Kael sat at the edge of a fractured stone.
His hands were still trembling from the battle. Or maybe from the vision. He couldn't tell.
The System's voice was silent now, but its presence lingered—like breath on the back of his neck. Not threatening. Just… there.
Alive, somehow.
But not human.
He stared at the glowing glyphs that had faded from his arm, now just faint scars of heat beneath the skin. "System," he muttered aloud, the word foreign on his tongue. "What… are you?"
Silence.
Then, not a voice—but a pulse.
A soft hum, deep in his skull. The same rhythm as his heartbeat. The same pressure he'd felt when the name "Kael" was first spoken into his bones.
He looked around. No wires. No magic circle. Nothing to explain how something could be inside him and yet… other. It hadn't asked for permission. It hadn't introduced itself like a companion. It simply was—as if it had always been waiting.
"Are you alive?" he asked. "Or just code?"
> **Query unclear. System integrity linked to user. Purpose: preservation and restoration.**
Preservation. Restoration.
So it wanted him alive. Maybe even whole.
Kael exhaled sharply, rubbing his temples. "I don't understand you," he whispered. "I don't even understand me"
> **Understanding not required. Only choice. Proceed, or remain.**
He let the words settle.
In a way, the System was right. He didn't need answers yet. He needed movement. Direction. Survival.
And if something—anything—was willing to guide him through this burned-out world of memory ghosts and smoldering gods…
Maybe that was enough. For now.
Kael stood again. "Alright," he murmured. "I'll follow. But I don't trust you."
A pause.
> **Acknowledged. Trust is earned.**
Kael almost smiled.
Almost.
Then he turned toward the south ridge, fire simmering in his veins, and walked into the ash-swept wind.
The path down the Ashspine twisted like a scar through the blackened wilds.
Kael moved in silence, one hand brushing stone as he walked. The air grew heavier with each step—hotter, too, though the wind was cold. Ash clung to the hollows of trees and the ribs of long-dead beasts. Everything smelled like memory.
Not his memory. But someone's.
[Ember Sync: 6%]You are approaching a fragment site. Caution: Echo activity detected.
Kael paused.
The trees around him were wrong—frozen mid-burn, limbs twisted upward as if begging the sky to undo what had already been done. He recognized nothing. And yet, something in his chest tightened.
It wasn't fear.
It was grief.
Not present. Old. So old it pulsed like a second heartbeat.
He stepped over a ridge of shattered armor, half-buried in soot. A sword jutted from the ground, melted into slag, its hilt still clenched by a skeletal hand. Beyond it, charred banners flapped faintly in a heatless breeze. The sigil was long lost. Just black cloth now.
Kael whispered to himself, "…What happened here?"
[Fragment site located.]Codename: Grave of the First Flame Status: Locked. Memory integrity unstable. Initiating recall sequence…
The world around him blurred.
Not fully—but just enough.
Light dimmed. Sound warped. And Kael found himself no longer standing in the ruins, but watching them.
The battlefield was whole again. Voices echoed. Thousands of soldiers roared beneath crimson skies. A boy stood at the center, barely older than Kael himself, clad in armor far too heavy for his frame. He raised a sword toward the heavens as fire blazed across the valley.
And then—
Betrayal.
The boy turned. His eyes widened.
A man stepped from the ranks. Familiar. Regal. Cold.
A father.
He drove a blade through the boy's chest.
And the fire screamed.
Kael stumbled back as the vision shattered. He clutched his ribs, breath ragged. The name didn't come, but the pain did.
[Memory Shard Acquired: Elijah the Oathbound][Ember Sync: 12%]Combat Protocols: Unlocked.New Ability Unlocked – Flame Reave (Lv. 1): Channel a burst of grief-infused fire to cleave enemies in a forward arc. Cooldown: 15s.
Kael blinked hard. Sweat dripped from his brow.
"Elijah," he murmured, the name like a half-forgotten prayer.
Then, shadows stirred.
Figures began to crawl from the edge of the trees. Not alive. Not fully dead. Echoes—burned-out husks of what once were soldiers. Their forms glitched between past and present, armor cracked and eyes hollow.
Hostile echoes detected. Initiate engagement?
Kael's fingers ignited instinctively. Fire curled up his arms in spirals of heat and hunger.
He didn't answer. He moved.
The first swing of Flame Reave tore through the closest two, cleaving ash from bone. A third lunged—only to be engulfed in a flash of crimson light as Kael spun, flames bursting from his heel.
He wasn't fast. Not yet.
But the fire knew. And it carried him.
When the last echo fell, Kael collapsed to one knee, panting.
The System chimed again, calm as ever.
Combat efficiency: 63%. Ember Sync stable. New objective: Proceed to Echo Vault – South Ridge.Warning: Emotional integrity unsteady. Recommend rest.
Kael ignored the prompt.
He stared at the scorched ground where the vision had bloomed. The memory of a boy who believed in something. In someone. And died for it.
And though Kael didn't know him…
He mourned him.
Just a little.
Then, he rose.
And walked deeper into the ash.