They came just past noon, riding wind-walkers draped in crimson cloth.
Five disciples—cloaked in the banners of the Crimson Echo Sect—arrived at the Hollow's ruined gate as if summoned by pride itself.
Their leader stepped forward, a youth of perhaps twenty, hair slicked back in oil and silverthread, with a saber that hummed with heat but no soul. His aura was bright—burned hot—but shallow, like a lantern polished to hide the cracks.
He smiled as Kaien approached the gate alone.
"Is this the Ashen Hollow, or what's left of it?"
Kaien gave no answer.
"You're not even cloaked. No banners. No crest. Is this a sect or a campfire?"
"You didn't come for our name," Kaien replied calmly. "You came because you smelled strength."
The young man's grin twitched. "I'm called Eiran Vell, Third Disciple of Crimson Echo. You've taken a land once held by the Pyrepath Branch—dissolved, yes, but still sacred ground. I've come to reclaim it in their honor."
"There is no Pyrepath left."
"Exactly." Eiran stepped forward. "And ruins shouldn't house wild flames. I'll be generous. Kneel. Douse your fire. Join us. I'll speak on your behalf to my elders. Maybe you'll keep your name."
Kaien looked past him.
Behind the five intruders stood a sixth—hooded, quiet, older. Not watching Kaien, but watching the Hollow itself. The earth. The stones. The beasts.
Kaien met Eiran's eyes.
Then he turned back into the Hollow.
"If you wish to take it, you'll have to prove you can burn brighter."
They answered before dusk.
The challenge was made beneath the brazier flame: a formal trial of flame, as per ancient sect law.
Each sect would offer a disciple. The duel would be elemental—no weapons, no beast summons. Only inner flame. Control, not slaughter.
Seren volunteered before Kaien could speak.
"He insulted the Hollow," she said. "I won't let him do it again."
Her opponent was the Second Disciple of Crimson Echo, a girl named Kaera Lin, whose flame was blood-red and serpentine, her Qi roiling with aggression.
They met in the ring of scorched ash.
The Hollow watched.
At first, Kaera struck fast—flame shaped like blades, serrated and biting. Seren danced between them, her own fire weaving like mist, confusing the eye, drawing each strike wide.
"Illusion tricks won't help you," Kaera spat.
"They're not tricks," Seren replied, and disappeared in a burst of dreamfire.
Kaera blinked—then screamed as a ring of petals ignited around her, slashing without touch, cutting without flame.
Kaien's eyes narrowed.
"Dreamfire. She's evolving faster than I thought."
Kaera collapsed just outside the ring.
Her robes burned, her pride seared.
The Crimson Echo stood in silence.
Eiran's smile had vanished.
"You've insulted us."
"You issued the trial," Kaien replied. "You lost. Now leave."
The older man behind Eiran finally spoke.
Voice rough. Slow.
"This land holds something more than stone."
Kaien turned to face him.
"I remember this ground," the man continued. "Ashen Hollow once stood as an outpost of the Monarch's flame—before the Reckoning burned his name from the world."
"You've rebuilt it. Or rather, it has rebuilt itself around you."
Kaien said nothing.
The man's eyes narrowed.
"What are you, stranger?"
Kaien looked past him—to his disciples.
To Seren, standing with pride, her beast flickering behind her like a dream of vengeance.
To Rin, silent at the edge of the formation, hand resting on the shadows beside him.
To Nyru, curled by the flame, head low and growling.
He turned back to the elder.
"I am the one who answered when this fire called."
"I am the Ashbearer."
"If that draws envy, let it come with open flame."
The Crimson Echo left in silence.
Their banners flickered behind them like retreating smoke.
But the message was clear.
The Hollow was no longer hidden.
And Kaien's name—though not yet known—had begun to move.
That night, Kaien stood alone before the brazier.
The flame reflected a face again—not just his own.
But layered, shadowed.
The Ashen Monarch stared back.
This time, he did not raise a blade.
This time, he knelt.
And whispered:
"I am what the world cast away."
Kaien stared at him.
Then whispered back:
"Then I will be what rises in its place."
Far beneath the Hollow, in a chamber long sealed, a second brazier stirred.
Its flame was black.
Its song was beginning.