Kaia

The wind howled through the peaks of the Ashlands, carrying the scent of sulfur. The landscape stretched out in front of me—burnt, broken, and hollow, just like everything I had ever known. Smoke rose from the charred ground, curling like a serpent, only to dissipate into the sky that seemed permanently veiled in a sickly twilight. It felt like the earth itself was mourning.

 I had grown used to the quiet. In fact, I craved it. The silence that followed my every step was a balm to the chaos that roiled within me. My own mind, however, was far from peaceful. The Echoes—those wretched, haunting imprints of pain, regret, and death—never left me. The screams of the past still rattled through my bones, crawling beneath my skin.

 The ones who raised me, who broke me, who swore pain was the only path to salvation.

The ones who had no salvation when I finally turned on them.

The Ashes of the Blinding Light—gone. But their voices still haunted every moment of my life. 

I tightened my cloak against the biting wind and pressed forward. I'll feel better tomorrow.

 As I trudged through the shifting landscape, a faint glow flickered in the distance. The fire burned low, its embers pulsing like a dying heartbeat. I should have ignored it. Light in the Ashlands was never a good sign—Hollow, rogue wanderers, or worse.

Yet something in me hesitated. A curiosity I couldn't shake.

 I approached cautiously, boots sinking into the ash-covered ground. The fire's glow cast elongated shadows, twisting unnaturally over the rocks. The figures around it sat still, too still, their faces hidden beneath smooth, featureless masks of black stone. The only detail visible was a single carved slit where the mouth should be—a hollow gap, yawning and empty.

I didn't need to see their eyes to know they were watching me.

Then, a presence behind me. Subtle, but certain.

"Kaia Locke."

 The voice was smooth, measured. A whisper against the crackling fire.

 I didn't turn. My hand brushed the hilt of my blade, the other hovering near the shifting shadows at my side. 

Footsteps, deliberate and slow. Then, she was beside me.

Eris.

 She hadn't changed much. Same steady presence, same sharp gaze that saw straight through me. A blade tempered in the heart of a dying star. Her long braid swayed as she came to a stop, the firelight catching the silver at its ends.

 She looked me over once, her expression unreadable. "You never could stay away from things that should be left alone."

I huffed through my nose. "Neither could you."

 A small, knowing smile tugged at her lips, there and gone in an instant. "Fair enough."

 She followed my gaze to the fire, at the masked figures sitting in eerie silence, then back at me.

"They're called The Order," she said. "They see fire as a plague. They believe the Pyrosoul should have never existed, that it's a sickness that needs to be burned out of the world for good."

I exhaled sharply through my nose. "And you? Do you believe that?"

Eris tilted her head slightly. "I believe the Pyrosoul isn't what you think it is." 

The fire crackled. The masked figures sat still, their heads tilted just slightly toward us, listening. My mind reels for a moment, "The Pyrosoul? Prince Kori-"

 "Not him." Eris said sharply, she glanced back toward the group before stepping toward me and lowering her voice. "The royal family has lied for generations. They've twisted the truth, wielded fire as a weapon, turned their power into something unnatural. The Pyrosoul is not what they say it is."

I didn't move, but my shadows did, writhing at my feet like restless ghosts. "What do you mean?"

Eris let the silence stretch, the weight of her words sinking into the night.

 Then, finally, she said, "The truth is darker than you can imagine. And it's not just your fight anymore. These people, this city, it's planning something"

 Her gaze locked with mine, a silent challenge. I could feel the unspoken reality between us. This wasn't just about me. It was about everything—the fire, the shadows, the past clawing its way into the present.

The Obsidian Nexus was only the beginning.

And whatever Eris knew…

I couldn't ignore it.

Not anymore.