Smoke clung to the gorge like memory. Surya sat in its stillness, flame dancing softly on his open palm. It wasn't fear that gripped him—it was awareness. Every breath, every flicker of light in the air felt sharper now like the world had finally acknowledged him.
"They knew my name," he said.
Kaelen crouched beside him, expression unreadable. "They knew your role. 'Conduit' isn't a title. It's a warning."
Surya looked up. "A warning to whom?"
Kaelen didn't answer immediately. "To everyone who believes balance can last."
They left the gorge by dawn, traveling through high ridges veined with fractured crystal. Kaelen moved quickly but warily, eyes always scanning the sky and soil. Surya followed, letting the flame guide his step—it felt like the element was watching for him now, whispering subtle shifts in temperature and energy before his senses even caught them.
Halfway through the ascent, a pulse stopped them in their tracks.
Not a threat.
A signal.
Kaelen stepped forward. A floating ring of pale fire had appeared in the air, anchored between two trees. Inside the ring: flickers of light forming runes. Ancient. Elegant.
"Spiral transmission," Kaelen said quietly. "Encrypted by the Academy."
Surya watched as the ring compressed into a pinpoint, then bloomed into a glowing scroll of condensed flame. Kaelen caught it before it could fall.
He read the contents in silence. Then again.
"What does it say?" Surya asked.
Kaelen passed it to him.
It read:
"Subject identified. Conduit resonance confirmed. Spiral Sanctum threshold pre-approved. Escort path designated. Scout to await at the eastern rift. Delay not advised."
Surya exhaled. "They're opening the gate?"
Kaelen folded the scroll. "Not opening. Preparing. Which means they know the Veiled Hand's closing in."
They continued down the trail. As the sun climbed, the air grew drier—more brittle. The path turned steep and narrow, flanked by jagged black stone. Surya felt pressure pressing against his flame. Subtle, like being watched through a wall of ice.
"We're near a spirit break," Kaelen murmured. "Residual backlash from an old convergence."
They made camp near a slanted ridge just before sunset. The flame was too unstable here to risk a full fire, so they used emberlight crystals to keep warm. Surya sat with his back to the cliff, tracing the ring-shaped scroll with his thumb.
"Why does the Academy care so much?" he asked.
Kaelen looked at him. "Because you're different. Not just gifted—aligned. Flame answers you too easily. It doesn't fight you the way it should. That makes people nervous."
"Are they scared of me?"
"They're scared of what you might attract."
Surya looked into the darkness. "I keep thinking about what that Revenant said. 'You are the conduit.' Like I was already part of something I don't understand."
Kaelen's voice was low. "Because you are."
In a chamber of obsidian veined with gold, high above a sea of glass, a figure in silver robes knelt before an altar shaped like a spiral gate.
"The signal was received," the figure said. "The path is ready."
A voice echoed from the shadows.
"And the flame?"
"Still unstable. But growing."
The voice whispered. "Then keep watching. And pray he doesn't awaken too soon."