The hot wind began blowing again as soon as we left the frozen valley behind. The abrupt transition from cold to heat left me dizzy, as if my body was still trying to understand what had happened with that ice construct. The flame inside me remained restless, pulsing in an irregular rhythm, as if paying attention to every step I took.
Rai'kanna walked beside me, watching the ground with a serious expression. "If more creatures like that appear, we won't be able to fight without reinforcements."
"Reinforcements from who?" Vespera asked. "Half the guilds that came here already went back home."
"They didn't go back," Liriel corrected. "They fled."
Elara kept her bow in hand, ready for anything. "And with good reason. That wasn't a normal enemy."
Lyannis, walking right behind, clenched the spear tightly. "If you hadn't arrived in time… I don't know what would have happened."
"You probably would've turned into a statue," Vespera muttered.
"Vespera…" I complained.
"What? I'm just telling the truth."
Rai'kanna shot her a warning look. "If you can't be kind, at least be useful."
Vespera huffed but didn't talk back.
We continued forward until reaching a wide road that led to one of the smaller demi-dragon fortresses. The heat was so intense that the landscape appeared distorted, as if we were walking through a veil of fire.
When we arrived at the gate, we immediately noticed something was wrong.
The doors were slightly open. No guards in sight. No flames lit on the watch columns — something that never happened in draconic territory.
Rai'kanna raised her hand, signaling for silence. "Stay away from the entrance. I'll check it."
"I can go with you," I offered.
"No. If another creature is targeting your flame, you'll be the first one hit."
She flew several meters up, landing at the top of the gate. She observed for a few seconds, then slowly descended.
"There are no enemies… but there are signs of a fight."
We entered.
The fortress looked as if it had been abandoned in a hurry. Overturned tables, weapons on the ground, burned scales on the floor. There were claw marks on the walls and, at the same time, patches of ice in the darker corners.
"Heat and cold at the same time," Liriel murmured. "These are conflicting forces. No monster does this on its own."
Elara knelt near a carved mark on the floor. "This was made a few hours ago."
Lyannis took a deep breath, trying to stay composed. "The soldiers here were strong. If they were defeated so fast…"
"They weren't defeated," Rai'kanna said. "They were taken."
"Taken?" I asked. "Why?"
"Because someone needs them," Liriel replied. "Or needs their scales."
Vespera raised an eyebrow. "Scales?"
"Draconic scales conduct spiritual energy. If someone wants to manipulate spirits or open corrupted pathways… this would help."
My stomach twisted.
Rai'kanna walked to the main tower and pushed the door. The room was empty — but there was something on the floor. A circular pattern marked with charcoal and remnants of some dark substance.
"Runes," Liriel said immediately. "But… distorted."
"Distorted how?" I asked.
"As if someone tried to copy something they don't understand."
Rai'kanna approached the markings slowly. "It smells like burned… and blood."
Lyannis took a step back. "Is this the work of a human? Or a demon?"
"A human," Liriel answered. "Without a doubt. Demons don't use broken runes. They use their own marks, not scratched symbols like these."
"So it's someone from here," Elara concluded.
"Or someone who's being guided," Vespera said. "Guided by the same thing sending those beasts after Takumi."
The three of them looked at me at the same time.
I looked away.
The flame inside me burned hotter, almost painful. The feeling was strange, as if it knew something I didn't — or didn't want to know.
"Takumi," Rai'kanna called, approaching me. "The voice… have you heard it before?"
I thought for a few seconds, trying to remember if that sensation had ever appeared in my past. But there was no clear memory. Only an echo. A warm echo, but distant.
"No. I've never heard anything like it. But it feels… familiar in some way."
Lyannis approached, hesitant. "Do you think… this voice could be part of your flame?"
Before I could answer, a vibration ran through the ground.
Elara raised her bow immediately. "Something is coming."
Vespera stepped back. "From above or below?"
"Both," Liriel replied, closing her grimoire.
The ground cracked. The air heated. And then, from one of the corridors, a flying creature completely different from the previous ones emerged.
It was large — almost the size of a young dragon — but it had a body of smoke and ash, translucent wings, and red eyes that looked like burning embers.
"That is not a spirit," Rai'kanna said. "This is a… corrupted projection."
"Corrupted by what?" I asked.
"By someone who is disrupting everything that touches fire."
The creature took flight, scattering ashes that burned against the skin.
Liriel raised a shield. Elara fired arrows. Vespera sliced the air with wind.
But the creature dodged everything with ease.
Lyannis tried to strike with her spear, but the hot air pushed her back.
Rai'kanna spread her wings, preparing an attack.
"Aim for the head!" she shouted.
"The core is"
The creature dove straight toward me.
I threw myself backward on reflex. The flame inside me intensified, burning my chest as if it were about to explode at any moment.
"Takumi!" they all shouted at the same time.
The creature slammed into me before I could raise my sword. The impact threw me against the wall.
The flame reacted instantly, creating a red wave that pushed the creature away.
It recoiled, screeching with a raspy sound. The ashes around it grew even denser.
"It is drawn to your energy," Liriel said. "More than the others."
"Then let's give it trouble," Vespera said, pointing at me. "Takumi, move!"
I got up with difficulty. "That's easy for you to say…"
The creature attacked again.
Rai'kanna intercepted it and forced it upward with an explosion of flames. Elara struck its left wing. Liriel cast binding runes. Vespera cut the right wing with wind.
The creature crashed to the ground, plowing through ashes and embers.
I advanced with my sword wrapped in flame.
I struck the core.
And the creature dissolved into a rain of burning ash that slowly faded into the air.
Silence returned.
Rai'kanna approached and touched my shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"I am. Just tired."
Lyannis looked around with a worried expression. "If this was here… what else could show up?"
Liriel crouched beside a mark of ash on the floor. "This thing was created. Forced into existence. And whoever did this… is close."
"How close?" I asked.
She lifted her eyes — and I didn't like the answer.
"Close enough to see what we are doing."
The flame inside me reacted again.
It wasn't just danger.
It was a calling.
And someone was waiting for our arrival.