Kael's dreams had grown darker since Elric's death.
Each night, he saw a bleeding moon, and beneath it—his own face, snarling, monstrous, soaked in the blood of those he loved.
He feared it was not a warning, but a prophecy.
And the answer lay in the one place the Moonborn swore never to return.
> The Elder Library of Sorash, now a cursed ruin known as the Ashvault Sanctum.
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Sylah's Reluctant Return
When Kael announced the journey to Ashvault, the camp fell into heavy silence. The name alone had become taboo.
"No one returns from that place," said Rane, sharpening his axes.
"I know," Kael replied. "But I must go. The cousin is preparing something dark—something older than even the Moonborn curse."
Sylah stepped forward, jaw tight.
"I'm going with you."
Kael was surprised. "You hate me right now."
"I do," she said. "But I hate watching you walk into death even more."
Lina nodded. "Then we go together."
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Ashvault Sanctum – City of Whispers
The sanctum rose like a tomb, black towers sunk into ash-covered plains, the air heavy with memories and screams that weren't there.
It had once been the greatest library of the Moonborn.
Now it was a labyrinth of silence and bone.
Inside, the group lit silver torches. The air pulsed with magic—dead magic.
They passed petrified corpses of ancient sages. Scrolls burned to cinders mid-air. Statues wept blood.
Then Kael felt it.
A pull.
> To the lowest chamber, where the Book of Unmaking waited.
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Truth Revealed
The book wasn't bound in leather.
It was bound in skin—Moonborn skin.
Kael opened it.
Pain pierced his soul.
The book showed the truth.
—His father, Arion, had once wielded the Ascendant Flame.
—But the cost of that power was madness. It slowly devoured his soul.
—In desperation, Arion tried to seal the flame inside his unborn child—Kael.
> That was the origin of Kael's rare bloodline.
> His strength was never just his—it was a sealed godfire, a forbidden legacy.
And his cousin?
She wasn't merely a traitor.
She was the failed vessel before him.
Another child of Arion… his half-sister.
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