The air burned with Veilfire.
Kael's heart slammed in his chest as Veyra, once his fiercest protector, lunged at him with her dagger raised—eyes lit by an unnatural glow, mouth twisted in a grin that wasn't hers.
"Veyra, stop!" Seraphine cried, forming a shield of starlight between them.
The possessed warrior didn't even flinch.
Kael stepped forward, fire building in his palms. "I know you're in there, Veyra. Fight it. You're stronger than this."
The voice that came from her lips was wrong—too old, too hollow.
"She is nothing but a gate. A vessel. Her strength is ours now."
Ezren threw a dagger aimed at her shoulder—not to kill, but to disarm.
She caught it in midair.
And laughed.
Kael clenched his fists. Veilfire responded now, instinctive and deep. He could feel it in his blood. It wanted to burn the possession out of her.
But what if it burned her too?
The Ember Witch stepped beside him, eyes narrowed. "It's not a full possession—it's a tether. A remote link through the sigil on her neck."
"We can break it," Kael said.
"But only if you burn the sigil without burning her."
Seraphine met his gaze. "Then we do it together."
Kael stepped forward, Seraphine's hand in his.
Together, their magic intertwined—Veilfire and Light—shimmering in silver flame that pulsed with control, not destruction.
"Hold her," Kael said.
Ezren and Lilwen flanked Veyra, dodging her wild swings, careful not to harm her.
Kael focused.
The sigil flared—fought back, resisting, cracking his concentration with every pulse.
"You are too late," the Hollowed voice hissed. "The gate will open. You are the key."
"No," Kael growled. "I was the weapon. But I choose what I fight for now."
He released the flame.
It hit the sigil like a sunrise through darkness.
Veyra screamed.
For a moment, it felt like she was being torn apart.
Then—
Silence.
She collapsed into Lilwen's arms, unconscious but breathing.
The sigil cracked and vanished, leaving only a faint scar.
Later, by the glow of a campfire, Veyra awoke slowly.
Her first word: "Kael."
He knelt beside her. "You're safe."
Tears shimmered in her eyes. "I… I couldn't stop it. I tried. It—it's been whispering for days."
Ezren leaned back with a sigh. "That explains your brooding silence. Thought you were just mad at me again."
Lilwen elbowed him, but her smile was relieved.
The Ember Witch sat across the fire, her voice grave. "The sigil was placed on her weeks ago—likely by someone inside the court at Velkaris. It means the traitor is closer than you thought."
Kael's fists clenched. "Do you know who?"
"No," the Witch said. "But I know where they want you to go. They're pushing you toward Vael'Ruun."
Seraphine frowned. "Then why lead us there?"
The Witch's eyes glowed like dying suns.
"Because your birth is the final piece of the puzzle."
Kael walked alone to the edge of the clearing. The forest quieted now, no longer testing him, no longer whispering his name.
He remembered the vision—the city of fire and black glass, where he had carved runes before he had a name.
A city lost to legend.
A city that called to him now.
Behind him, Seraphine appeared. She slipped her hand into his.
"You're afraid."
He nodded. "Of what I'll find. Or what I might become."
"You're more than your past, Kael. You're what you choose to be now."
He looked at her.
"You always see the best in me."
She smiled. "Because it's real. Even if you can't see it yet."
They left the Emberwoods at dawn.
The Witch gave Kael a final gift: a crystal of memory, a seed of Veilfire that could reveal lost truths when needed most.
"Use it only when your path is darkest," she said. "And when trust feels like a blade at your throat."
Kael thanked her.
Then the group rode east—toward the broken cliffs that once cradled Vael'Ruun, the demon city said to have vanished in a single night.
None of them spoke for a long while.
Because behind them, the forest whispered one last warning:
"What was sealed must remain sealed. Or all will burn."
Far away, in a cold stone chamber deep beneath the ruins of a forgotten citadel, a figure stood before a cracked mirror.
Its face was shrouded in shadow.
Its voice a whisper of silk.
"They're coming," it said.
And behind it, seven dark figures stirred from slumber, their bodies thin as glass, their mouths stitched with rune-fire.
"Let the gate open. Let the key return. Let Kael remember what he is."
And the world shuddered.