She circled him like a predator around a dying beast.
"The seal should have broken you. Most men beg for death within the first hour."
Her violet eyes, eyed him like she's look at some rare specimen.
Kael said nothing.
He wouldn't give her that.
She crouched before him, brushing blood-matted strands of hair from his face.
"You were the one who killed Vaerok, weren't you? The Demon Lord?"
"I expected more. You're just… flesh and spite now."
He lifted his head slowly. Eyes dull. But his voice?
Cold as ice.
"Say that again. Closer."
She grinned, straightened, and stepped back.
"You'll learn. This place doesn't let heroes stay heroes. It peels you, layer by layer. And when there's nothing left, you become one of them."
Kael raised an eyebrow weakly. "Them?"
She stepped aside and gestured.
And then he saw them.
Shadows in the walls. Dozens—maybe hundreds—of faces. Screaming, twisted, melted into the stone like eternal prisoners. Some clawed silently from within. Others grinned with hollow mouths.
"The Soul Prison is alive. And it feed's on what's kept in it. Let's see how long you will last" she said leaving with with a giggle.
---
Later — Alone Again, She left him after that. No name. No purpose except his impeding demise.
Just enough cruelty to deepen the wound.
He hung there for what felt like days. Weeks. His muscles burned. His soul itched beneath the seal.
And in the silence, memories came.
---
FLASHBACK
He remembers Ashura.
The first time he summoned her, she'd been the size of a cub—three tails, fiery mane, eyes bright with mischief.
"You're mine now?" Young kael said with confusion on his face.
"Pfft. More like you're mine, idiot." She laughed at him not even holding back her tears.
She grew with him as the years flew by. Fought beside him during hard times. Slept across his shoulders like a furred scarf when he was cold, and roared like a storm when he was angry.
And then they took her from him.
Stole her from his soul like tearing a limb from bone.
He screamed again, more from grief than pain.
And this time, something… answered.
---
A whisper.
It wasn't Ashura.
It wasn't the violet-eyed woman.
It was something older.
Something beneath the Prison. Beneath reality.
> "You still burn..."
The chains trembled. The glyph on his chest flickered.
Kael blinked.
"You do not belong here. You are flame. And flame cannot rot."
He gritted his teeth. "Who are you?"
The whisper chuckled. Like rust scraping stone.
"The first. The forgotten. The one they locked away when the world was young."
Kael coughed, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth.
"Another prisoner?"
"No. I am the Prison."
The walls groaned. The faces twisted. And Kael's shackles cracked.
Just slightly.
The whisper came again—more urgent this time.
"You want her back. You want to destroy the ones who betrayed you. Then stop waiting."
---
Kael's head snapped up.
His heart… burned.
For the first time since the sealing, a single ember flickered across his fingertip.
Faint.
But there.
His soulfire was still alive.
---
Elsewhere – The Capital of Aetherion
Rael Draven stood in front of a crowd of nobles, hands spread like a messiah.
"He died a hero," he said.
"Kael gave his life so that we could rise from the ashes of war. Let us honor him by carrying the flame of unity."
They cheered.
But in the shadows of the chamber, a cloaked man stepped forward.
A spymaster.
He whispered something into Rael's ear.
Rael's smile turned to a grin.
"His body is finally destroyed, can't believe five supreme mages had to use lvl 10 spells at once though, eh at least is dead now" he chuckled with glee.
"Tonight we feast to honor him!" He shouted to his people with a grin.
---
Back in the Soul Prison
Kael's chains shattered.
He fell forward onto the floor, coughing violently.
The glyph on his chest? Dim.
His body? It's unknown.
But his soul?
Burning.
"Ashura…" he whispered. "I will revive you, no matter what "
The walls screamed.
The shadows twisted.
And Kael Draven rose from the ashes.
---
That same woman with violet eyes sat in a separate chamber of the prison, reading a torn book.
Suddenly, she froze.
A wave of heat blew through the cell.
The chains on her wall melted.
Her eyes widened.
"...He broke free, that shouldn't be possible! ."
If there was a camera actually (☆▽☆)
The camera pans up—if this were a show—to show Kael, shirtless, bruised, but standing at the heart of the soul prison, a flicker of black flame rising from his palm.
He lifts his head.
Eyes glowing red.