The ancient chamber was still trembling. Kai, Ayaka, and Ren barely made it out before the stone ceiling collapsed behind them, sealing the Ember Monolith forever in flame and ruin.
Outside, the once-silent forest buzzed with an unnatural hum. The trees seemed to breathe, their branches twitching like nervous limbs. Something had been stirred—something ancient and aware.
"We need to move," Ren said, his voice tense. "Whatever that was, it heard the awakening."
Kai, still pulsing with golden flame, nodded. "Let it come. I'm not running."
But even as he said it, a sliver of unease curled through him. The awakening had left a mark—not just on him, but on the land itself. He could feel the pull of it, deep and low like the beat of a war drum beneath the earth.
They returned to the village outskirts by dusk. Elder Sora was waiting, her eyes dimmed with worry. "You lit the flame, didn't you?" she asked without turning.
Kai stepped forward. "Yes."
She finally looked at him—and bowed. "Then the countdown has begun."
Ayaka blinked. "Countdown?"
Sora turned to face the horizon, where thick clouds swirled unnaturally. "When the Hidden Flame is awakened, so is its counterpart—The Devouring Cold."
Kai's jaw tightened. "And where does it awaken?"
"In the North," Sora said grimly. "In the frozen ruins of the Skyfang Temple."
A cold wind swept through the village. Children were rushed indoors. The ground felt like it had lost something… or someone.
Ren cursed under his breath. "So the legends were true."
Sora continued, "You'll have to make the journey soon. There are old evils that will rise to meet you, and one of them… wears a familiar face."
Kai turned toward the darkening horizon, flames flickering in his eyes. "Then I'll face it. Whatever it is."
But Ayaka noticed it first. The reflection in his eyes—a figure of flame and ice, watching from the shadows of his soul.
And it smiled.