The ruins waited in silence.
Kael stepped carefully over a crumbled archway, his hands still faintly scorched from the fight. The path behind him had vanished beneath shifting ash, but the vault ahead pulsed faintly with light, low and rhythmic, like a heartbeat echoing underground.
A cracked stone slab jutted from the earth, half-covered in dust. Old words were carved into its face, but time—or fire—had consumed them.
Only one remained: REMEMBER.
[Echo Vault located.] System Alert: Contained memory anomaly detected. Thread origin: internal. Emotional resonance: HIGH. Proceed with caution.
Kael touched the stone.
A sound bloomed behind his eyes—not a voice, not at first. Just sorrow. Weight. The unbearable sensation of having been someone else… and losing everything they cared about.
He clenched his teeth and stepped forward.
The vault opened with a hiss.
Inside: a hall of stone and cinder, slanted sideways from collapse. Statues lined the walls—burned faceless, but still reaching skyward in silent devotion. At the center, beneath a broken skylight, was a mirror.
Or what remained of one.
Its frame was scorched obsidian. The glass itself rippled with flickers of light and memory—images that didn't belong to Kael, and yet did.
He approached slowly.
Then the mirror spoke.
"You look tired."
Kael froze.
The voice was male. His age. Maybe older. Warm. Familiar in a way that made his stomach twist.
"…Who are you?" Kael asked.
"That depends. On what year it is. On how much you remember. On how badly you're burning."
The reflection shimmered.
Then it changed.
Gone was Kael's soot-streaked face. In its place stood a man in regal crimson armor, helm tucked beneath one arm, eyes tired and radiant with firelight. His voice softened.
"They called me Solas the Kindled. One of your many mistakes."
Kael staggered back a step. "You're me."
"An echo of you. The part that tried to build peace. That thought diplomacy could heal what fire could not. I was wrong."
The light in the vault dimmed.
"They slit my throat in the rain," Solas said. "Because I trusted someone I loved."
Kael didn't answer. He couldn't. The pain in Solas' eyes wasn't just grief—it was recognition. And underneath that…
Forgiveness.
"You've lived so many lives," Solas continued. "Some good. Most broken. But even when the world twisted you, even when they made you kneel—there was always a part of you that chose."
Kael swallowed. "Chose what?"
"To rise. To keep going. Even when you couldn't remember why."
The glass cracked.
Fragments of other faces flickered through it—some young, some scarred, some monstrous. All versions of Kael. All watching.
"You've come far to get here," Solas whispered. "But the fire alone won't save you. You must remember who you are, not just what you can burn."
The light flickered violently.
[Echo destabilizing.] System Intervention: Recall anchor exceeding temporal threshold. ECHO VAULT COLLAPSE IMMINENT.
Solas gave a quiet smile.
"When you find the crown… don't wear it out of guilt."
The mirror exploded.
Kael shielded his face as shards scattered across the stone, dissolving before they hit the floor. When he looked up, the vault was crumbling—walls fracturing, statues splitting open.
He ran.
Ash billowed behind him as he burst from the ruin's entrance, lungs aching, heart hammering.
When he reached the outside, the door sealed shut behind him.
The System chimed in his mind, gentle.
New Memory Thread Unlocked: Solas the Kindled.Ember Sync: 18%. Emotional load: stable. Echo Vault sealed. Next anomaly: Seraph Vale.
Kael stared up at the sky.
It was darker now. The embers had thinned.
But inside him, the fire had grown warmer. Not just destructive—anchored.
For the first time since waking… he didn't feel entirely alone.