**Chapter 27: Keeper’s Gambit**
**Chapter 27: Keeper's Gambit**
The ruins of Eldrin trembled beneath Jack's feet, the molten veins in the cracked stone pulsing like the dying heartbeat of a once-great city. He stood over the kneeling Keeper, his sword still glowing from the energy of their battle. Shadow paced beside him, hackles raised, watching the fallen figure with wary eyes.
Jack tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade, his mind still racing. **You are ready.** That's what the Keeper had said. Ready for what? Another test? Another impossible choice?
The Keeper slowly pushed themselves up, molten cracks flickering along their blackened armor. "You fight well," they said, their voice laced with something Jack hadn't expected—**pride.** "But battle is only one part of the fire's burden."
Jack took a slow breath, trying to steady the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. "Then what's the other part?"
The Keeper gestured to the ruins around them. "You must decide if Eldrin's fire will burn again."
Jack frowned. "I thought that was already decided."
The Keeper shook their head. "No. The fire has chosen you. But what you choose to do with it... that is your burden alone."
Jack clenched his jaw. He thought of the battles he had fought, the Guardian's last stand, the Other's warning. He thought of the Veilborn—the darkness still lurking, waiting. If he reignited Eldrin's fire, would it draw them back? Would it be an invitation for the war to begin anew?
Or was it the only way to stop them for good?
Shadow whined beside him, breaking him from his thoughts. Jack exhaled. **No more hesitation.**
He met the Keeper's gaze. "How do I do it?"
The Keeper nodded once, then turned. The air around them **shifted**. The crumbled remains of the city began to move, the ruins rearranging themselves, forming a path toward the center of Eldrin. In the distance, something **glowed.**
A tower. **No. A forge.**
Jack took a step forward, feeling the pull in his chest. The same pull he had felt since he first touched the Key of Eldrin.
"This is your choice, Jack Frost," the Keeper said, their voice solemn. "Once the fire is lit, it cannot be undone."
Jack didn't look back. He already knew his answer.
He walked toward the forge.
---
The ascent was treacherous. The ruins groaned under the shifting weight of Eldrin's remains, stone reforming as if the city itself was waking up. The heat increased with every step, the air shimmering with unseen energy. Shadow stayed close, his presence reassuring.
At last, they reached the top.
The forge stood before them, a massive construct of blackened steel and obsidian, its core **cold**—lifeless. It had once been the heart of Eldrin, the source of its power. Now, it was nothing but an echo.
Jack stepped closer, feeling the weight of history press against him. The energy of the fire still lingered here, **waiting.**
He placed his gauntleted hand on the forge. The moment he did, the ground **shook.**
Flames erupted from the dormant structure, racing up the walls, spiraling into the sky. The heat was overwhelming, but Jack didn't flinch. The energy coursed through him, through his veins, through his very soul. **The fire knew him.**
And he knew it.
He closed his eyes and let it in.
For a moment, he saw everything—the fall of Eldrin, the war that had torn it apart, the Keepers who had given their lives to protect the world from the Veilborn. He saw their hopes, their regrets, their last desperate attempts to hold back the darkness.
And he saw the truth.
Eldrin had never truly fallen. It had been waiting.
Waiting for him.
The forge roared to life, the flames turning golden, then white-hot, pure and untamed. Jack gasped as the energy **poured into him**, filling the cracks in his soul, reforging him as surely as it reforged the city around him.
The fire of Eldrin was reborn.
The ruins **shifted**—not just reforming, but **restoring.** Towers rebuilt themselves, bridges stretched across the sky, runes reignited, glowing once more with power. The city **was returning.**
Jack staggered back, barely able to process the enormity of what was happening. He had done it. He had **brought Eldrin back.**
But then—
The sky **ripped open.**
Jack's stomach dropped. He knew that sound. **A rift.**
Shadow barked, and Jack turned just in time to see it—
A tear in the sky, spiraling outward like a wound in reality itself. **And from it, the darkness came.**
The Veilborn had returned.
Jack's heart pounded. **No. Not yet. Not now.**
The first tendrils of shadow spilled from the rift, twisting toward the reborn city. But the fire of Eldrin **reacted.** The flames pulsed, pushing back against the encroaching void, clashing in the sky like celestial forces locked in battle.
Jack gritted his teeth. He had started something far bigger than himself.
And now, he had to finish it.
He turned to the Keeper, who stood at the edge of the forge, watching the unfolding battle. "Tell me how we stop them."
The Keeper's molten gaze met his. "We don't stop them."
Jack's blood ran cold. "Then what?"
The Keeper's voice was unwavering. "We **end** them."
Jack exhaled sharply, gripping his sword. He looked back at the rift, at the Veilborn pouring through, at the fire rising to meet the darkness.
This was it. The final war for Eldrin.
Jack rolled his shoulders, letting the fire surge within him. He wasn't just some lost orphan anymore.
He was **the last Keeper.**
He lifted his sword, flames licking along its edge.
"Then let's finish this."
The battle for Eldrin had begun.
**To be continued...**