"Even the brightest flame must learn to walk through its own smoke."
The wind howled across the northern plains, carrying with it the scent of ash and something faintly metallic. What had once been fields of green now lay buried beneath a layer of gray dust that stretched as far as the horizon. Lior and Kael moved carefully through the desolation, cloaks drawn tight against the bitter wind. Each step left a shallow print that vanished almost immediately beneath the drifting ash.
They had been walking for days since leaving the forest of Elaris, guided only by fragments of old maps and the whisper of a name, "Valenreach". Though the sun still rose and fell, the sky seemed permanently veiled in a dull haze, as if the world itself mourned something long lost.
Kael kicked at a shard of blackened stone half-buried in the dirt. "If this is what's left of the world's glory, I'm not impressed."
Lior's gaze swept the horizon. "This is not ruin. It is warning. The land remembers what it endured."
Kael smirked faintly. "You've been talking like that more lately. Almost like the forest spirit rubbed off on you."
"Perhaps," Lior admitted quietly. "She spoke of balance, flame and shadow. The more I think about it, the less it feels like prophecy and more like a burden I've carried all along."
Kael was silent for a while, the only sound their boots crunching softly over ash. Then he said, "You asked her what you must do. She told you to reclaim what was lost. What do you think that means?"
Lior didn't answer immediately. His thoughts wandered back to the visions he'd seen in the cavern. The burning ruins, his own sword cutting through shadows that screamed like men. "I think it means facing what I was before all this began."
Kael raised a brow. "And what if that truth isn't one you want to face?"
Lior looked up, his golden eyes glinting beneath the ashen sky. "Then I will face it anyway."
They continued until the ground began to change. The ash grew thinner, giving way to cracked earth veined with faint traces of red light. It pulsed beneath their boots, the same rhythm that had throbbed beneath the roots of Elaris's tree.
Kael knelt, brushing the dirt aside with his gloved hand. "This glow, same as in the cavern. Don't tell me the forest's heart stretches all the way here."
"It might," Lior murmured. "Elaris said the world is bound by threads we cannot see. Perhaps these are its veins."
A low rumble broke through the stillness. The ground trembled briefly before settling again. From the distance, a cluster of jagged towers appeared through the haze. Black stone half-sunken into the earth, their tops crumbling like broken teeth.
Kael exhaled. "Valenreach."
As they approached, the air grew heavier. The city's gates stood half-open, their iron frames melted and twisted from old fire. Beyond them stretched streets littered with skeletal remains of stone houses. The silence was suffocating, broken only by the creak of shifting metal somewhere deep within.
Lior paused before entering. "Elaris said the Crown of Remnants lies here."
Kael unsheathed his blade. "Then let's hope it's not still guarded."
They stepped inside. The city seemed frozen in the moment it fell, banners torn, walls scarred with soot, fountains filled with black water. Lior felt something stir in his chest again, that same ache he'd felt before the heart of the forest.
He stopped at the center square where a massive statue once stood, now shattered into pieces. Only its lower half remained, and carved into the stone was a symbol, a flame encircled by three rings. Lior traced it with his fingers.
"I've seen this before," he whispered.
Kael glanced at him. "Where?"
"In my dreams."
Before Kael could answer, the ground beneath them pulsed violently. The red veins in the earth flared bright, and from the cracks rose a sound like distant chanting. Shadows pooled around the broken statue, swirling upward into shapes. Men, women, soldiers. Faces twisted in anguish.
Kael backed away, blades ready. "I take it these aren't the welcoming committee."
Lior's voice was low but steady. "No. These are the echoes of Valenreach."
The shadows lunged. Kael met the first one head-on, his twin daggers slicing through its form. It dissolved into smoke, only to reform again behind him. Lior raised his hand, and fire roared to life, forming a barrier that burned bright and golden. The shadows shrieked but did not retreat; they gathered, forming a larger mass that loomed above them.
"Lior!" Kael shouted, parrying another blow. "Whatever you're planning, make it quick!"
The markings on Lior's arm glowed through his sleeve. He reached toward the heart of the statue, the flame symbol pulsing in response. His voice echoed through the square, ancient words spilling from his lips, words he did not remember learning.
The light flared, driving back the shadows. The red veins in the earth shifted to gold, and for a brief moment, the city seemed alive again. Streets glowing, banners whole, air warm.
Then it was gone. The silence returned, and Lior collapsed to his knees. Kael rushed to him, gripping his shoulder.
"You all right?"
Lior nodded weakly. "The crown… it's here. Beneath us."
Kael looked at the cracked statue base. "Figures. Nothing's ever easy."
Lior's hand still glowed faintly. "We've only awakened the memory. The real test lies below."
Kael sighed. "Of course it does. Next you'll tell me there's a labyrinth under the city."
Lior met his eyes. "There is."
Kael groaned. "I hate being right."
The wind picked up again, scattering ash across the empty streets as they turned toward the descending stair hidden beneath the statue's broken base, leading deeper into the city's heart.
The journey into the forgotten began anew.