The Scorched Gate

The wind howled across the Ashen Expanse.

What had once been a thriving kingdom was now a dead land—blackened soil, twisted trees, and bones crushed into the ground like broken glass. A hundred years ago, the Ashen Expanse had burned for three straight weeks. No one remembered why. Some blamed a forgotten war. Others whispered it was where the first demon walked the world.

But Kael knew the truth now.

It wasn't the first demon.

It was the first gate.

---

They marched south with urgency. Kael led the way, now wielding Rendlight strapped to his back and Neviran's Fang at his side. The sword pulsed with heat even when sheathed, a constant reminder of the First Flame's legacy within him.

Tana and Korrin moved like shadows beside him. Mira rode behind, head buried in a leather-bound tome filled with seal lore and prophetic riddles.

Marek, ever silent, scouted ahead.

They were no longer just travelers.

They were a warband.

And war was coming.

---

By the third day, Kael felt it.

The pull.

It wasn't like the other seals. This one dragged at his soul, like a hook in his spine. It drew him south faster than any map could guide. He saw signs in the ash—crows that walked instead of flying, stones that bled smoke when stepped on, whispers that came from dry wells.

Then, just after sundown on the fourth day, they saw it.

The Scorched Gate.

---

It stood alone in the center of a blasted plain.

A monolith of melted black stone, fifteen feet high, carved with symbols that changed when you looked at them. Flames flickered inside its archway, never consuming, never fading. Around it lay the remnants of an ancient fortress—half-buried, consumed by time.

Kael stepped forward.

The Gate responded.

Flames coiled outward like fingers, stretching toward him.

Mira called out, "Don't touch it yet! There's something—"

Too late.

The flame touched his chest.

And Kael was gone.

---

He stood in a world of fire and memory.

Everything burned.

Not in agony—but in truth.

He stood on a battlefield under a black sun. Thousands of demonspawn writhed in chains. At the center of it all stood a woman cloaked in fire, her voice rising in a warcry that echoed across centuries.

Elaine Greyflame.

Kael gasped.

She turned to him.

But her face was… wrong. Flickering. Not fully her.

Then he realized—this was not his mother.

This was her memory.

---

She stood before the Scorched Gate, wounded, bleeding, defiant. Her blade was broken. Her allies dead. And the gate… open.

From within came a storm of eyes and mouths.

Kael watched as she reached toward the seal embedded in the gate's base.

And burned.

The flames consumed her.

But she didn't scream.

She sang.

> "From flame I rise, from flame I fall,

Let fire mark me, chains and all."

She collapsed just before sealing the gate.

And then—

Kael was standing in her place.

---

He didn't hesitate.

He stepped forward and drove Rendlight into the seal.

The Gate screamed—a high, furious wail that shook the ash-covered earth.

Fire erupted around Kael, lashing his skin, cutting deep into his soul.

Pain exploded in every nerve.

Visions returned—

The First Flame.

The angel bones in Aerosthal.

Malrekh's smile.

The Vessel.

Elaine.

Then a single voice cut through it all.

> "This is your inheritance. Take it. Or be devoured."

Kael roared—and drove Rendlight deeper.

---

The world shattered.

And when Kael awoke, the Gate was closed.

Stone fused. Fire gone.

And in his hand—

A glowing, half-melted key made of pure ember.

The third Seal.

---

Mira ran to him. "You vanished. What happened?"

Kael stood slowly. His skin glowed in patches. His veins pulsed with heat.

"I walked her path," he said softly. "I saw her. I saw the Gate open. She almost sealed it—but didn't make it."

Marek frowned. "Then how are you here?"

Kael held up the ember key.

"Because I finished it."

---

That night, their campfire was cold.

Not dead—cold. The heat around them had vanished after the Gate sealed. Something had changed in the world.

Tana whispered, "The flame… it's shifting."

Korrin added, "And the air smells different."

Mira studied the ember key. "This was forged from the last flame of that Gate. One more step forward… but also one step closer to the Solstice."

Kael looked up at the stars.

And saw one of them move.

---

It wasn't a star.

It was a flaming object falling from the sky—trailing ash, spinning, and crashing far to the southeast.

A comet.

A sum

moning.

Mira whispered, "That was the Grave of Stars."

Kael stood immediately.

"We go. Now."

---

The journey would take five days.

But in his heart, Kael knew—

They didn't have five days.