Chapter 13: ghost in flame
Snow melted underfoot as dawn broke over the high peaks. The temple behind them smoldered with a ghostly fire that wouldn't go out—Varos' last gift. The Ember Seal now hung in a rune-bound pouch at Cain's side, warm even through thick leather. But the warmth didn't reach his bones.
Ayden was the first to break the silence. "You ever wonder if maybe we were meant to die young? Like... we were never supposed to last this long?"
Lucien, adjusting his gloves, snorted. "Speak for yourself. I plan on outliving every vampire, demon, and disgruntled god we meet."
"I mean it," Ayden insisted, squinting at the horizon. "Every time we survive something impossible, the world feels heavier. Like we're dragging it behind us."
Cain said nothing. He hadn't said much since the trial. But his silence carried weight now—less reluctance, more calculation. Rei noticed the shift. She walked beside him, her eyes flicking to his face occasionally.
"You saw something," she said.
"I always see something," he replied. "That's the problem."
Corin walked behind them, arms crossed. "Whatever's waiting at the next seal, it's watching us already."
"Do you feel it too?" Rei asked.
Corin nodded. "Like static in the blood. Like teeth scraping the inside of your head."
They followed the ridge path until they reached the edge of a broken monastery—The Monastery of Crimson Bones, once sacred to the Order of Silver Flame, now desecrated and drowned in frost. Spires jutted like broken swords from snow-drowned stone. It wasn't on any map Rei had ever read.