Chapter Sixty-six: Beneath the Cradle of Flame

Chapter Sixty-six: Beneath the Cradle of Flame

The canyon twisted like a scar across the dead continent, its jagged walls echoing with winds that didn't belong to any natural breath of air. Kael gripped his sword tightly as they descended deeper, the white light of his aura dimming slightly with each step. Even the sword, once humming with purity, felt heavier in his hand — as if reluctant.

Lira followed, one palm glowing softly with a guiding light spell, her other hand ready at her belt where several talismans were etched with protective runes.

"It's like the ground remembers something," she whispered. "Something angry."

Kael didn't respond. His eyes were locked on the shifting shadows at the edge of their path. They weren't just darkness — they were moving like they had minds of their own.

At the base of the canyon, a massive stone gate loomed ahead — cracked open just wide enough for a person to slip through. Ancient script crawled up its face, warning in a language even Lira couldn't decipher.

Kael approached and placed his hand on it. A burst of light flared from within his chest — the light magic resonating.

The gate creaked.

And then opened.

Inside the Vault

The space beyond the gate was a dome carved out of the mountain itself — smooth stone, polished by forces unknown. Along its walls stood statues of figures lost to time, cloaked in ceremonial robes, holding crystal shards in their hands.

At the center was a pedestal.

And on it — a crystal pulsating with pure light.

"This…" Lira whispered. "This isn't just old magic. This is Founding Magic. Maybe even older."

Kael stepped toward it slowly. "It's calling to me."

As his fingers brushed the crystal, a wave of light washed over the chamber. For a moment, both Kael and Lira were blinded.

And then—

Visions.

Kael saw cities of gold swallowed by oceans of darkness. Armies of light falling not to war, but to forgetting. Names erased from stone. People walking into shadow with no memory of who they were. The world wasn't being destroyed — it was being rewritten.

And at the center of it all—was no one.

Just a throne.

Empty.

Back in the present…

Kael gasped and staggered back, nearly collapsing. Lira caught him.

"What did you see?"

He stared ahead, shaking. "It's not over. We're not healing… the world is being rewritten piece by piece. Erased. And no one is stopping it."

He turned to her, eyes burning with resolve. "We have to find the others. Tudor. Cristi. Natalia… everyone. We need them now more than ever."

Lira nodded. "We'll gather them. Even if they've gone into hiding. Even if they don't remember."

Kael gritted his teeth. "Then we'll remind them."

As the light from the crystal dimmed behind them, the two stepped back into the world — their journey only beginning again.