The night before her departure, Ashara dreamed of fire.
Not the searing flame of destruction, but the slow-burning coals of memory. A circle of hooded figures stood in a clearing, each bearing a fragment of light in their palms. Their voices chanted in a forgotten tongue. At the center, a woman knelt—her, but not her. A past self. A crown of thorns wreathed her brow, bleeding light into the earth.
"The flame remembers its spark, even in ash."
She woke with her fingers clenched and the faint scent of scorched air lingering in her chamber.
The next day, cloaked in peasant gray and accompanied only by Ezekiel, Ashara left the city under the guise of a temple errand. Their destination lay beyond the Eastern Hills—an abandoned outpost once used by arcane scholars during her first reign.
"Are you certain this place still stands?" Ezekiel asked, guiding their horses down a winding trail obscured by overgrowth.
Ashara's voice was quiet but certain. "The Ashen Circle was never broken. Only scattered. They waited. For this."
System Alert – Faction Memory Triggered: [Ashen Circle – Unlocked]
➤ This hidden group consists of ancient mages, oath-sworn to your past self.
➤ Status: Dormant – Resurgence Potential at 65%
➤ Potential Class Unlock: Worldshaper (Requires 3/5 Circle Initiates Awakened)
The ruined outpost came into view by dusk. Vines strangled its watchtowers, and one wing had collapsed into moss and bone. But deep within the central courtyard, the firepit had been cleared—and someone had lit it.
They were not alone.
A single figure waited by the fire, seated upon a stone shaped like a broken sigil.
A woman with hair like tarnished silver and a staff of petrified wood.
"You're late, High Flame," she said without looking up. "The Circle counted centuries in silence for you."
Ashara stepped forward. "Then count no more. I'm here."
The woman was called Thalara, once Court Arcanist of the Vael bloodline. Now, she bore the sigils of exile across her neck—scarred into her skin by Tribunal decree.
"Do you remember any of it?" she asked as they sat by the fire. "The spells we shaped? The stars we branded?"
"Not all," Ashara admitted. "But I feel what's broken. I know where it hurts."
Thalara studied her. "Good. That means the soulthread is still intact."
Ezekiel paced the perimeter, uneased. "This all feels like blasphemy."
"It is," Thalara said cheerfully. "Which is why it works."
System Alert – Memory Sync Initiated: Ashen Protocol I
➤ Class Trait Unlocked: [Fragment of the First Flame]
➤ You may now bind loyalty through Magical Oathmarks in addition to social or romantic paths.
Ashara stood, staring into the flames.
"I'm going to bring down the Tribunal," she said.
Thalara smiled sadly. "Of course you are. You always were. Even before they burned your name from history."
Meanwhile, in the Hall of Divine Glass, Prince Kallad stood alone before the mirrored altar.
The gods had not spoken to him in years.
Not since her death.
But tonight, the mirrors rippled. The central pane darkened—and from within emerged a voice not heard in an age.
"You failed her. And still, you carry her death in your veins."
Kallad dropped to his knees. "I tried. I tried to stop it."
"Your blood bears the mark of Betrayal. But it also bears the mark of Choice."
From the mirror, a flicker of Ashara's face appeared—not as she was now, but as she had been the day before her execution.
Still royal. Still radiant.
Still untouched by the world's cruelty.
System Notification – FATE FORK DETECTED
➤ [Kallad, Prince of the Scepter] is entering Divergence State.
➤ Outcome Unstable – Affection vs Regret thresholds pending.
Kallad pressed his hand to the glass. "Tell me what to do. I'll fix it. I swear—this time, I'll choose her."
The divine voice answered only with silence.
But the mirror did not darken again.
Back in the outpost, the fire dimmed.
Thalara handed Ashara a stone disk carved with ancient runes. "The others will come. One by one. The Circle is waking. But be warned—some were lost to the Tribunal's chains. You may need to fight to free them."
Ashara took it. "I'll bring them home."
Ezekiel stepped forward. "We need to return. You'll be missed soon."
Ashara nodded but lingered. One last look at the fire, now nothing but glowing coals.
System Update – Circle Founding Initiated
➤ 1/5 Initiates Awakened
➤ Next Target: Lysen the Mirror-Binder (Location: The Glass Ruins)
➤ System Tip: Kallad's loyalty is shifting rapidly. Recommend interaction within 3 cycles.
Ashara mounted her horse, the rune disk tucked beneath her cloak.
The gods wanted obedience.
She would give them resistance.
And a reckoning written in flame.