The sky above the Shattered Isles trembled.
Winds howled unnaturally, twisting around themselves in spirals of chaos. The red star that had haunted the skies was gone—but in its place now roiled a cyclone of pure shadow. Lightning flickered within it, not white or blue, but violet-black, a color that didn't belong in the natural world.
On the deck of the Silvergale, the crew scrambled to secure lines and stabilize the ship. The air grew heavy, pressing down like the judgment of an unseen god.
"She's here," Lira whispered, her voice tight with dread.
Taron's hands shook as he held his staff. "One of the Whisper Sisters. I thought… I thought they were myths."
"No," Kael growled, stepping up beside them. His hand rested on the hilt of his blade, the mark of the Flameborn glowing faintly on his chest. "They're very real. And one of them is descending right now."
From the heart of the storm, she appeared.
A towering figure cloaked in veils of shadow and silence. Her face was hidden beneath a cracked porcelain mask, and her limbs seemed to shift between forms—first human, then birdlike, then something far less recognizable.
> "You carry his flame," she whispered, though her voice echoed in their minds more than in their ears.
"You seek to reawaken the Dreaming Flame. You dare."
The crew of the Silvergale dropped to their knees, their ears bleeding from the psychic pressure of her words. Birds fell dead from the sky. The sea below churned, rising into whirlpools.
Kael stood his ground, sword drawn.
"We don't fear you."
The Whisper Sister tilted her head. "Then you are fools."
---
A Battle Beyond Mortal Understanding
The storm descended directly atop the largest of the Shattered Isles, collapsing trees and temples alike. The Whisper Sister extended a hand—and the land responded, splitting open into chasms of abyssal fire.
Lira raised the Ember Crown, her eyes blazing.
Two shards now pulsed within her, and when she spoke, her voice sounded layered with a deeper resonance.
> "I name you by the forgotten syllables, child of the First Discord. You will not pass."
The Whisper Sister's mask cracked. A scream echoed out—so high-pitched, it shattered the sails of the Silvergale and sent the crew scrambling for cover.
Kael rushed forward, sword ignited with flame. He struck at her shadowy form—but his blade passed through nothing.
"Damn it!" he shouted. "She's not fully here—she's part illusion."
Taron focused, summoning a storm of arcane symbols into the sky.
"She's an echo. But echoes can be anchored. I need time!"
"Then buy him time!" Lira shouted.
Kael nodded. "With pleasure."
He charged again, this time aiming not for her, but for the floating orbs of darkness surrounding her form—anchors, perhaps.
One struck true.
The moment he hit the first, her form flickered, and the air grew more solid—real.
Taron chanted faster, his voice growing strained.
---
Echoes of the Past
The Whisper Sister turned her gaze on Kael.
Suddenly, the world shifted.
He was no longer on the isle.
He stood in a memory—a burning village. His village. Screams echoed. Flames licked at the homes. Bodies lay broken.
He turned, and saw her—not the Whisper Sister, but his mother—bloodied, reaching out to him.
"Kael," she whispered. "Why didn't you save me?"
"No!" Kael clenched his fists. "This isn't real!"
The illusion twisted, now showing Lira dying, Taron impaled, the Flameborn city in ruin.
"You carry guilt," the Whisper Sister whispered inside his mind. "You are a vessel filled with cracks. One push… and you shatter."
Kael screamed—and fought back.
The illusion broke as his flame surged outward, blasting the phantoms to ash.
He stumbled forward—free—and swung at the Whisper Sister again, now solid.
Steel met shadow-flesh.
She screamed.
---
Lira's Awakening
As the battle raged, Lira stood at the edge of the temple platform, holding the two Ember Shards.
A voice echoed from within her.
> You are not ready. Not yet. But the world doesn't wait.
The shards glowed hotter, merging briefly into one before splitting again.
Lira raised her hands.
The skies burned.
Flame poured from the heavens—not normal fire, but memory, will, and essence.
It wrapped around the Whisper Sister, binding her.
Taron completed his spell, and glyphs formed beneath her.
"Kael! Now!"
Kael leapt—his blade plunged directly into her chest.
She shrieked.
Her mask fell—revealing not a face, but a mirror, reflecting their worst fears.
It cracked. Then shattered.
The Whisper Sister vanished with a final whisper.
> "This changes nothing… The dreamer must not wake."
---
Aftermath of Shadows
Silence returned.
The wind died. The sky cleared.
Kael collapsed, panting. Lira knelt beside him, her eyes still glowing faintly.
"She's gone… for now."
Taron wiped blood from his nose. "But they'll send more. The closer we come to restoring Vaelorian, the more desperate they'll become."
Kael looked toward the horizon. "Then we can't stop."
Lira stood. "The next shard lies beyond the Stormridge Expanse… deep within the Ice Labyrinth of Nareth."
Kael grinned weakly. "Snow. Of course. From fire to frost."
But he knew the pattern. The Dreaming Flame had been scattered across the elemental poles of the world.
And they had only just begun.
---
Far Away…
In a distant land of frost and silence, beneath a glacier carved with forbidden runes, something stirred.
Eyes opened—eyes that had not seen light in a thousand years.
Chains creaked.
A voice whispered.
> "Another piece has awakened. My sisters fail."
> "Perhaps it is time… that I rise."