The Ash Corridor stretched endlessly, each chamber a silent monument to destruction.
Lian walked slowly, eyes drawn to the scorch marks burned deep into the walls.
Some patterns curved like spirals—controlled energy.
Others were wild, chaotic, violent.
Raine followed behind him, quiet and tense.
He stopped at one chamber where the glass had shattered inward, melted at the edges.
"What happened here?" Lian asked.
Raine didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she walked up beside him and touched the ruined frame.
"This one," she said softly,
"was the last Ember Heir before you."
Lian's chest tightened.
"Who was he?" he whispered.
"A boy named Arden. Fifteen."
She paused.
"Same age you were when your father pulled you out of the Order."
Lian stiffened.
"My father was part of this?"
"He wasn't just part of it," Raine said.
"He helped design the training protocols. The combat simulations. The containment chambers."
She turned her head slightly.
"He was the Order's leading Ember scientist."
Lian felt the hallway tilt.
His breath shook.
"No… no, he wouldn't—"
"Lian—"
"He wouldn't let kids be used as—" He choked on the word. "Weapons."
Raine's voice softened.
"He didn't know the Order's full plan. Not at first."
She looked at the chambers.
"By the time he realized what they were doing with the Ember children… it was too late."
The Father's Choice
Raine walked further down the corridor.
"He did the only thing he could."
She glanced back at Lian.
"He saved you."
Lian stared at her, stunned.
"Saved me from what?"
Raine took a slow breath, as if choosing the least damaging truth.
"The Ember Heirs weren't dying from battle."
She tapped the scorched walls.
"They were dying because the ember inside them was growing faster than their bodies could handle."
Lian's blood went cold.
"They… burned from the inside?"
"Some."
She pointed at a melted chamber.
"Some lost control and exploded."
Her voice dropped.
"And some simply… vanished. Consumed by their own power."
Lian staggered back a step.
His throat felt tight.
"And you're telling me I'm next?"
Raine grabbed his shoulders—firm, grounding.
"No."
She held his gaze.
"Because your father changed something."
Her eyes softened.
"He altered your ember when you were a baby. Slowed it. Stabilized it."
"I don't understand…"
"You don't need to. Not yet."
Her grip loosened.
"But trust this: you are not like the others. You were designed to survive your ember."
Designed.
The word hit him like a blade.
The Echo
A low hum rose in the hall.
Lights flickered—
once, twice—
then a short burst of symbols flashed across the nearest control screen.
Lian stepped closer.
The symbols weren't random.
They formed a message.
A message addressed to him.
LIAN—IF YOU'RE READING THIS, THEY FOUND YOU.
THE EMBER WILL AWAKEN FASTER NOW.
YOU MUST REACH THE CORE.
—FATHER
Lian's heart pounded.
Raine froze beside him.
"That wasn't there before," she whispered.
More text appeared.
THE OTHERS DIED BECAUSE THEY WERE NEVER COMPLETE.
YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO IS.
The screen shut off.
The corridor plunged back into cold silence.
Lian stared at the dark monitor, hands trembling.
"Complete…?" he muttered.
"What does that mean?"
Raine turned toward him.
But before she could answer—
The Breach
The entire hallway shook.
Sirens blared.
Red emergency lights strobed violently.
A mechanical voice boomed overhead:
ALERT: MAIN DOOR BREACHED.
ASH HUNTERS DEPLOYED.
CLASS-OMEGA UNIT ACTIVATED.
Raine's face went pale.
"No… not an Omega unit."
She grabbed Lian's arm.
"We have to move. Now!"
"What's an Omega unit?" Lian shouted as she pulled him into a sprint.
"A hunter designed for one purpose—"
Her jaw clenched.
"—to kill an Ember Heir who's getting too strong."
Lian stumbled.
"It's coming for me?"
"No."
Raine drew both blades, breath sharp.
"It's coming for both of us."
Behind them, the corridor doors blew open in a burst of sparks—
And a towering silhouette stepped through the smoke.
Its eyes glowed molten gold.
Its armor pulsed with ember energy far stronger than Lian's.
And its voice—deep, distorted, almost human—rumbled:
EMBER HEIR LOCATED.
CUSTODIAN SOLIS—TERMINATION ORDER CONFIRMED.
Raine whispered,
"…They sent him."
Lian turned.
"Who is that?!"
The Omega unit stepped fully into the light—
A massive armored figure with ember veins glowing beneath metal plates.
And on its shoulder, etched in worn lettering, was a name.
ARDEN.
The last Ember Heir.
No longer dead.
No longer human.
Now a weapon.