The door of starlight shimmered above the Spire's highest floor, far beyond what any mortal eye could see from the ground. It pulsed in tune with Kael's heartbeat, as though it had always been waiting for him and now, finally, it recognized his right to enter.
Kael stood beneath it, feeling its call in his blood. Behind him, Sirena wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her blade, her silence saying more than words ever could. Beside them, the Vaelari priestess who had guided them so far stepped forward.
"You have faced truth and flame," she said. "Now, the final gate of this trial opens to the stars themselves. Only those with awakened runes of heart, flame, and memory may pass."
Kael nodded. "I'm ready."
Sirena glanced at the priestess. "What's beyond that gate?"
The Vaelari turned her violet eyes to the heavens. "Legacy. Revelation. And perhaps... death."
With that, she vanished into mist.
Kael and Sirena stepped into the starlit platform, which rose without sound. No gears. No magic circle visible. Only pure celestial energy lifting them upward.
The ascent was slow, deliberate. As they rose, the Spire's walls turned transparent, revealing the lands below the burnt sands of Blackreach, the shimmering Lakes of Azura, the shattered city of Velmora.
Kael stared at the city that had cast him out.
"Someday," he murmured, "they'll know what they lost."
Sirena touched his arm gently. "Or what they created."
---
The platform reached the top, opening into a floating garden suspended in the sky. Gravity felt uncertain. The air smelled of stars cool, electric, and impossibly clean.
Floating stones formed pathways between enormous orbs of light. Each orb contained visions Kael saw kings and queens of old, battles between titans, the forging of the ancient runes.
In the center of the garden stood a lone figure.
He was cloaked in robes woven from strands of light and shadow, face hidden behind a helm shaped like a dragon's skull. In one hand, he held a staff made from celestial bone; in the other, a dying flame.
"You've reached the Celestial Garden," he said. "I am Keeper Tharion. Last of the Starforged."
Kael raised his chin. "What trial awaits?"
Tharion didn't answer immediately. He turned and gestured to the floating orbs.
"These are echoes of truth. You must choose one. Each reveals a piece of the past, not just your own but that of the curse that stains your blood."
Kael stepped closer. The orbs hummed.
One showed a battlefield soaked in blood where a star fell to earth.
Another showed a king burning alive, hands outstretched in madness.
A third revealed a child in chains, surrounded by black runes that pulsed like dying hearts.
Kael felt drawn to the third.
"This one," he said.
The orb opened, engulfing him.
---
Kael found himself in a dark chamber. Chains bound his wrists and ankles. He wasn't himself he was inside the body of a boy. He looked down and saw emaciated arms, trembling. Shadows whispered in a language older than time.
Across the room, a man sat on a throne made of bone and iron. His face was Kael's but older, crueler, eyes glowing like dying suns.
"You carry my legacy," the man said. "Do you fear it?"
Kael tried to speak, but the boy's mouth would not open.
The man rose and walked forward. "I am the first Flameborne. I sacrificed kingdoms to hold the curse within me. But the world called me mad. So I sealed the curse in blood… in you."
Kael felt the fire in his veins surge. The boy screamed not from pain, but from knowledge too vast for any mortal mind.
The world shattered.
---
Kael awoke on the platform, sweat dripping from his brow. Tharion watched him quietly.
"You saw him," Tharion said. "The original bearer."
Kael nodded. "My ancestor. The one who cursed our line."
"And now you know: the curse was never punishment. It was a prison. Meant to keep something worse from escaping."
Kael's stomach turned. "What do you mean?"
Tharion's eyes, for the first time, showed fear.
"The Bound King is not just a tyrant. He is the hunger between stars. The curse holds him in check. If you die without passing it on or mastering it… he returns."
Sirena stepped forward. "Then we protect him. We train. We"
"No," Tharion interrupted. "You don't understand. The Bound King has already begun to stir. Kael's awakening drew his attention. You must prepare."
Kael looked up at the starlit gate that loomed beyond the garden.
"What lies beyond that?"
Tharion turned. "The final path of Arc One: Exile. Beyond that gate lies the Celestial Crucible where you either master your curse... or are consumed by it."
Kael stepped forward.
"I'll master it."
Sirena placed her hand in his. "We'll master it together."
The starlit gate opened.
And the heavens trembled.