Kael descended the stone stairway alone. Each step echoed like thunder in the suffocating silence. The shard in his hand had dimmed, its glow reduced to a quiet throb as if even it respected what lay ahead.
The deeper he went, the more the air changed. It thickened with arcane weight, humming with whispers in a language he didn't understand. Runes flickered across the cavern walls, ancient symbols of a time before kings and curses. They pulsed as he passed, reading his presence, acknowledging his blood.
At last, he stepped into a massive underground chamber.
The chamber was circular, domed by a ceiling that shimmered like starlight under water. In the center rose a black monolith, and embedded in its base was a sword, not whole, not broken, but suspended in some middle state, as if waiting to be born again.
Vel'tarion.
Kael stepped forward, hand trembling.
The moment he touched the monolith, power surged into him like lightning. Visions struck, battles waged in distant skies, gods burning through mortal flesh, and a man who looked just like him wielding the Blade of Thorns, cutting down horrors that dripped shadows.
The chamber roared.
The monolith split in three.
Kael stumbled back, the shard in his hand flying toward the sword like a comet. The pieces aligned, embedding themselves into the weapon. Vel'tarion pulsed once, twice and then… it rejected him.
Kael cried out, flung backward by a shockwave.
When the smoke cleared, the sword was still there. Untouched. Unmoved.
"Why?" he muttered. "Why did it stop?"
A slow clap echoed behind him.
"Because power isn't just awakened. It's earned."
Thalen emerged from the shadows once again, his spear resting across his shoulders. His gaze was both amused and sympathetic.
"You saw it, didn't you? The blade's memory. Its former bearer."
Kael nodded. "He looked like me."
"Because he was you. A past life. A former incarnation. The blade knows you. But it won't serve a prince who hasn't bled for it."
Kael rose to his feet slowly, fury in his eyes.
"Then tell me what I need to do."
Thalen dropped the spear into Kael's arms. "You train. You suffer. You face the Trials of Flame."
"The what?"
Before Kael could react, the floor shifted. The cavern rumbled as a platform rose beneath them, lifting them toward another chamber, this one forged in heat and light.
Flames danced along the walls. Shadows formed the shape of beasts. The Trial of Flame had begun.
---
Elsewhere - Far North of Velmora
A cloaked figure rode through a frozen wasteland, her hair the color of moonlight, eyes like silver glass.
Her name was Serenya, once the Blade Priestess of the Dawnbound, now a fugitive from the very Order she helped build.
She had felt the call of Vel'tarion too.
And she knew the war was beginning again.
At her side flew a crystal orb that whispered with voices from across the stars. In it, she had seen the boy, the cursed prince and the runes he bore.
"They've awakened him," she whispered to the wind. "But they don't understand who he truly is."
Behind her, monstrous shadows stirred within the snow. Serenya didn't flinch. She drew twin daggers etched in blue flame and turned to face them.
"If you want the heir," she said to the darkness, "you'll have to go through me first."
---
Back in the chamber - Trial of Flame
Kael was already sweating. The heat was unbearable. Lava flowed in rivers beneath the battle floor. Stone platforms moved in patterns too complex to follow. And from the fire rose creatures of living magma — the Flameborn, trial beasts of the forge.
Thalen stood behind him, arms crossed.
"Draw power from the curse," he called. "Let it flow, but don't let it consume you."
Kael grit his teeth. He could feel the runes glowing beneath his skin, the curse urging him to burn everything. But he needed control. Not rage.
The first Flameborn lunged. Kael dodged, rolling across the heated stone, and slashed with the training spear. It burned the beast's outer shell but didn't stop it. The creature reformed in an instant.
Another came. Then a third.
Kael roared and unleashed a burst of dark flame from his palm. The runes on his arm shimmered violently. The Flameborn staggered, screeched, and collapsed into a puddle of molten glass.
Thalen nodded once. "You're learning. But the trial is far from over."
Kael raised the spear.
"I'm not here to quit. I'm here to earn it."