The sound of metal clashing grew louder outside the tent.
Shouts.
Footsteps.
The low hum of defensive barriers activating.
Aeryn tried to sit up again—stupid, reckless—but instinct overrode pain. The moment he lifted his torso, a sharp stab tore through his ribs, forcing him to collapse back onto the bedroll.
"Tch… damn it…"
His fingers curled tightly around the blanket.
The horn blast wasn't for something minor. That deep resonance meant one thing:
A threat strong enough to endanger the entire expedition base.
The air inside the tent vibrated faintly, a subtle tremor only he could feel.
It wasn't from the commotion outside.
It was coming from inside him.
That faint ember in his core pulsed harder, hotter, reacting to whatever was approaching.
Aeryn gritted his teeth.
"What the hell are you…?"
But the ember didn't answer. It beat like a heart that wasn't his, responding to something out there. Something calling it back.
The tent flap suddenly flew open.
A figure staggered inside—
a mage, robes torn, face pale.
"You—Aeryn—!" he gasped. "They're calling for you!"
Aeryn blinked. "What? Who—"
Before he could finish, the mage collapsed to one knee, trembling.
"It's the Commander—he said your presence is needed immediately! Something is—something is coming straight toward the camp!"
Aeryn felt the ember in his chest throb violently.
Kaela, Lyria, Elara—they were out there. Facing whatever this was.
Aeryn tried to push himself upright again. The mage panicked.
"N-No! You can't move—your condition—"
"I don't care," Aeryn growled. "Where are they?"
The mage swallowed hard.
"Southern perimeter—something tore through our outer wards in seconds."
Aeryn's eyes widened.
Seconds.
Not minutes.
Not moments.
Seconds.
That meant whatever was coming was fast—fast enough to tear down layers of runes designed to stop high-tier monsters.
Aeryn's breathing grew colder, sharper. He looked down at his bandaged torso, feeling the fire simmering beneath his skin.
He couldn't stay here.
He wouldn't.
He braced his palms against the ground.
The pain was white-hot lightning—but he forced himself up. His legs trembled. Sweat dampened his forehead instantly.
The mage looked horrified.
"You'll die if you push your core any further! You can barely stand!"
Aeryn's voice was steady.
"I don't care if I crawl. I'm going."
He shoved past the mage.
And stepped outside.
---
The wind hit him immediately—cold and sharp, carrying the lingering scent of corrupted mana. The skies overhead had darkened unnaturally, thick clouds swirling like they were afraid of whatever approached.
The camp was chaos.
Soldiers sprinted across the grounds.
Healers rushed wounded mages to the infirmary.
Arcane lanterns flickered violently, reacting to an overwhelming presence in the distance.
And at the southern perimeter—
A wall of pure black mist rose like a tidal wave.
Aeryn froze.
That mist…
That was the same corruption that surrounded the Leviathan.
But thicker.
Denser.
Alive.
A slow dread crept through him.
This wasn't just corruption.
This was an entity.
Something ancient.
Something intelligent.
Something that had been watching him.
Aeryn forced himself forward, legs barely supporting him. Every step felt like walking through heavy mud.
Halfway there, someone grabbed his arm.
"AERYN—ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"
Kaela.
She looked furious, terrified, and breathless all at once. Her hair was wind-swept, her armor scratched, her hands glowing with unstable mana.
"You can barely stand!" she shouted. "Why would you—look at yourself!"
Aeryn's breathing was ragged.
But his voice was steady.
"I felt it. I had to come."
Kaela stared at him in disbelief.
"Felt it—Aeryn, listen to yourself! You're reacting to that thing. You don't even know what it is!"
Lyria rushed in behind Kaela, panting hard.
"Aeryn—holy—are you actually standing—?! Kaela, he looks like he's about to pass out!"
Elara joined them last, bow in hand, eyes fixed on the black mist.
"He should not be here," Elara said firmly. "His core—"
"I'm fine," Aeryn insisted.
Lyria jabbed a finger at his face.
"No, you're NOT fine! You look like a cooked shrimp!"
Aeryn tried to speak, but then—
A chilling howl echoed from the mist.
Not animal.
Not monstrous.
Something between a voice and a scream.
The ground shook.
Mana rippled violently.
Several soldiers stumbled back in terror.
A figure emerged from the mist.
At first, it was just a silhouette.
Humanoid.
Tall.
Thin.
But the closer it stepped, the more wrong it appeared.
Its movements didn't follow normal anatomy—its joints bent at angles no body should bend, its shadow stretching a heartbeat too late behind it.
Its skin—if it could even be called that—was stone-grey, cracked like burnt clay.
Its face had no features.
Just a smooth, empty surface.
Except—
At its center.
Where a mouth should have been.
A glowing crimson fissure.
Kaela's breath caught.
"…What is that?"
Elara's voice was quiet, tight.
"An Echo."
Aeryn turned.
"An… Echo?"
Elara nodded grimly.
"A remnant of something ancient. Something tied to forgotten magic. They mimic the presence of whatever entity created them. They often appear near corrupted lands."
Lyria gulped.
"In other words… bad."
The Echo tilted its head.
Then—
It spoke.
But not with sound.
With resonance.
Aeryn stumbled as the world around him vibrated. A voice echoed inside his skull—deep, layered, impossible.
—You have awakened.
Aeryn froze.
The Echo stepped closer.
The air around it warped, reality bending like heat distortion.
Kaela raised her staff.
Elara nocked an arrow.
Lyria unsheathed her dagger.
But the Echo ignored all of them.
Its featureless face turned directly toward Aeryn.
—The fragment calls.
—The vessel responds.
—The path opens.
Aeryn's heart slammed against his ribs.
"What are you talking about?!"
Kaela stepped in front of him defensively.
"Don't talk to it! We don't know what it can do!"
The Echo tilted its head again, as if curious.
—The Vessel is damaged.
—The Core fractures.
—Yet the flame endures.
Aeryn clenched his fists.
"Why are you calling me a vessel?"
The fissure-mouth cracked wider.
Like a grotesque smile.
—Because you carry a shard of the Eternal Ember.
Aeryn froze.
Kaela's eyes widened.
Elara inhaled sharply.
Lyria mouthed, "Eternal what—?"
Aeryn's chest burned—literally—heat blooming inward like molten metal.
The Echo took another step.
—It has begun to wake.
—And it calls you to return.
Aeryn's voice shook for the first time.
"…Return where?"
The Echo raised a long, cracked hand and pointed toward the far horizon—beyond the fractured lands, beyond the mountains.
—To the origin.
—To the fallen star.
—To the slumbering flame that once reshaped the world.
Aeryn swallowed hard.
"You're saying… that fire inside me… came from something out there?"
—Not something.
—Someone.
Aeryn's blood ran cold.
Kaela stepped closer to him, whispering urgently.
"Aeryn… we need to fall back. Now."
But the Echo wasn't finished.
—He searches for you.
—The one who bears his fragment.
—The one who will either reignite his flame… or extinguish it forever.
Aeryn's breath stuttered.
"Who…?"
The Echo's fissure twisted into a larger crack, glowing like molten light.
—The Eternal Ember King.
The moment those words left its nonexistent mouth—
The air exploded.
A shockwave tore outward, blowing Aeryn back. Kaela grabbed him before he hit the ground, shielding him with her body as dust and arcane residue blasted across the field.
Soldiers were thrown into the dirt.
Lanterns shattered.
The mist trembled violently.
When the dust settled—
The Echo was gone.
Not destroyed.
Not dead.
Just vanished.
Leaving only a pulsing red mark scorched into the earth.
---
Silence suffocated the camp.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Aeryn lay trembling in Kaela's arms, his entire body drenched in cold sweat. The ember in his chest didn't feel faint anymore.
It felt awake.
Alert.
Aware.
Lyria broke the silence, her voice cracking.
"A… Aeryn… what does that mean?"
Aeryn stared at the scorched ground where the Echo had stood.
"I don't know."
Elara kneeled beside him, eyes sharp but full of concern.
"But one thing is certain," she said quietly.
"You are not just a mage with unusual talent. There is something ancient inside you. Something that is not fully your own."
Aeryn swallowed hard.
Kaela placed a hand on his cheek, forcing him to meet her eyes.
"Aeryn. Look at me."
He did.
"You're not alone. Whatever this 'Eternal Ember King' is, whatever this awakening means—"
Her voice softened but stayed firm.
"—we will face it together."
Lyria nodded fiercely.
"And if some ancient fire king wants to use you as a vessel, I'll stab him in the kneecaps."
Elara blinked.
"That… is unlikely to harm him."
"Then I'll stab him twice!"
Kaela exhaled sharply.
"We'll make a proper plan. But first—Aeryn."
Her hand squeezed his.
"You need to rest. Really rest."
Aeryn looked at all three of them.
And for the first time since the Leviathan—
the fire inside him calmed.
Only a little.
But enough.
"…Okay," he whispered.
Kaela smiled softly.
But in the distance—
beyond the fractured lands—
a faint, crimson pillar of light blinked against the clouds.
A pulse.
A beacon.
A call.
And deep inside Aeryn's core—
the ember whispered back.