The hall was quiet except for the steady rhythm of dripping wax.
Candles lined the council chamber in uneven rows, their flames swaying faintly as though stirred by something unseen. The scent of old incense hung thick in the air — heavy, stale, almost suffocating.
Kaelen stood before the elders' dais, hands folded behind his back, eyes lowered. His clothes were still faintly charred from the valley.
Grand Elder Ishan broke the silence first. "You're certain of what you saw?"
Kaelen nodded. "There's no doubt. The flame marks match the old sigils used by the Crimson Path sect. But… they've been twisted. Corrupted."
Ishan's eyes narrowed, the light catching the faint lines on his face. "Corrupted how?"
"The technique feeds on spiritual energy — both ambient and living. It doesn't burn clean; it consumes."
The murmurs that followed were low, sharp. Words like forbidden arts,soul drain,curse cycle drifted across the chamber.
Kaelen stood still, letting it wash over him. His mind wasn't in the room. It was still in the valley — on the branded beast, the way its body had spasmed before collapsing, the faint echo of Joren's energy still burning in his mind.
"Stormveil."
The elder's voice snapped him back.
"Yes, Grand Elder."
"Did you encounter any trace of the practitioner responsible?"
Kaelen hesitated. "Only fragments. But the Qi signature was familiar."
Ishan leaned forward. "Familiar?"
Kaelen's mouth went dry. He could still see Joren's face from the fragment he'd glimpsed through the serpent's vision — those eyes, no longer human, reflecting the light of something far older.
"Yes," Kaelen said softly. "It belonged to one of ours."
That drew silence sharper than any blade.
Ren, standing beside him, shifted uneasily. "Kaelen…"
Ishan's gaze hardened. "You're saying a disciple of this sect is responsible for burning half a valley and branding corrupted beasts?"
Kaelen didn't flinch. "No. I'm saying a disciple used to be."
Later, when the hall had emptied and the last of the reports were filed, Kaelen lingered by the window. The night stretched beyond the cliffs, the stars faint against the haze.
He pressed a hand against the wooden frame and exhaled.
From below, the faint glow of the training grounds flickered — torches guttering in the evening wind. A few younger disciples practiced in silence, their laughter and shouts carried faintly on the air.
For a moment, he almost smiled. Almost.
Then he felt it again.
A faint warmth beneath his skin — not from his serpent's Qi, but from something else.
He lifted his hand. Beneath the surface of his palm, a faint red line pulsed once, then faded.
Kaelen stared at it in silence.
You took in his flame, the serpent murmured, low and wary.It's trying to root.
"I know."
You should purge it.
Kaelen hesitated, then shook his head. "If I purge it, I lose the trace. I need to find where it leads."
And if it leads you where he fell?
Kaelen's jaw tightened. "Then I'll bring him back — or burn what's left."
Hours later, when the torches had burned low and the halls had fallen still, Kaelen sat alone in the courtyard. The moonlight spilled faintly across the flagstones.
He closed his eyes and drew in a slow breath, reaching for the warmth still lingering in his veins. It pulsed faintly, responding like a living thing — not malicious, but restless.
He coaxed it gently, letting it coil around his own Qi, testing its pattern, its rhythm.
For a moment, it obeyed. The flow was smooth, almost beautiful. Then, without warning, it flared — bright, wild, uncontrollable.
The air around him rippled. The torches along the courtyard walls flickered and hissed, their flames bending toward him as though drawn by instinct.
Kaelen's eyes snapped open. The glow beneath his skin blazed briefly, carving faint crimson lines along his wrist before dimming again.
He exhaled sharply, pressing a trembling hand to his arm until the pain ebbed.
It's not his flame anymore, the serpent whispered. It's changing.
Kaelen's gaze lifted toward the dark horizon.
Somewhere beyond those mountains, Joren was still alive — or whatever had taken his place was. And now, a spark of that same fire burned inside Kaelen's own soul.
He flexed his hand once, watching the faint ember fade under his skin.
"Then I'll change it first," he said quietly.
The serpent stirred but said nothing.
Above, the clouds shifted — and for a heartbeat, the moonlight caught on a thin column of smoke rising from the eastern peaks.