Kael didn’t remember falling asleep.
But he woke standing.
Not in his chambers.
Not even in the Flameborn capital.
The air smelled of salt and rust. The ground beneath his feet was scorched black, marked by deep clawed gouges. Above him, the sky churned in unnatural spirals of red and gold.
And then he heard it—his own voice speaking a language he didn’t know.
“Sorsan ith varakai… ven’dral sarion.”
The words slipped from his mouth like silk and steel.
He tried to move, to stop himself, but his limbs didn’t respond.
Then—a whisper, inside him.
“You are the vessel. The seal has two sides. You hold the shadow. She holds the flame.”
Ivy jolted awake.
Kael was gone.
The seal on her chest pulsed wildly—unbalanced.
Ember burst into the room seconds later, breathless.
“He’s not in t
