The sky had turned to ash by the time they reached the cliffs overlooking the Cradle Sea.
The waves below were an unnatural silver, crashing soundlessly against black stone. No birds flew here. No winds stirred. The world felt… paused.
"Why's the sea so still?" Ezren asked, fingers resting on the hilt of his curved blade.
Lilwen stepped forward, the air rippling around her. "It's not still. It's listening."
Kael stared down at the waters that shimmered like liquid moonlight.
This was where the second Flame of Origin was said to be hidden—buried beneath the sea's heart, guarded by a being older than empires.
The blade Varenth hummed at his side, sensing something close.
Veyra knelt at the cliff's edge. "There's a path. Below the tide."
Indeed, as the tide receded, black stone steps appeared, leading into the sea itself.
Kael's voice was quiet. "Let's go."
The path submerged slowly.
With every step, the water didn't rise around them—it parted.
A tunnel of shimmering air formed beneath the waves, curving downward like a spiral into the abyss.
The silence here was absolute.
Seraphine walked beside Kael, her voice barely above a whisper. "This place… it remembers something."
Kael nodded. "Me."
And deeper still, as they reached the base of the sea, they found a door.
Enormous. Covered in carvings older than any language Kael knew.
But he understood it.
Not through translation.
Through memory.
"He who betrayed the Flame. He who sealed the Guardian. He who must pay the price."
Kael stepped forward.
And the door opened—not with a groan, but with a sigh.
The chamber beyond was vast, glowing with soft, unnatural light.
Floating in the center of the airless sea was a throne of coral and obsidian.
And seated upon it…
A figure wrapped in chains of starlight and bone.
Eyes glowing blue like drowned stars.
Skin pale, marked with ancient runes.
He rose slowly as they entered, and the sea trembled.
"You return, child of ruin."
Kael froze. "You know me?"
The figure's voice echoed like a wave crashing through bone. "I knew you when you were innocent. When you were sent to bind me, under the false banner of peace."
Seraphine stepped forward. "Who are you?"
"I am Caltheon, Keeper of the Second Flame. Guardian of the Sea Between Worlds."
He looked at Kael with sorrow.
"And I was once your protector. Until you betrayed me."
Kael's breath caught. "I don't remember that."
"Because it was taken from you. But I remember. When the Hollowed Ones first tore the sky, your mother feared what would come. She forged the pact—and sent her son to deliver it."
Kael's hands trembled.
"You brought me the sigil that would set me free," Caltheon continued. "But it was a trick. The sigil bound me, not the Hollowed."
Lilwen whispered, horrified, "You used him as bait."
Kael stepped forward, shaking. "I was just a child."
"You were," Caltheon said. "And still… you carry the seal in your blood."
He extended a hand, and Kael's chest glowed faintly—runes pulsing beneath his skin.
Seraphine gripped his shoulder. "He didn't choose this."
Caltheon looked at her. "No. But he must choose now."
The Flame of Origin floated above the throne—an orb of fire that didn't burn, flickering with colors no one could name.
Caltheon's voice softened.
"I could kill you. I have reason. But vengeance is the song of the Hollowed."
He stepped down from the throne, the chains vanishing.
"Instead, I will test you."
Kael stood straighter. "How?"
"By fire."
The chamber shuddered.
Water flooded the tunnel behind them, sealing them in.
And the sea itself rose, forming into a beast of water and memory—a serpent with eyes like Kael's own, born from his forgotten choices.
"Face the guilt you buried. Fight the truth you fled."
The serpent struck.
Kael dodged, barely avoiding a sweeping tail that cracked the stone beneath his feet.
The others formed a circle around him—Seraphine with her starlight bow, Ezren hurling knives of arcane energy, Veyra dancing like flame through the serpent's coils.
But only Kael could harm it.
Because it was made from him.
Every time he struck with Varenth, the serpent split—and screamed with voices from his past.
"You left her."
"You opened the gate."
"You burned the temple."
He stumbled, breath ragged. "I didn't—I don't remember!"
Seraphine grabbed his face. "Then remember now. Own it. And rise."
Kael plunged Varenth into the serpent's heart.
The blade pulsed.
And in a flood of fire and salt and memory—
He saw it.
He saw himself, barely six, holding the sigil. Crying. His mother weeping as she sent him forward.
"It's not your fault," she had whispered. "But they must believe it is. Or they'll find you."
He saw Caltheon kneel to him, trusting.
And he saw the spell consume him, chains wrapping him in betrayal.
Kael sobbed.
And then the serpent shattered into mist.
Silence returned.
Caltheon approached, and this time… he smiled.
"You remembered."
Kael wiped his face. "I was a child."
"And now you are more," Caltheon said. "Take the Flame. And go. The Hollowed Ones move faster than you know."
He raised a hand, and the Flame of Origin floated to Kael, sinking into his chest like a second heartbeat.
Kael gasped.
Power surged through him—not destruction, but balance.
Fire that did not consume, but restored.
"You carry two flames now," Caltheon said. "But you will need three."
Kael looked up. "Where is the last?"
Caltheon's smile faded.
"In the place where your mother died. The place where the Veil first cracked. The heart of Velkaris."
As they left the chamber, the sea parted once more.
Caltheon watched them go, chains coiling once more at his feet.
"Beware the silver-masked one," he whispered. "He was forged in the Hollowed womb. He walks beside you… in shadow."
And far above, in a shattered tower in Velkaris, the silver-masked figure smiled as he watched Kael rise from the sea.
"One more flame," he murmured. "Then the gate opens."
And the Veil shuddered.