Chapter 98
The light crashed down like divine thunder.
Stone shattered.
Time screamed.
And in the center of it all—Kael and Vaern stood back to back, flame swirling in defiance.
The gods did not appear as figures.
They descended as laws made flesh—
blades of order, eyes of justice, voices without mercy.
"The split was never meant to rejoin," one intoned.
"This convergence endangers the balance," said another.
"One flame must extinguish," came the decree.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"I'm not extinguishing anyone."
Vaern stepped forward, silver-black fire curling from his palms.
His voice was steady now.
"You threw me away."
"Now you want to erase me?"
He raised a hand to the sky.
"Burn me again—and I'll burn your heavens."
The gods moved.
Reality buckled.
But Kael raised both arms, his flame colliding with Vaern's for the first time.
The blue and silver-black wove together—not in battle…
…but in balance.
The blast threw the gods back, tearing holes in the sky.
One screamed in agony.
Another bled starlight.
"This is not mortal power!"
Kael held his ground.
"It's not.""It's unfinished power… finally whole."
Eliendara watched from afar, mouth parted in awe as the ancient scrolls trembled on their own.
The fig tree bloomed suddenly—out of season.
Its branches cracked with gold veins.
And in the sky, something whispered.
The fire chose itself.
Back in the shattered square, Vaern's hands were ablaze.
Not with rage.
With freedom.
One god rose, tattered and furious.
"You do not understand what you've done."
Vaern turned toward them, eyes burning with history.
"No," he said, stepping closer.
"You don't understand what you created."
🔮 Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 99: The Fire That Judges Gods
With the twin flames united, a new force awakens—not born of destruction or prophecy,but of refusal.
Refusal to be discarded. Refusal to bow.
Now the gods must answer for what they did in silence…
Because this time, the fire speaks first.