Descent Into Ash
The entrance to the Spirit-Blood Root Catacombs was hidden behind a sealed altar beneath the Emberheart Sanctum.
Only Flamebearers and High Elders were permitted to access it.
Kai didn't ask for permission.
He invoked the Emberfire Crest.
The flame-shaped sigil on his chest pulsed once—then the altar responded with a dull roar as ancient glyphs lit up along its edge. Stone receded, revealing a spiral staircase chiseled into blackened stone.
Linya followed him without hesitation.
"You sure about this?" she asked.
"No," Kai replied, "but the ash is rising, and no one else is acting."
Together, they descended into darkness.
The further they went, the more the air changed.
It was thick—not just with heat, but memory.
Old memories.
Burned-out lanterns clung to walls like the bones of old flamekeepers. The scent of scorched spirit roots and melted metal clung to the stone.
Carvings lined the walls, half-erased: tales of a forgotten disciple, one once hailed as a savior, later branded a curse.
Linya ran her hand across one inscription.
"This figure… he has the same Crest you do."
Kai paused.
"That can't be. No one else—"
Then he saw it.
The final carving. A phoenix… with two heads. One of light, the other of ash.
"The Phoenix Doctrine was split," Linya said slowly.
"And no one told us."
They reached the lowest chamber.
It was open.
No longer sealed.
Ash coated the floor in a thick layer. The roots of the Spirit-Blood Tree twisted above them like black veins, pulsing faintly.
And there, in the center, was the altar—shattered.
Chains lay broken.
A single burned brand remained on the stone.
V.
Not carved. Seared.
Kai knelt and touched it.
His mind exploded.
Vision.
Flame. Screams. A storm of ash consuming the mountain.
He saw himself—older, darker, corrupted—standing beside a cloaked figure wearing a jade mask.
Then the figure turned—and Kai saw his eyes.
Not red.
Not gold.
But his own.
Kai gasped and fell back.
Linya caught him, eyes wide.
"What did you see?"
"A warning."
He stood, fists clenched.
"Someone is coming. Someone connected to me. Someone who walked this path before—"
"And burned it down."
He looked up at the roots.
"We're not facing a monster."
"We're facing a forgotten Flamebearer."