Kai had never run so fast.
Snow whipped against his face as he sprinted down the rocky path, Lira pulling him forward whenever his legs faltered. Behind them, the Northern Ridge shook under another distant boom—like a heartbeat growing louder and angrier.
The sky pulsed red.
Ignovar was waking.
Lira didn't look back. "Kai, focus on moving! Don't think—just run!"
Kai tried, but the pounding in his chest wasn't just fear. It was something else—something alive—thrashing, clawing, reacting to the Warden's awakening.
Something inside me is responding to him.
Why?
He stumbled. Lira caught him by the arm before he hit the ground.
"You okay?"
Kai swallowed hard. "I… I feel sick. Like something's pulling at me."
"It's the Warden's gaze," Lira said through gritted teeth. "Even half-awake, he's searching for you."
Snow burst around them as another tremor hit. The mountain groaned like a creature in pain.
Lira tightened her grip. "Don't let him find you before we reach shelter. Just a little farther!"
They descended into the lower woods—pine trees bending under heavy frost. Kai's breaths turned into fog. His heart hammered so violently he felt it in his teeth.
A whisper curled through his mind.
Not from the Seer.
Not from Lira.
From deeper inside him.
Do not run.
Kai's foot caught on a root. He nearly collapsed again.
Lira yanked him upright. "Kai! Hey—look at me!"
He forced his eyes open.
Lira's face was inches from his—fierce, determined, refusing to let him fade.
"You're still here," she said firmly. "Not him. Not the Seventh. Not whatever force is screaming inside you. You. Are. Here."
Kai nodded shakily, grounding himself in her voice.
The whisper faded.
But the mountain didn't stop shaking.
By the time they reached the tree line, exhaustion burned in Kai's lungs. Lira guided him beneath a ridge overhang as the sky flashed again—brighter this time, like a flare of molten light tearing through the clouds.
Kai pressed his back against the stone wall. "Lira… how strong is Ignovar?"
She exhaled slowly, her breath visible in the cold.
"People call the Wardens myths because no one has seen them in our era. But the ancient texts say Ignovar was… unstoppable."
Kai felt his stomach twist. "Unstoppable how?"
Lira's eyes shifted toward the glowing horizon.
"He is said to be the embodiment of Fire's original nature. Rage. Judgment. Renewal by annihilation."
Kai swallowed. "Meaning?"
"Meaning if he decides you shouldn't exist, nothing in this world can protect you."
A heavy silence fell.
Kai's heartbeat thudded louder—not from fear of the Warden, but from the truth slowly forming in his mind.
"What if he's right about me?"
Lira snapped her attention toward him. "Don't say that."
"I mean it. The Seer said the Seventh isn't meant to exist. The world created the Wardens to correct imbalances. And whatever this power is inside me… the world obviously thinks I'm an imbalance—"
Lira grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him closer.
"Listen to me. You protected people with that power. You didn't destroy anything. And you didn't ask for it."
Kai's breath trembled. "But that doesn't change what I am."
"No," she said, eyes burning with intensity. "It changes everything. Because you're choosing who you are."
She released him, stepping back.
"But you won't get a chance to prove it if the Warden reaches you before we learn to hide your energy."
Kai nodded, resolving himself.
"Then we go to the Whispering Monastery."
Lira stood, eyes sharp. "It's two days on foot from here. The Seer said we need to stay ahead of his focus."
Kai took a steadying breath and pushed himself up.
"All right. Let's move."
They traveled cautiously through the forest, keeping to shadows where the red sky dimmed. Kai tried to ignore the pounding in his chest—tried to ignore the strange, heavy warmth building under his ribs.
But he could feel it.
Ignovar's awareness growing.
Like a burning spotlight sweeping across the world… searching.
At one point, Kai froze mid-step.
Lira whipped around. "Kai?"
"I think… he's looking this way."
Lira's expression hardened. "Move. Now."
They ran again.
Hours blurred by in a haze of frost and fear. Darkness began to gather beneath the trees.
Kai kept pace for as long as he could—until suddenly, the pressure inside him spiked violently.
Thump.
Kai stumbled, clutching his chest.
Lira immediately caught him. "Kai! What is it?"
His voice cracked. "Something—something's pulling at me—!"
The air around them warped.
Heat washed over the forest.
The snow at their feet hissed and melted.
Lira's eyes widened in horror.
"…No," she whispered. "He's too close—"
A pillar of crimson light erupted in the distant sky like a volcanic eruption punching through the clouds.
The atmosphere itself ignited with fiery veins.
The trees bent under the sheer force of heat.
Kai fell to his knees as the Seventh Path howled inside his soul.
The world shook.
And then—
A voice rolled across the mountains.
Deep. Ancient. Unstoppable.
"Vessel."
The sound alone nearly broke Kai's mind.
Lira grabbed him, holding him as he trembled violently.
"He's awake," she breathed. "Ignovar is fully awake."
The crimson pillar shifted—almost like a head turning.
Searching.
Hunting.
The Warden of Fire had opened his eyes.
And Kai knew, with chilling certainty—
He was the first thing the Warden saw.