The river glowed silver in the moonlight.
Kael and Serin moved silently through the trees, keeping low.
The only sound was the soft rush of water ahead.
"There," Serin whispered.
Across the river, on a hill of stone, stood a figure wrapped in black.
A long cloak floated behind him. His face was hidden under a hood, and the air around him shimmered — like heat waves or smoke.
A shadow rider.
But this one felt different.
Stronger.
Older.
Kael's emberstone pulsed in warning.
"We can't fight him," Kael said quietly. "Not alone."
"We don't fight," Serin replied. "We watch. Learn. Then run."
But as they turned to leave —
"You carry the flame."
The voice was deep. Echoing.
Kael spun around.
The rider hadn't moved, but his voice was inside Kael's head now.
"The crown calls to you."
Serin raised her staff. Wind spun around her feet.
"Run!" she shouted.
Kael grabbed the emberstone — but it flared to life in his hand, too bright, too fast.
Fire shot upward from his chest, crackling into the sky.
The rider raised a single hand.
From the ground rose black vines — twisted and smoky — reaching for Kael like claws.
Serin sent a wave of wind to block them, but it wasn't enough. The vines wrapped around Kael's legs.
Kael shouted.
Flames exploded from his hands, burning the vines away.
The air shook.
The river began to bubble.
The stones on the hill split — and a statue rose from the earth. It was shaped like a man, but massive.
Made of black glass and metal, with fire glowing in its chest.
A fire golem.
"Kael!" Serin yelled. "We have to go — now!"
Kael didn't argue.
They ran.
Behind them, the golem stepped into the river.
Every step made the earth shake. The rider's cloak lifted in the wind, but he didn't chase.
He just watched.
They didn't stop running until the trees swallowed the stars above.
When they finally collapsed beneath a cliff, gasping for air, Kael turned to Serin.
"What was that thing?"
She looked up at the sky.
"That," she said, "was a guardian of the crown. And if the Whisper King controls even one…"
Kael's heart pounded.
"Then we're too late?"
"No," Serin said. "Then we just need help."
Kael looked at his burned hands. The emberstone was quiet now.
But in his heart, he knew something had changed.
The crown wasn't just calling him.
It was waking.