(Part 1)
Dawn crept over Volantis like an old woman lifting her veil, reluctant and brittle around the edges. Mist lay heavy on the streets, coiling around columns and slithering across rooftops. The Black Walls loomed through the haze, darker than shadow, older than memory. Barges cut the canals with slow, tired strokes, their oars splashing lazily as if even the water was unsure about starting the day.
Kaine walked through all of it with the ease of someone who had never once needed permission from the world to move through it. His stride was unhurried, steady, as though time itself matched his pace rather than the other way around.
Beside him walked the reborn Demon of Volantis, wearing simple clothes that fit her form and movement. She walked lightly, almost soundlessly, as if her feet instinctively knew how to avoid every loose stone. Her expression was composed, but her eyes flicked toward every shifting shadow, every murmuring alley, assessing without fear.
Behind them — unseen by every mortal eye — Vaerynna followed. The young dragon's presence shimmered faintly in the air, heat bowing around her like a respectful breeze. Only the woman beside Kaine noticed it; only she heard the dragon's thoughts brushing gently along her mind like warm smoke.
Already, the streets were reacting.
The first man to see Kaine sank to his knees before he understood why. A basket of figs fell from his hands, fruit rolling across the stone. His knees hit the ground with a thud he didn't feel.
Then another man knelt.A woman followed.A group of fire worshipers bowed as one, hands pressed flat to the stone.
Sereyna — though she had not yet spoken her name — watched the wave of reverence ripple through the square.
"They're… bowing to you," she murmured.
Kaine didn't look at them. "They're bowing to what stands behind me."
"R'hllor?"
"No." His voice held a faint curve of amusement. "The memory of Him."
Sereyna frowned. "What does that mean?"
Before Kaine could answer, Vaerynna slipped into her mind with a lazy purr.
"It means their fire-spirit remembers being humbled."
Sereyna blinked at that. A god… humbled?She looked again at Kaine — at his steady stride, at the people parting in silence, at the heat bending gently around him.
"What are you?" she whispered.
Kaine's gaze stayed fixed ahead.
"Something this world never named," Vaerynna answered instead.
They walked across a narrow canal bridge where fog clung to the stones like crawling fingers.
"So," Sereyna asked, "where will you go after Volantis?"
"There are cities worth visiting," Kaine said. "Norvos, Pentos, Qohor. Braavos."
"Most people choose places because they want something there."
"I always want something."
Vaerynna's dry voice brushed both their minds.
"People. He collects the interesting ones."
Sereyna shot the air behind them an incredulous look.
Vaerynna's warm breath rumbled in amusement.
Kaine continued, voice calm:
"But eventually, we'll need a place of our own."
"Where?" Sereyna asked.
He looked east — toward the Smoking Sea.
"There's a headland within the Doom," he said. "A chain of stone that never fell."
That stopped her in her tracks."You want to build a base… inside the Doom?"
Kaine glanced back at her, as though her reaction amused him.
"It's less lethal than it used to be."
Vaerynna added cheerfully:"It whispers beautifully."
"That doesn't reassure me."
"It wasn't meant to."
High above them, from a balcony along the Black Walls, Commander Varos of the Tiger Cloaks watched with tightened jaw. His lieutenant hovered nearby, holding a scroll filled with reports from the night before — the pit, the stranger, the Demon who refused to stay dead.
"Sir?" the lieutenant asked. "Should we send men to follow him?"
Varos didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stared down at the trio moving through the mist, the air bending unnaturally around them.
"No," he said finally. "Our orders are clear: do not engage."
"But the Demon—"
"The Demon is irrelevant." Varos's voice cut with quiet iron. "The man beside her is not."
The lieutenant swallowed.
"Sir… if he becomes a threat—"
Varos turned his head slowly, and the look alone ended the conversation.
"If anyone under my command tests that man," he said, "I'll have their heads mounted on the Black Walls myself."
A world away — or a street away, in Volantis terms — a counting house filled with polished wood and sweet perfumes hummed softly with morning activity. Magister Olios sat on a carved bench, swirling golden wine in a silver goblet.
"The Demon walks again," he mused. "And the stranger is bowed to by priests and slaves alike."
He chuckled.
"Power reshapes the world with such ease."
He snapped his fingers.
"Send three spies. No — four. And a Tyroshi assassin."
The steward hesitated. "The Tigers will object, my lord."
"I expect them to. Chaos is the mother of opportunity."
He smirked.
"And tell Triarch Nyessa she may want to meet this stranger sooner than expected."
The Red Temple dominated its plaza, rising like a mountain of burning stone. Red-robed acolytes lit incense under carved pillars. Flames from tall iron braziers licked at the air, bright even in the dim morning.
But when Kaine stepped upon the temple steps, the flames rose higher — as if greeting him.
Acolytes fell silent.One dropped her lamp.Another fell to her knees.A third whispered, "He walks with the fire…"
"They're greeting you," Sereyna murmured.
"No. They're greeting Him."
"Him?"
"The one watching."
Sereyna swallowed. "R'hllor?"
"No," Kaine said, faintly amused. "He doesn't watch. He stares."
Vaerynna muttered:
"He sulks."
Inside the temple, flames surged upward in every brazier. Smoke curled toward Kaine like a living thing. Lanterns made of ruby glass pulsed bright red.
A young acolyte lighting an offering torch stumbled backward.
"What… what walks with you, lord?"
"A companion."
Vaerynna added smugly:
"A glorious one."
The acolyte dropped his torch and nearly ran.
On a rooftop above, a Tyroshi assassin steadied his breath. Widow's-blood dagger ready, he whispered a quiet prayer.
"One cut," he murmured. "One heartbeat—"
A heat like a dragon's breath pressed against his spine.
His knees buckled.His lungs seized.He dropped the blade.
He fled, screaming hoarsely into the morning fog.
Kaine paused before a marble archway carved with flames.
"I request an audience with your High Priest and High Priestess," he told an acolyte. "Together. In your deepest sanctum."
The acolyte bowed so quickly he nearly struck the floor.
"At once, my lord."
Sereyna murmured, "You speak as though they know you."
"They don't."
Vaerynna stretched her wings with a lazy ripple of heat.
"But their god remembers."
────────── ❖ ──────────
(Part 2)
The inner corridor of the Red Temple stretched ahead, long and narrow, its red stone lit by braziers that breathed rather than burned. Murals lined each wall — depictions of Azor Ahai, of demons wreathed in shadow-flame, of dragons locked in battle against crawling night.
Sereyna lingered on one painting: a woman plunging a glowing sword into a creature of darkness. The creature looked almost human. Too human.
"Is any of this true?" she whispered.
Vaerynna snorted, her mental voice brushing like hot wind.
"Barely. Azor Ahai had help. He always forgets to mention the help."
Kaine shot the dragon a sideways glance.Vaerynna returned an innocent rumble.
Sereyna exhaled, amused despite her fear.
The sanctum doors loomed at the corridor's end, carved with swirling flame-marks so ancient that half the temple claimed they predated Valyria. Acolytes pushed the door open, stepping aside with reverent fear.
Heat enveloped them instantly — a wall of raw fire, heavy and alive.Beneath it, the great central brazier roared like a caged sun. White-gold flames climbed upward, illuminating twelve senior priests who formed a half-circle around the inferno.
But only two mattered.
Benerro stood at the forefront, his staff burning from inside with a steady glow. His face was stern, lines of age carved deep into his features, but his eyes shone with a zeal that bordered on fear.
Beside him knelt Kinvara, her red silks shimmering like molten glass. She rose slowly, eyes wide, as if the very sight of Kaine struck something inside her she wasn't prepared to face.
The priests bowed in unison.
Kinvara's voice trembled."The flame commanded us not to oppose you…"
Benerro lowered his staff and bent his head."We obey as we obey the Lord of Light Himself."
Sereyna felt her breath catch again.What kind of man receives obeisance meant for gods?
Kaine stepped forward with no shift in expression.
"Leave us," he said quietly. "All but you two."
The lesser priests departed immediately, almost running for the doors.
When the sanctum finally sealed behind them, Kaine faced the great brazier.
His voice was soft.Calm.Unimpressed.
"Enough watching," he said. "Show yourself."
Every torch in the room died instantly.
Lanterns cracked, their glass shattering.Heat vanished in a single gasp, plunging the sanctum into freezing darkness.
Then—
The central flame exploded upward.
A pillar of white-gold fire roared toward the vaulted ceiling.Heat hit them like a physical blow.Benerro staggered.Kinvara fell to one knee, gripping her ruby necklace so tightly her knuckles whitened.
Sereyna shielded her face but the brilliance pierced her fingers.Vaerynna's heat wrapped around her like a defending cloak, wings spread.
Within the raging flame, something shifted — an eye, a presence, a will.
Ancient.Afraid.Angry.
Kaine didn't flinch.
"Still throwing tantrums," he murmured. "After all these ages."
The brazier's fire recoiled.
For a heartbeat, the god inside seemed almost… startled.
Then a voice cracked through the flames — a language older than Valyria, older than the First Men, older than the fire itself. It rang and hissed through the sanctum, shaking stone and bone alike.
Kaine answered in the same tongue.
They spoke like storms clashing in the void.Sereyna couldn't understand a single syllable, yet she felt each word like a strike against her soul. Visions flickered behind her eyes — cities burning, ice creeping across oceans, dragons turning to glass.
Kinvara's breath hitched. Tears spilled down her cheeks despite the heat.
Benerro whispered a prayer that died in his throat.
Then the flames subsided, slowly, as though deflating.Only a simmering glow remained.
Kaine's voice shifted back to mortal language.
"You fear the dead gathering in the far north," he said. "As you should."
The flame shuddered.
"You fear the Walker who no longer serves the Great Other. Who serves no one. That is the danger."
Kinvara gasped as a vision hit her — a crown of ice, dead eyes like frozen stars, shadows moving behind walls of white.
Kaine continued:
"You were meant to balance one another. Light. Darkness. Fire. Ice. Yet all you do is bicker. And now your champions follow no command."
The brazier hissed, as if wounded by truth.
"When the time comes," Kaine said, "I will handle it."
The flame paused.
Perfect stillness.
Then — every light in the sanctum died.
Darkness swallowed them whole.
A single ember flickered in the heart of the brazier — like a bow.Then it vanished.
Kaine turned away.
"We're done here."
Kinvara inhaled sharply as light returned to the torches, one by one.
"My lord…" Her voice wavered. She wiped her eyes, not bothering to hide the trembling. "Forgive my weakness. The fire showed me… more than I can withstand."
Benerro looked equally shaken, but he forced his spine straight.
Kaine studied the priestess.
Her beauty was undeniable — not the delicate softness of maidens, but the timeless beauty of a flame that refused to be extinguished. Her eyes, her posture, even her poised breath carried centuries of worship, sacrifice, loss, and resilience.
But Kaine didn't look at her face.
He looked deeper.
"You carry many scars," he said softly.
Kinvara flinched.
Not a physical flinch. A soul flinch — something deep, old, and buried.
Kaine continued:
"But you kept your faith. Through centuries of hardship. Through trials most mortals cannot even imagine. That endurance…" His gaze softened a fraction. "That is a kind of beauty few possess."
Kinvara's lips parted in a small, fragile breath.
No man had ever spoken to her like that.And no god had ever acknowledged her suffering.
Her voice cracked.
"My lord… if there is anything I may do… anything you command…"
Kaine held her gaze.
"Not yet," he said. "Your time to serve will come."
She bowed her head, overwhelmed.
"But," Kaine continued, "you should expand the Red Temple's influence. Push beyond Volantis. Restore your strength in other cities. And keep a few… useful agents close."
Kinvara nodded fervently. "I—I will. We will. The Lord of Light commands us, and so do you."
Benerro stiffened but bowed his head in agreement.
Kaine added, with a faint curl of humor:
"And ensure this city is ready to welcome Azor Ahai when the time comes."
Both priests froze.
Kinvara trembled. "My lord… he will truly come?"
Kaine's smile was soft, dangerous, and amused.
"In time. Try not to set anything on fire before then."
Vaerynna snorted.
"No promises," she muttered.
────────── ❖ ──────────
(Part 3)
The heat inside the sanctum burned lower now, no longer roaring with divine outrage but humming with a quiet, trembling awareness. The great brazier dimmed to a steady pulse, like the heartbeat of a creature remembering it was being watched.
Benerro's grip on his staff had tightened until the veins on his hand bulged.Kinvara knelt still, breath shaky, eyes shining with the aftershock of what she had witnessed.
Sereyna simply stared between them and Kaine, caught between awe and confusion.
Kaine stepped away from the brazier, the flames shrinking as if relieved to have distance.
Kinvara rose slowly, unable to still the trembling in her hands.
"My lord," she whispered, "if we expand the Red Temple… if we answer your command… will we not come into conflict with the other faiths? The Great Shepherd, the Black Goat, the Seven, the Many-Faced God. The Free Cities cling to their gods like children clutching toys."
Her voice faltered.
"Will they not fight us?"
Kaine looked at her for a long, quiet moment.Then he turned his gaze to the murals carved across the sanctum walls — crude depictions of gods at war, fire swallowing shadow, shadow smothering light, believers victoriously raising blades.
"Do you know what all of this leaves out?" Kaine asked.
Kinvara shook her head.
"It forgets the beginning."
The brazier flickered.Even the fire seemed to lean closer.
"When the world was young," Kaine said, "there were many beings like your R'hllor. Not one… not two… but dozens."
Kinvara and Benerro exchanged a stunned glance.
"Beings of fire," Kaine continued. "Beings of night. Beings of stone, wind, deep water, and unbound magic. Spirits, gods, proto-gods, whatever name suits them. They were not rivals."
He traced a hand lightly along the carved stone.
"They were in harmony. Their domains intertwined like rivers flowing into a single sea."
Kinvara whispered, "Harmony… between fire and shadow?"
Kaine nodded.
"There were no holy wars. No clashing prophecies. No champions fighting on opposite sides. Each power protected a piece of the world. Each worked beside the others."
Sereyna's eyes widened in astonishment.
"But then mortals appeared," Kaine said. "And mortals… interpret everything."
He turned back toward the priests.
"Mortals created rivalry where none existed. They fought in their gods' names. They built temples and claimed favor. They demanded their deity be supreme."
Kinvara lowered her gaze, guilt shadowing her features.
Kaine continued:
"The gods tried to guide them. They empowered champions, priests, prophets. They whispered visions to steer the ambitious."
The flames rose slightly, as if ashamed.
"But the mortals grew hungrier," Kaine said. "Every temple wanted to rule. Every priest wanted to lead. Every champion wanted to be the chosen."
"And the gods?" Sereyna murmured.
"They bent with their followers," Kaine said. "Took sides they were never meant to take. Chose favorites. Fed prophecies. And slowly… forgot the harmony they once shared."
Kinvara looked up with a trembling breath.
"And now the world cracks."
Kaine nodded once.
"The Long Night rises not because darkness is evil… but because balance was lost. Fire tries to conquer night. Night tries to devour flame. Neither remembers their purpose."
Kinvara bowed her head, voice barely a whisper.
"We… we never knew."
"You were never told," Kaine replied gently.
Benerro stepped forward, voice careful.
"Then if we spread the flame… if the Red Temple grows… the other faiths…"
"They will react," Kaine said. "But they will not oppose you in the way you fear."
Kinvara frowned. "Why not, my lord?"
"Because you will not be conquering them," Kaine said. "You will be restoring a piece of the balance they abandoned. Not to dominate the others… but to stabilize what has broken."
He lifted a hand toward the brazier.A spark rose from it, spiraling like a fragile ember.
"Your flame will not replace the other gods," he said softly. "But it will be part of the equilibrium once more."
Kinvara's lips parted, breath unsteady.
"So we are to become… a pillar of balance?"
"Exactly."
"And the others?"
"They will feel the shift. They may resist. But they know the truth: this world cannot survive on one power alone."
Kinvara closed her eyes, letting the enormity settle.
Her voice cracked:
"Then tell me how to serve you. Tell me what your will is, and I will carry it."
Kaine regarded her quietly — the youthful face hiding centuries of devotion, the grace forged through pain, the soul carrying scars no human eyes could see.
"You endured more trials than most," he said softly. "And yet you remain. That is rare… and beautiful."
Kinvara froze.
The compliment struck not her ears, but her spirit.
She bowed her head deeply to hide the emotion trembling through her.
"My lord… your words are more than a blessing."
"You kept faith," Kaine said. "Even when it was difficult. Even when your god grew lost."
He stepped past her.
"Your time to serve will come. Not today. But soon."
Kinvara exhaled, a sound halfway between relief and devotion.
"What must I do until then?"
"Strengthen your temple," Kaine said. "Quietly. Spread its reach. Prepare the faithful. And choose a handful you trust with your life."
Kinvara pressed a hand to her heart.
"It will be done."
Benerro bowed shakily beside her.
"We follow your will as we follow our god's."
Kaine paused at the sanctum doorway.
"One more thing," he said without turning around."This city will welcome Azor Ahai in time."
Both priests froze.
Kinvara's voice came out barely audible.
"M-my lord… he will truly come?"
Kaine's smile curved like an old, dangerous secret.
"Yes. Eventually."
Vaerynna snorted behind them.
"Humans always panic before the fun starts," she told Sereyna with smug warmth.
Kaine didn't deny it.
────────── ❖ ──────────
(Part 4)
The sanctum doors shut behind them, and the weight of divine fire faded into ordinary warmth. Outside, the air felt clearer — not lighter, just clearer, like something old had finally exhaled.
Acolytes parted as Kaine walked past, bowing low, their eyes wide and trembling. No one dared speak until he reached the temple steps.
Then—
A deep, subtle tremor rolled beneath their feet.
Not violent.Not threatening.Just a shift — a long, slow adjustment of stone deep below the city.
Dust drifted from a high pillar.A basin of flame rippled.
Sereyna stiffened immediately.
"That… wasn't small."
"It was harmless," Kaine answered without looking back.
A second tremor followed, lighter than the first. A gentle ripple passed through the canal beside the steps.
Sereyna grabbed the railing, eyes wide. "That felt like the ground trying to… stretch."
Vaerynna slid into her mind like warm smoke.
"It is stretching."
Sereyna turned around sharply.
"Explain."
Vaerynna's tone was deliberately casual.
"Well, someone ate the Doom."
Sereyna froze.
"…the Doom."
"Mhm."
"THE Doom?"
"Yes."
She stared at Kaine's back.He kept walking calmly down the steps.
"You," she said slowly, "ate the Doom."
He nodded once.
Sereyna blinked hard. "You ATE. THE DOOM. VALYRIA'S DOOM."
Kaine finally turned his head.
"It was in my way."
Sereyna slapped her forehead. "That is NOT something you eat!"
Vaerynna purred smugly.
"He eats many unusual things. You'll adjust."
"I don't WANT to adjust!" Sereyna hissed.
A passing worshiper flinched at her tone and knelt harder.
They reached the plaza.Priests knelt as Kaine passed, murmuring prayers in trembling voices.
Sereyna tried to ignore them, but she could feel eyes lingering — not on her scars, not on her reputation, but on her rebirth. They had heard she died in the pit. They had heard she rose again.
But her focus stayed on Kaine.
"You didn't think to mention this before?" she whispered sharply.
"You were unconscious," Kaine replied.
"You could have told me later!"
"You were adjusting."
Vaerynna added:
"And screaming."
Sereyna glared."I was revived from death. Screaming is allowed!"
"Still loud," Vaerynna noted.
Kaine hid a hint of amusement.
A third tremor rolled through the stones — the gentlest yet, like a deep lung taking a slow breath.
Sereyna steadied herself. "Alright. Fine. So… the ground is shaking because… why, exactly?"
"The land is healing," Kaine said. "And stabilizing."
"Because you ate—" she lowered her voice "—the core of the Doom?"
"Yes."
"And the land is… happy about this?"
"Relieved."
Sereyna frowned. "Explain it to me like I'm not an ancient entity."
Kaine pointed eastward, toward the distant, unseen Smoking Sea.
"For centuries, Valyria's ruin was like a wound that never closed. Too much pressure trapped beneath. Volcanoes bleeding inland. Magic tearing the crust apart instead of mending it. Poisonous gas pockets forming and collapsing. The seabed shifting constantly."
He looked down at the stones beneath their feet.
"All of that instability was caused by a core of magic forcing the wound open."
Sereyna exhaled slowly, following his logic. "And since you… removed the core…"
"Consumed it," Vaerynna corrected.
"I WAS TRYING TO AVOID THAT WORD," Sereyna snapped.
Vaerynna purred.
"It happened. Best to accept it."
Kaine continued, unbothered:
"Since the core is gone, the land is finally able to settle. The tremors are natural — rock layers shifting, steam vents cooling, the crust relaxing for the first time in centuries."
Sereyna rested her elbows on the railing, staring eastward.
"So… the Doom wasn't angry. The land wasn't waking up. It was… healing."
"Yes," Kaine said. "Slowly."
Vaerynna added:
"And pleasantly, if I may say."
Sereyna shook her head.
"And all of this because you decided to eat the most dangerous magical anomaly in the world."
Kaine shrugged. "I was curious."
"Of course you were," she muttered. "Gods forbid you choose normal curiosity."
They crossed the bridge. Citizens gathered around canal corners, whispering about the tremors. Some believed it an omen. Others thought the gods were angry. A few claimed the Demon's resurrection had cursed the stones.
A Tiger Cloak officer murmured to his lieutenant, "If that man caused this… then we don't move against him. Ever."
A merchant whispered, "He returned from Valyria untouched… now the ground bows to him."
A young slave quietly said, "Maybe the world remembers him."
Sereyna tried to ignore the stares.
"Are these tremors going to get worse?" she asked.
"No," Kaine said. "If anything, they'll fade."
"And the Smoking Sea?"
"It will change. But slowly. Land takes time."
Vaerynna added:
"Like digestion."
"Stop saying digestion," Sereyna begged.
"But it was delicious."
Sereyna put her face in her hands.
When she finally lowered them, she found Kaine watching her with that calm, unreadable expression of his.
"And what are you thinking now?" she asked.
"That the world is quieter than I remember."
Sereyna let out a slow breath. "Quiet is good."
"No," he said softly. "Quiet means something will come next."
Before she could ask what he meant—
Another tremor.Barely felt.Barely noticeable.Like the last breath before a long sleep.
Then stillness.
The plaza fell silent.
Kaine looked east again.
"The land is settling."
"And us?" Sereyna asked softly.
Kaine began walking.
"We settle when we decide to."
Vaerynna glowed behind them.
"And right now? We decide to move."
────────── ❖ ──────────
(Part 5)
Volantis was not a quiet city, but for a moment, after the tremors faded, it almost behaved like one.
The plaza paused.Merchants gripped their stalls.Tiger Cloaks pressed hands to sword hilts.Slaves huddled near pillars whispering prayers.
And every pair of eyes followed one man as he crossed the bridge toward the canal streets.
Kaine walked calmly, hands relaxed at his sides. Beside him, Sereyna matched his pace — still processing half a dozen revelations — and above them, unseen, Vaerynna glided with lazy amusement.
A group of Tiger Cloaks hurried to block the walkway ahead, but when Kaine glanced in their direction, the commander cleared his throat, turned pale, and immediately stepped aside.
"Right of way, honored one," he said quickly.
Sereyna raised an eyebrow. "Honored one? That's new."
"They're improvising," Kaine murmured.
Vaerynna chimed:
"Volantis loves titles. If they can't understand him, they'll name him instead."
Sereyna snorted. "By tomorrow they'll be calling him the Walking Omen."
"Already heard that," Vaerynna said.
Kaine sighed. "Charming."
As they rounded a corner into the merchant district, the city's other half — the part that moved in shadows — began to notice him, too.
Behind shuttered windows, whisper networks flared to life.
In the upper balcony of a pleasure house, a pale-skinned woman with inked cheeks whispered to her guards, "He walked through the temple untouched. Even Benerro bent. Find out what he wants."
On the roof of a pottery warehouse, a dark-cloaked spy of the Elephants scribbled in a coded ledger.
"Unstable ground coinciding with his exit from the temple. People bowing. Priests shaking. Something has shifted."
In a distant tower, an elderly Triarch nearly spilled his wine when a servant reported:
"The Red Temple's flames dimmed when he entered. Kinvara returned… pale."
The Triarch whispered, "No man makes her pale."
A street away, a Braavosi agent — one of Nyessa's network — cursed softly, then muttered:
"This man is either a savior or a catastrophe. The tricky part is figuring out which one."
Volantis churned quietly beneath its own surface.
For the first time in years, all factions — Tigers, Elephants, Red Temple, Old Blood, Slavers, and every guild in between — began watching the same man.
Sereyna noticed the stares. "We're… drawing attention."
"We've been drawing attention," Kaine corrected. "Now they're simply admitting it."
"Let them stare," Vaerynna purred. "Fear is nutritious."
"Maybe for you," Sereyna muttered. "I'd prefer less attention."
Kaine glanced at her. "Then perhaps we leave soon."
She paused. "Leave Volantis?"
"Not immediately. But soon."
"And go where?"
Kaine's gaze lifted toward the sky. "Every direction awaits, but only one calls."
Vaerynna stretched her wings, invisible ripples bending the air.
"North?"
"Not yet," Kaine said.
"Essos has more cities," Sereyna offered. "Braavos. Lys. Pentos. Qohor."
Kaine gave a faint smile. "Some of them will call to us in time. But before that…"
He looked east — toward the Smoking Sea, toward the place where the Doom once breathed fire into the world.
"…we have preparations to make."
Sereyna followed his gaze. "Preparations? For what?"
"For a home."
She blinked. "A home?"
Vaerynna nudged her mind gently.
"A place with no chains. No pits. No masters. No fear."
Sereyna's throat tightened.
"And Volantis?" she asked. "They won't take kindly to losing… someone like me."
"Volantis has no claim over you," Kaine said. "You chose your path. You walked out of their cage."
Sereyna lowered her eyes. "I… did."
Vaerynna added:
"And you smell better now."
Sereyna glared upward. "Not the time."
"Always the time."
Kaine chuckled — softly, rare enough that Sereyna's breath caught for a moment.
As they approached the Red Temple's outer plaza, dozens of priests stood lining the path. Torches in hand. Heads bowed.
Kinvara stepped forward, her red eyes bright with purpose, though her hands trembled — slightly, but enough to betray emotion.
"Lord Kaine," she said with a reverent bow, "the temple stands ready to obey your guidance."
Benerro stood behind her, silent as stone, eyes lowered.
Kaine gave a single nod. "Good. Continue your work."
Kinvara lifted her head carefully. "Is there more you wish of us?"
"Not yet," Kaine said. "But soon. Expand your influence quietly. Travel, preach, gather those with strong will and clear minds. Prepare the faithful."
Kinvara swallowed. "For what?"
Kaine watched her carefully. "Balance."
Her breath trembled.
"And when the promised one comes," she whispered, "we will be ready?"
Kaine's gaze deepened — ancient and unreadable.
"You will welcome the promised one when the time arrives," he said. "But do not attempt to shape them. Do not attempt to control them. And do not assume who they will be."
Kinvara bowed deeply, emotion trembling across her face.
"As you command."
Benerro followed, head bowed lower than hers.
The priests echoed softly:
"In fire we kneel."
In the corner of her eye, Sereyna saw a young acolyte stare at Kaine as if witnessing a legend come alive.
Vaerynna muttered:
"Mortals love kneeling. They do it so much."
Sereyna whispered back, "You're not helping."
"I'm always helping."
Kaine turned away from the temple and stepped toward the canal path. Sereyna followed. Vaerynna slithered unseen beside them.
The city paused again as they passed — the way a forest quiets when a predator moves.
Sereyna finally asked, "Where next?"
Kaine answered without breaking stride.
"East," he said. "We visit the Smoking Sea."
She swallowed. "Valyria?"
He glanced at her — a calm, steady look that held no danger, only certainty.
"It will not harm us now," he said. "The land is stabilizing. It calls."
Sereyna frowned. "And what exactly calls to you?"
Kaine stepped onto the bridge leading out of the plaza.
"Opportunity."
Vaerynna nudged Sereyna's thoughts gently.
"And secrets."
Sereyna shivered despite the warm air.
Kaine's voice drifted back to both of them as he walked forward:
"And the first stones of a new beginning."
Sereyna hesitated, then followed.
Vaerynna's laughter echoed softly:
"Come, little wolf. A new chapter always starts in ruins."
And Volantis — a city of fire, politics, slavery, and ancient grudges — watched the three of them leave, unaware that the world had already begun to shift beneath their feet.