The wind that swept the valley smelled of iron and rain.Three days had passed since the Dominion's fall, yet the world still trembled with aftershocks of its dying scream. The rivers ran black with stardust; the skies shifted between dawn and dusk without ever settling on either.
Kael stood at the edge of the ruined marsh, cloak whipping around him, eyes fixed on the horizon where a dull crimson shimmer pulsed like a wounded heart. The Flameborn Star still burned above—but faintly now, like a promise he had yet to fulfill.
Eira approached quietly, her steps almost lost in the hiss of the wind."You've been awake since the second moon," she said. "You're going to collapse again."
"I can't."His voice was rough, scraped raw from sleepless nights. "Every time I close my eyes, I see the Dominion's face break apart. And beneath it—something else. A second shadow."
Eira frowned. "Another Dominion?"
"Maybe not. Maybe… the first one. The one it copied."He turned to her, gaze hard. "We killed its echo. But the real Dominion—the Prime—might still be out there."
They left the valley by morning. The roads were littered with relics half-melted from celestial heat: fragments of machines that had once belonged to gods, rusted swords that still hummed with trapped divinity.
Eira gathered samples of glowing ore in small crystal jars. "The Dominion's energy didn't just vanish—it seeped into the earth. Plants, rivers, even people might start changing."
Kael nodded. "Then we move before they do."
They traveled north, following the ancient pilgrimage trail that led toward Astra's Hollow, the cradle of the first starforges. Kael felt the land grow stranger the farther they went: gravity bending at odd angles, time stretching thin between footsteps. Sometimes he swore he heard voices—his soldiers, long dead, calling his name through the mist.
That night, they camped beside a cracked monolith carved with the sigil of the Iron-Star Order.Kael brushed his hand over the runes, whispering their creed under his breath.
"To forge is to defy entropy."
He looked at Eira. "Back then, we thought defiance was enough. But every forge needs fuel—and ours was always our own souls."
Eira tossed another stick into the fire. "Then maybe it's time we learned to build without burning ourselves away."
At dawn, they reached the cliffs overlooking Astra's Hollow.The sight stole Kael's breath: an endless crater surrounded by floating shards of land, each crowned with dormant forges. Rivers of molten starlight flowed upward instead of down, coiling into the clouds like serpents of gold.
"This place…" Eira whispered. "It's beautiful."
Kael's hand tightened around his sword hilt. "It's a graveyard."
He stepped forward—and the air shimmered. Figures began to form between the ruins: phantoms of long-dead smiths, hammering at invisible anvils. Sparks flew, and with them, whispers.
"Forge anew… the chain unbroken… fire must remember…"
Kael felt the hum of recognition deep in his chest. The Iron-Star Blade at his side began to glow, resonating with the echoes. "They remember me," he murmured.
Eira grabbed his arm. "Or they remember the Dominion through you. Careful, Kael."
But it was too late.A pulse of light exploded from the central forge, knocking them both back. From within the molten core, a voice—ancient and female—echoed across the hollow.
"Who dares wake the Forge of Suns?"
Kael rose to his feet, sword drawn. "Kael Ardent, once Knight-Commander of the Stellar Legion."
The light flared, and a figure stepped out: a woman of living flame, eyes like miniature stars, her body forged of molten steel and breath. Her voice carried both fury and sorrow.
"Then you are the traitor who murdered the heavens."
He didn't flinch. "No. I freed them."
The Fire-Mother—the consciousness of the first forge—circled him slowly. "Freedom is a lie men tell when they fear purpose. You unmade creation itself. The Dominion was our shield."
Kael's voice grew sharp. "Your shield became our cage."
Eira stood between them. "If you call yourself the Forge, then you know what rebirth means. The Dominion's death isn't an ending—it's a beginning."
The Fire-Mother's eyes softened for an instant. "Then prove it."
The ground split. A circle of molten runes ignited around Kael. His sword leapt from his grasp, hovering before him. From the forge's core rose a spectral anvil of light.
"Strike," the Fire-Mother commanded. "Forge your will upon creation itself."
Kael hesitated. "If I fail?"
"Then the Dominion returns. Entire."
He stepped forward, placed the sword upon the anvil, and raised his hand.The runes crawled up his arm, searing symbols into his flesh. Power—old and starless—rushed through him, trying to consume him whole.
He saw visions: the Dominion reborn in the bodies of men, the skies burning once more, Eira turned to ash.He clenched his fist and remembered every quote, every vow.
"The moment I stop fighting is the moment I become what they wanted me to be."
He brought his hand down.
The strike rang like thunder across worlds.Light burst outward, consuming the forge, the phantoms, the valley itself. Eira shielded her eyes as the sky turned white.
Then—silence.
When the light faded, Kael stood amidst cooling glass.His sword was no longer metal—it was translucent, burning softly from within. The Iron-Star Blade reborn.
Eira ran to him. "You did it?"
He looked at the weapon. "Not yet. The Forge gave me power… but I felt something reach back. Something else."
As if in answer, the ground beneath them shuddered. From the depths of the crater rose pillars of light—six of them—each forming a shape. Armor. Weapons. Eyes.
Eira gasped. "Kael… those are Dominion Sentinels."
Kael raised his new blade. "Then the Dominion isn't gone. It's learning to walk again."
The first Sentinel's helm turned toward him, voice grinding like stone.
"Kael Ardent. The Prime awakens. Return the fire."
Kael stepped forward, flames igniting along his blade's edge. "Tell your Prime…"He swung once, cleaving the nearest Sentinel in half."…that the flame remembers itself."
The others roared and charged. Eira's runes flared. Lightning split the sky.
The war beyond the stars had only just begun.