Aeryn didn't remember falling asleep.
One moment Kaela was helping him back to the healer's tent, her arm steady around his waist, Lyria muttering curses under her breath at every soldier who stared too long, and Elara walking close—too quiet, too alert. The next moment, darkness swallowed everything.
But it wasn't the quiet, resting kind of darkness.
It was alive.
The world around him dissolved into an endless void, stretching outward in all directions. There was no ground beneath his feet, yet he wasn't falling. There was no sky above, yet something pressed down from above like an invisible weight.
Aeryn exhaled slowly.
Another vision?
Or something deeper?
A sound echoed through the emptiness.
A faint hum.
Then—
A spark flickered in front of him.
Small at first.
A tiny ember floating in the dark.
Aeryn felt the same heat he'd felt when facing the Echo—radiant, ancient, terrifying in its familiarity.
The ember pulsed.
Then it spoke.
Not with words.
With impressions—thoughts sliding into his mind like oil spreading across water.
—Why do you hesitate, child of the vessel?
Aeryn stiffened.
"…Who are you?"
The ember pulsed again.
—Incomplete. Fragmented. Sleeping.
—But you… you have stirred the remnants of my flame.
Aeryn narrowed his eyes.
"So you're the Eternal Ember King?"
The darkness shuddered.
The ember flared in irritation.
—A title forged by mortals who feared me.
—Names are cages. Binding. Limiting.
—I am what burns. What devours. What remembers the beginning of all things.
Aeryn's breath hitched.
"And you're inside me."
—A shard. A splinter. A wound.
—One I did not choose… yet one that now binds us.
That made Aeryn instinctively take a step back.
But the ember simply drifted closer, like a tiny sun orbiting him.
—Do not fear me, vessel.
—Fear the world that will come for you once they realize what you carry.
Aeryn's chest tightened.
"So the Echo… it wasn't lying."
—Echoes do not lie. They repeat truth in forms mortals can understand.
Aeryn's pulse quickened.
"What do you want from me?"
Silence stretched.
The ember dimmed.
Then it flickered brighter than before.
—Awaken.
Aeryn blinked. "Awaken… what? The shard?"
—Yourself.
—You grasp power like a man afraid of drowning. Hesitant. Controlled. Fragile.
—But power does not respond to caution. It answers will.
The darkness around Aeryn trembled again. A faint heat rose through the void like unseen smoke.
The ember floated right in front of him.
—Your heart holds a flame that should not exist in this era.
—If you do not claim it… others will force it from you.
Aeryn clenched his jaw.
His hands balled into fists.
He remembered the Echo's words.
He remembered the shockwave.
The crimson fissure.
The way reality bent around it.
Someone was searching for him.
"Then tell me how to use it," Aeryn said quietly. "Tell me how to control this."
The ember pulsed.
—Control comes after acceptance.
—And acceptance begins… with truth.
Aeryn's breath stuttered.
"What truth?"
The ember dimmed until it was no more than a dying coal.
—You are not the first vessel.
Aeryn froze.
His heart hammered.
"…What?"
—Others came before you.
—Some sought to wield the flame. Others to destroy it.
—All were consumed.
Aeryn's stomach dropped.
His fingers trembled.
"Then am I… next?"
—That depends.
—Will you burn yourself… or the world?
The void swallowed everything.
And Aeryn woke up.
---
His eyes snapped open.
He was back in the healer's tent, breaths shaky, heart pounding hard enough to hurt. The ambient glow of the mana lamps cast a dim blue hue across the canvas walls.
The air still smelled faintly of herbs and spell residue.
Aeryn dragged a hand over his face, struggling to steady his breathing.
That… wasn't a dream.
Not hallucination.
Not the system.
It was the shard inside him.
The Eternal Ember King—or whatever that entity was—had spoken to him. Communicated directly.
Aeryn swallowed hard.
You are not the first vessel.
That line echoed like a curse through his skull.
How many had failed?
How many had been consumed?
And why was he chosen at all?
He pushed himself upright slowly—this time without collapsing. The pain was still there, but it wasn't stabbing anymore. It felt dull, heavy, like bruised mana rather than ruptured core.
Better than before.
Much better.
Before he could stand, the tent flap lifted.
Kaela walked in, arms full of scrolls and talismans. When she saw him sitting upright, she froze.
"Aeryn… you're awake." Her voice softened. "And you're… sitting. That's good."
Aeryn tried to smile.
"Better than before, at least."
Kaela set the scrolls aside and came closer. She knelt in front of him, studying his face with gentle but searching eyes.
"You look like you've seen something."
Aeryn hesitated.
Kaela's voice dropped.
"Aeryn… was it another vision?"
He inhaled sharply.
He wanted to lie—just for a moment—to keep her from worrying.
But she saw straight through him.
"Yes," he whispered.
Kaela placed a hand on his knee.
"Tell me."
Aeryn met her gaze.
"The ember inside me… it spoke to me."
Kaela's lips parted slightly.
"It talked to you?"
He nodded.
"It said I'm a vessel. A fragment of something ancient. And… that I'm not the first one."
Kaela's expression twisted in fear and frustration.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" she whispered.
Aeryn forced a breath.
"Because I didn't want to worry you."
Kaela stared at him, then exhaled sharply.
"You idiot… you worrying me by not telling me anything."
Her hand slid up to cup his cheek.
"You don't have to carry things alone. Not anymore."
Aeryn felt a tightness in his chest—not the ember, but something entirely human. He placed his hand over hers.
"…Thank you."
The tent flap rustled again.
Lyria poked her head inside.
"Oho? Am I interrupting something tender?"
Kaela threw a nearby talisman at her.
"Get in here or get out!"
Lyria dodged effortlessly and entered, followed by Elara.
Elara assessed Aeryn silently, then gave a small nod.
"You're recovering well," she said. "Good."
Lyria flopped down next to the bedroll.
"Elara and I have been standing guard all night because SOMEONE decided to nearly die again."
Aeryn blinked.
"All night?"
Elara nodded.
"You were in a deep mana-restorative sleep. It lasted nearly eight hours."
Aeryn frowned.
"That long…?"
Kaela crossed her arms.
"You needed it. Don't argue."
Lyria jabbed a thumb toward the tent entrance.
"Anyway, while you were knocked out, the Commander called a meeting. The Echo triggered a lockdown. No one leaves the camp until they assess the threat."
Aeryn's jaw clenched.
"And the crimson light on the horizon?"
Elara nodded.
"It hasn't disappeared. If anything… it's pulsing more frequently now."
A shiver crawled down Aeryn's spine.
The ember was responding to it.
And the crimson beacon was responding back.
Lyria narrowed her eyes.
"Aeryn… did the thing inside you say anything about that light?"
Aeryn hesitated.
Kaela tensed.
"Aeryn."
"…It said I need to go there."
Silence.
Elara's expression hardened.
"Then it is a trap."
Lyria crossed her arms.
"Of course it's a trap! Ancient fire king entity calls his 'vessel' to a creepy crimson lighthouse—yes, totally safe."
Kaela shook her head, fierce.
"No. Aeryn's not going anywhere near that place."
Aeryn sighed.
"I figured you'd say that."
Kaela stepped closer, voice trembling with emotion.
"I almost lost you to the Leviathan. Then to that Echo. I'm not letting you walk toward something specifically calling for you."
Lyria nodded.
"And for once, I agree with Kaela. Don't go."
Elara didn't speak immediately.
Her gaze stayed on Aeryn.
He noticed the way her pupils narrowed, just slightly, a sign she was reading mana currents.
Finally, she spoke.
"Aeryn will have to go eventually."
Kaela spun toward her in outrage.
"Elara!"
Elara held up a hand.
"I am not saying he should go now. I am saying this beacon is not random. It is connected to the shard inside him. Ignoring it won't stop the entity searching for him."
Aeryn swallowed hard.
Kaela covered her face, exhaling shakily.
"…I hate this."
Lyria rubbed her forehead.
"Same."
Aeryn looked at all three of them—women who had stood beside him from the moment he left the capital, who had risked their lives for him, who continued to trust him even as he grew stranger by the day.
"I'm not running toward danger," Aeryn said softly. "But I'm not running from answers either."
Kaela closed her eyes.
"That's what scares me," she whispered.
Aeryn reached out and took her hand.
"I won't leave alone."
Kaela looked up.
"You promise?"
Aeryn nodded.
"I promise. When the time comes… we go together."
Silence settled.
Lyria let out a slow breath.
"Well… if we're all dying together someday, then I vote we get better weapons first."
Elara nodded.
"And formation training. And research on Echoes."
Kaela wiped her eyes and glared weakly at both of them.
"You two are unbelievable."
But Aeryn saw the relief in her expression.
For now, they were united.
For now, the world was quiet.
For now.
A loud horn suddenly roared outside.
Not alarm.
Not warning.
Summoning.
Kaela stiffened.
"That's the Commander."
Elara straightened.
"They're calling all high-tier mages."
Lyria stood and reached for her daggers.
"That includes us."
Aeryn pulled the blanket aside.
"I'm coming too."
Kaela shot him a deadly glare.
"No. You—"
Aeryn stood.
Without wobbling.
Without collapsing.
His eyes glowed faintly—just for a moment—embers burning deep within.
Kaela's breath caught.
"…You're stable."
Aeryn nodded.
"Let's go."
And as they stepped out of the tent—
The sky above the camp cracked with a bolt of crimson lightning.
The beacon had awakened.
And it was no longer calling.
It was summoning.