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They didn't stop running until the sky above them changed from ash to silver. The twisted trees thinned out, replaced by towering ancient pines that glowed faintly with a blue-green hue. The air here was heavier. Older. Alive.
Scott collapsed to his knees, his breath ragged. The wolves had vanished into the shadows again as silently as they'd appeared. Caelum crouched beside him, scanning the trees for movement, his sword still drawn.
"Where... are we?" Scott gasped.
"This is the Edgewood," Caelum said. "The last uncorrupted forest. We're close to the Temple of Aeloria."
Scott sat back against a tree, wiping sweat from his forehead. "So I'm really... a prince? Of a world I've never seen? With magic I can't even control?"
Caelum didn't answer immediately. Instead, he reached into his cloak and pulled out a thin, glowing crystal pendant. "Do you know what this is?"
Scott shook his head.
"It's a key. One of three. They were scattered when your parents were killed, before the realms collapsed."
Scott blinked. "Wait-killed? My real parents?"
Caelum's voice was low. "Your mother, Queen Lysara, wielded the same fire you showed back there. Your father, King Daeron, was betrayed by one of the Council-your bloodline was targeted. You were smuggled out, hidden in the human world. You were supposed to awaken when the stars aligned. Your eighteenth birthday."
Scott's chest tightened. "So they're... gone?"
"Yes," Caelum said. "But their legacy lives in you. And you're not alone."
Scott looked away. He didn't feel like a prince. He didn't even feel like himself anymore.
Suddenly, the air shimmered. A figure appeared just ahead-a woman in a silver cloak, eyes glowing violet, her long braids wrapped in gold thread.
Caelum stood up fast. "Elandra."
"Still dramatic, I see," she said, voice musical and calm. Then her gaze landed on Scott. "So... this is him. The last heir of the Flameborn."
Scott scrambled to his feet. "Hi. I guess I'm... the guy everyone wants dead?"
Elandra smiled faintly. "More than you know."
She stepped closer and pressed her palm to Scott's chest. "Your magic is untapped, raw. Dangerous. We need to begin the Rite before the Hollow Crown finds you again."
"The Rite?" Scott asked, heart skipping.
[03/07, 8:06 pm] ChatGPT: "A ceremony of memory," Elandra replied. "It'll unlock everything that was sealed inside you-your past, your blood, your true name."
Caelum gave a sharp look. "Are you sure he's ready?"
"He doesn't have a choice," Elandra said simply. "The longer he stays unawakened, the more they'll send. And next time, the wolves won't be enough."
Scott swallowed. "Okay. Let's do it."
Elandra led them to a stone circle deep in the woods, where runes pulsed beneath moss and earth. She handed Scott a dagger-gold and obsidian, glowing faintly.
"Your blood opens the gate," she said. "Only you can do it."
With trembling fingers, Scott dragged the blade across his palm. His blood hit the center rune, and instantly, light exploded outward.
He was falling-no, *flying*-through visions. Faces he didn't recognize. A woman singing by a fire. A crown of flame. A dark figure with eyes of smoke.
A voice echoed inside him:
*"The fire lives. The prince returns. The balance must be restored."*
His eyes snapped open. He was still in the circle-but the runes were gone.
And so was Elandra.
"Where is she?" Scott gasped.
Caelum drew his sword. "This isn't right-something's interfered-"
But it was too late.
A tear opened in the forest ahead.
And from the void stepped a figure cloaked in shadow, a mask of bone over its face, smoke curling from its fingertips.
"You should have stayed hidden, Prince of Ash," the figure said, voice like grinding stone.
Scott backed up. "Who-what *are* you?"
"I am the beginning of your end," the figure replied.
The trees began to rot where it stepped.
Scott's eyes burned, his palm glowing again.
"No," he whispered. "Not today."
The fire ignited inside him once more-but this time, it *listened*. It surged through him, wrapping his arms in glowing flame, his eyes turning molten gold.
The wraith hissed. "Impossible. You haven't completed the Rite-"
"I don't need a full memory," Scott said. "I just need to *burn*."
He flung his hands forward, and the blast that erupted shook the entire forest.
The masked figure screamed-and vanished.
Scott collapsed again, chest heaving, the fire gone.
Caelum rushed to him. "You just fought a shadowlord. And lived."
Scott looked up, dazed. "I need answers. Real ones. Now."
Caelum helped him up. "Then we find the Seer. She'll tell you what they've hidden. And what comes next."
Scott's voice was firm, steady. "Good. Because I think I'm done running."
---6