threw him back against the altar. Pain shot through his ribs. The Reaper moved like a ghost—silent, precise, merciless.
Seraphine's frost magic exploded across the floor, slowing the Reaper's feet. Lyra fired a bolt of lightning, but the creature absorbed it with a flick of its blade.
Riven shouted, "It's feeding on magic!"
"Then we stop using it!" Kavin yelled, diving back into the fight.
Steel met steel.
Sword against sword.
But the Reaper's strength was inhuman—and Kavin was still only part-awakened.
He was losing.
The altar began to glow brighter.
The Spire was responding to his desperation.
To his will.
A voice rang out inside his mind—one that sounded like every element speaking at once.
"Are you ready to become more?"
Kavin gritted his teeth. "Yes."
"Then take what is yours."
The altar burst with light—and Kavin was engulfed.
Flames roared from his body.
Winds swirled around his arms.
Lightning crackled down his spine.
His mark expanded across his chest and face, glowing gold-silver-blue. His eyes burned like twin stars.
He rose into the air, transformed.
No longer just Starborn.
Now—Elementbound.
The Reaper struck again.
Kavin caught the sword with his bare hand—and it shattered.
The room exploded in light.
Kavin's voice thundered like the skies.
"I will not fall!"
He unleashed the power of the Spire—a storm of flame, wind, and fury. The Reaper screamed for the first time—and disintegrated into ash.
Silence fell.
The chamber trembled.
Kavin floated down, glowing softly, breathing hard.
Riven, stunned, whispered, "He did it…"
Seraphine dropped to one knee. "Elementbound."
Lyra stared at him, eyes wide with something between fear and awe.
But the victory was short.
Outside the Spire, the storm parted—and on the horizon, black banners rose.
The Queen's army had arrived.
Thousands of shadow soldiers.
War had begun.
Kavin stood at the edge of the Spire, wind tearing through his hair. He saw the fires of war spreading.
"I'll fight," he said.
Lyra joined him. "We all will."
Riven added, "But we need more allies."
Seraphine narrowed her eyes. "Then it's time to wake the other Forgotten."
Far away, in her obsidian tower, the Queen of Ashes stood at her window, sensing the boy's new power.
Her lips curled into a smile.
"Good," she whispered. "Now he's ready to break."