The battlefield flickered like an echo from a forgotten time. Kael stood frozen, staring at the warrior—the himself—from another age.
The warrior's gaze burned into his soul, eyes like dying embers, filled with something deeper than mere battle rage.
Remembrance.
Kael's breath hitched. Who are you?
The vision shifted.
The warrior raised his flaming blade, his voice a whisper that thundered in Kael's mind.
"You already know my name."
A spark ignited in Kael's chest. A name etched in fire at the edge of his memory.
And then—
The battlefield shattered like glass.
Kael gasped, yanked back into the present.
Liora's hands were on his shoulders, her face pale with fear. "Kael! What did you see?"
Kael staggered, gripping his temples as the remnants of the vision faded. His heartbeat pounded.
And then, like a whisper on the wind—a name surfaced.
"…Ashur."
Liora stiffened. "What?"
Kael turned to her, his voice hoarse. "My name… was Ashur."
---
The Weight of the Name
Silence hung between them.
Liora stared, searching his face, as if looking for some trace of a lie. "Ashur? But that's—"
Kael shook his head. "I don't know how I know. But I do."
And yet, the weight of that name was suffocating. It wasn't just a name.
It was a title.
A curse.
Liora swallowed. "Kael… Ashur was the name of the one who nearly burned the world."
Kael's stomach twisted. "What?"
She hesitated, but the words came out anyway. "Ashur… the Black Sun. The Betrayer. The one who fought the gods themselves."
The air around them grew colder.
Kael clenched his fists. "That's impossible."
And yet, deep inside—he knew it was true.
The visions, the whispers, the power lurking beneath his skin. It had always been there.
Because he wasn't just some forgotten warrior.
He was the one who had nearly ended everything.
---
A Choice to Make
Liora stepped closer. "Kael, listen to me. Whatever you were before, it doesn't define who you are now."
But Kael's mind spun.
If I was Ashur… then everything I've done, everything I've built… is a lie.
He turned toward the carvings on the wall, running his fingers over the symbol of the Black Sun.
A god-killer. A warbringer.
He was a monster.
Liora's voice softened. "You can still choose who you want to be."
Kael's grip on his sword tightened.
Could he?
Before he could answer, a deep rumble shook the chamber.
The Sanctum was waking up.
And something beneath them stirred.