The Archive of Ash was hidden beneath seven layers of enchanted stone and silence.
Elliot had to pass through three locked gates, two magical seals, and one very annoyed monk who grumbled the entire way about "reckless initiates and their endless need for secrets."
But Kaelith had insisted.
> "If you want to understand the fire… you need to read the words the Order tried to bury."
The doors groaned open.
And inside, Elliot stepped into a circular vault lined with scrolls, tablets, and tomes wrapped in iron chains. The air smelled like dust, oil, and something older — something that didn't belong in this world.
In the center of the vault was a single stone pedestal. On it rested a scroll made of dragon-hide, pulsing faintly with ember-light.
The Flame Scroll.
---
> "Touch it," Kaelith said from behind him. "It'll either kill you or answer you."
Elliot rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the pep talk."
He stepped forward.
As his fingers brushed the scroll, the runes on his chest ignited.
The scroll flared to life, unrolling itself mid-air, and glowing symbols danced off the surface, wrapping around him like smoke.
A deep, inhuman voice echoed in his head.
> "You are not the first… but you may be the last."
Visions struck him again:
A city built of flame, swallowed by skyfire.
A warrior cloaked in ash, wielding the same golden fire.
A gate—massive, black, chained in the sky—with something behind it, waiting.
Then came the truth:
> "The Vaelion Flame is not a gift. It is a remnant — a fragment of a god's dying soul. And those who bear it… bear its madness."
Elliot's heart pounded. The fire wasn't just power. It was a curse, passed down from a war older than memory.
He saw a name appear in the air:
Vaelion the Forsaken.
His flame had torn the gods apart once before.
And now it lived in him.
---
The scroll dimmed.
Elliot stumbled back, breathless.
Kaelith caught him. "What did you see?"
"Everything," he said. "And nothing I was ready for."
---
Outside, the monks rang the Horns of Fire.
An alarm.
Kaelith's eyes snapped toward the ceiling.
"They found us," she whispered.
Elliot blinked. "Who?"
Before she could answer, the mountain shook — and from above, a flaming arrow burst through the stone roof, embedding into the archive wall.
A seal on the scroll began to tear open.
Kaelith cursed. "They're not after us. They're after this."
Elliot stood tall, the runes on his chest flaring.
> "Then they're going to burn trying."