Fire Beneath the Snow

"Not all ruins are dead.

Some only sleep… waiting to remember who they were."

Location: The Frostvault – Beneath the Wailing Mountains

Buried under thirty feet of snow and memory, the Frostvault was a ghost of a city once a stronghold of the Flamebearers.

Now, a frozen tomb.

Cracked statues leaned like broken prayers.

Chimes hung from beams, still humming with whispers.

Flame symbols were scratched off walls as if the city had tried to forget itself.

But as Aelios entered…

the wind paused.

And the ruins shivered.

"It remembers you," Virelya said softly.

"No," Aelios murmured. "It remembers us all."

The Codex Awakens For Others

For the first time, the Codex pulsed not just for Aelios… but for Virelya.

Glyphs flickered across its cover like heartbeat signals.

One floated to her hand and didn't burn her.

"I thought only you could hear it," she said, stunned.

"It's choosing now," Aelios replied.

"It's building something bigger than me."

Cut to: Seren Commanded to Hunt

High above, at the edge of a cliff, Seren's breath fogged the air.

She stood with a hunting party seven Veil agents and a psychic bloodhound.

They had tracked Aelios' pulse signature.

They believed he was alone.

But Seren knew better.

Because as the wind shifted…

She heard something.

A voice. A memory. Her own.

"Don't forget who you were before they shaped you."

She staggered back.

Touched her temple.

Her blade shook in her grip.

Then the bloodhound lunged forward.

They'd found something.

Back Below — Aelios Sees His Past

He stood before a shattered wall where murals once told the story of the Flamebearers.

They were almost gone…

but one part remained: a boy, cloaked in black fire, holding hands with a little girl with silver hair.

It was him.

And Seren.

"They wiped it from her.

But not from the world," Aelios whispered.

The Ambush Begins

Crack.

A stone fell.

Then a second.

Suddenly shouts. Blades. A flash of Veilsteel.

"They found us," Virelya hissed.

But Aelios smiled.

"Then we stop hiding."

He stepped into the open, cloak fluttering, flames licking the edges of his sleeves.

"Tell the prince," he shouted to the Veil agents,

"the ruins remember me.

And this time I remember them too."

Seren Arrives

She landed like thunder.

Black coat. Silver sword. Mask half-lowered.

Everyone froze.

Veil agents stepped aside.

They knew her reputation.

Aelios looked up… and saw her.

Eyes locked.

But this time… no blade. No words. Just silence.

Then Seren spoke, voice hollow:

"Stand down."

The agents blinked.

"What?"

"I said stand down."

"But he-"

"That's an order."

A Fire Rekindled

They fled together Aelios, Virelya, and Seren.

No trust yet. No forgiveness.

But something ancient and real.

The ruins did not collapse.

Instead… they lit.

Flames bloomed along the halls.

Not wild. Not destructive.

Warm. Remembering.

The Frostvault had chosen.