The descent into the Ember Path was like falling into the lungs of the world.
Heat wrapped around Kael and Sirena like a second skin, not oppressive, but alive watching. The path spiraled downward, lit by molten veins along the walls. Strange glyphs flickered across the stone as they passed, whispering in dead tongues.
Yorrik walked ahead of them, his ash-cloaked form steady as iron. "The deeper you walk, the older the world becomes. Down here, things still remember the first fire."
Kael ran a hand along the glowing wall. "And what are we walking toward?"
"A choice," Yorrik said simply. "And not just yours."
As the tunnel opened into a cavern, Kael froze.
A great dome of crystal and bone stood in the center of the chamber, surrounded by glowing mushrooms the size of trees. Pools of radiant water pulsed with light, and creatures moved within them serpents with eyes like moons and scales of pure obsidian.
But it was the figures at the edge of the chamber that stopped them.
Three beings stood in silence, each more alien than the last:
The first was lithe, tall, and silver-skinned, her eyes glowing with pale lavender light. She wore robes made of woven starlight, and her hands never touched the ground. A Vaelari, the race of celestial seers.
The second was massive, covered in emerald moss and bark. Horns curved from his head like ancient roots. His breath smelled of rain and stone. An Ogron, elder race of forest keepers.
The third crouched low, cloaked in dusk feathers, with molten orange eyes and skin the color of dried blood. Clawed hands gripped a bone staff. A Durnathi, known in myth as fireborn hunters long thought extinct.
Yorrik bowed his head. "The old races. Summoned by the Hollow Flame. They heard your awakening."
Kael felt the weight of their gazes. The Vaelari stepped forward.
"You carry the mark of a Starborn, cursed and chosen," she said. "But the balance trembles. The Ember Path is not only yours."
The Ogron's voice rumbled like falling trees. "If you seek the Spire of Souls, you must carry more than steel. You must carry unity. Or the world will break again."
Kael looked between them. "Then walk with me. Teach me what I do not know."
The Durnathi hissed, his voice like crackling flame. "We do not serve. We test."
The Vaelari smiled faintly. "Then let the first test begin."
The cavern darkened. The pools of light flared.
And Kael felt the ground shift beneath his feet.