The Vale behind them.The sky before them.And the weight of prophecy on their shoulders.
The Road That Isn't There
The Flamebearers stood in silence where the Shattered Vale ended.
There was no path ahead—only clouds and broken stone, as if the land itself feared where they were going. But Kael stepped forward and spoke softly:
"We don't walk the road. We become it."
And the light responded.
Under their feet, the earth shimmered. With each step forward, a glowing trail of sky-stone formed, like the memory of a road that had never existed.
This was the Ascending Road—a path that appears only to those chosen by the divine.
Aurelith's Message
That night, they camped under a sky of burning comets.The fire was quiet.Seren slept lightly, Kael read silently… and Vaelrix brooded alone.
Then came the glow—soft at first, like a lantern in fog.
Aurelith appeared once more, standing in midair above the cliff's edge, her wings folded like closed petals.
"This road will not be gentle," she said."It will cost you. It will reveal you.But you do not walk it alone."
Then she turned her gaze—not at Kael, nor Seren... but directly at Vaelrix.
Her words were quiet, almost inaudible:
"And you, flame-born… You will burn brightest where you fear the fire most."
She vanished like stardust.
Vaelrix didn't speak for the rest of the night.
What Lies Ahead?
The Ascending Road will lead them to the Celestial Gate—a bridge between the mortal world and Elyndor.
But before they reach it, they must pass through the Vales of Voices—an ancient, mist-filled valley where echoes of the past try to pull the living off their path.
And far ahead... in shadows unseen...The Withered Court watches.
They will not let the Flamebearers ascend without a fight.