ap dared chart it. Only the oldest magic could guide a way. Alec and Kaelenn traveled by night, cloaked in wards that flickered against

ys. On the sixt

ch figure was different: a mage, a warrior, a priest, a child, even a beast. All cast in obsidian, all twisted - as if frozen

n of Chains." "Solna the Silent." "Vael of the Deep." "Thren, Flame-Eater." "The Seventh

weapon," she said. "It is a mirror. It gives nothing. It shows what already is." Kaelenn fell silent. Alec felt the fire in his veins flicker. > "You carry the full flame now," Virellia said. "And so you carry the choice." > "Restore the Seven. Or burn alone." She gestured to the last name. Name Lost. > "The Seventh was the key," she whispered. "The only one who chose to be severed. To break from the rest. That was the wound the world never healed." Alec stepped toward the name - and the moment he did, flame surged up from the stone and pulled him under. --- He saw everything. The Seven - standing together at the dawn of magic, each holding a part of the flame. The betrayal. The Grandmasters creating the Divide. The Seventh - clo

quiet. Where memory clung to the trees like morning frost, and

g up," she said one night at their camp. "Malrik may be the loudest, but others are stirring. Things older than him. Things even he fears." Alec stared into the fire. > "Then we wake something stronger." --- They found the Vale on the fifth day, hidden behind a veil of mist so thick even magic slid off its edges. A single word - unspoken, only felt - opened the way: > "Return." And the mists parted. They stepped into silence. The Vale was beautiful in a haunting way. Trees with silver leaves. Rivers that glowed faintly blue. Stones marked with ancient sigils - not warnings, but welcomes.

ed. Then: "Because it chose me. Because I chose it." The Seventh circled him, slow. > "You seek unity. But unity demands more than power. It demands sacrifice." Kaelenn stepped forward. "You broke the bond. You fractured the Flame. Why?" The Seventh's voice softened. >

"Help me restore the Flame." The Seventh tilted their head. > "Would you burn your name away to save the world?