The deeper Kael dove into his father's legacy, the more it felt like trying to hold fire in bare hands—bright, searing, and always slipping away.
He was Flameborn.
But he had never chosen this.
Now, he would discover that even his soul was never truly his own.
---
The Tomb Below the Flame
The Vault of Varok, beneath the Moonborn stronghold, held relics that dated back to the Age of First Shift. Few dared enter without the old rites. But Kael had no time for fear.
He descended alone, the Fang of Varok strapped to his back, torch in hand. With each step, he passed murals of Moonborn history—heroes, traitors, wolves crowned in glory and fire.
But at the deepest chamber, the murals changed.
> One showed his father—Arion Varos—kneeling before a circle of shrouded figures, his palm bleeding into a bowl of bone.
> Another showed a child—Kael—as an infant, swaddled in ash, surrounded by fire.
At the center of the chamber was a pedestal.
And on it, a sealed scroll bound in lunar silver.
The moment Kael touched it, the runes burned into his hand.
---
The Pact of Ashfang
He unrolled the scroll with trembling fingers.
The Pact of Ashfang, it was titled.
Handwritten by his father.
> To protect the bloodline from the curse of the Revenants, the Ascendant Flame must be sealed in a vessel of Varos blood. This pact binds the flame to the heir's soul. Should the heir fall or betray the path, the flame will devour him—body and mind—to prevent its theft.
Kael's vision blurred.
He read it again.
And again.
He wasn't just given the flame.
He was cursed with it.
A living time bomb.
> If the Revenants got too close…
If his thoughts ever wavered…
The flame would destroy him to protect itself.
And worse still…
> The only way to sever the pact is to burn the bloodline's last name from existence.
---
Sylah's Confrontation
Kael emerged from the tomb pale and silent.
Sylah was waiting for him outside, arms crossed.
"You found something," she said.
Kael didn't answer. He walked past her.
But she grabbed his arm.
"You're not walking away again. Not this time."
He turned slowly, eyes flickering with dangerous light. "Do you really want to know, Sylah?"
She didn't flinch. "Yes."
Kael shoved the scroll into her hand.
She read it.
And when she finished, her expression shattered.
"You're bound to the flame… by your father's blood?"
"I'm a weapon," Kael said. "A seal. A failsafe."
"You're still you," she whispered. "You saved us."
"Did I?" Kael snapped. "Or was it the flame saving itself?"
---
A Rift in the Pack
That night, Kael gathered Lina, Sylah, and Alpha Drayk.
He laid out the truth.
Lina's knuckles whitened as she gripped her seat. "So if the Revenants breach your defenses…"
"I burn," Kael said. "No questions asked."
Sylah stood. "We need to find a way to undo the pact."
"You heard it," Kael replied. "It can only be broken by destroying the Varos name."
Drayk frowned. "But that would require…"
Kael nodded.
"My death."
Silence.
Then Lina whispered, "There may be another way."
All eyes turned to her.
"I read of a ritual. Ancient. Forbidden. One that can extract a living soul without killing the body. But it requires… a shadowflame catalyst."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "That magic was destroyed with the Eclipse Queen."
Lina shook her head. "Not all of it."
---
A New Mission
The Revenants were moving fast.
But so was Kael.
He could no longer afford to wait for the next attack.
They would travel to the forgotten ruins of Duskwatch Hollow, where the last Shadowflame was sealed during the Rebellion of Ash.
But Revenants weren't the only danger awaiting them there.
Something else had woken.
Something that fed on both moonlight and fire.
---
Far in the Frozen North…
In the Revenant throne room, the King stood before a mirror of obsidian, watching Kael's every move through shadows.
He whispered to the acolyte beside him:
> "The Pact is breaking."
The acolyte trembled. "Should we stop it, my king?"
The Revenant King's fangs gleamed.
> "No. Let him break it."
> "Let him be free…"
> "So he will have no excuse when he becomes mine."