“What the hell is happening to me?”

The spiral symbol seared into her palm—like a brand. But the pain was already fading, replaced by something stranger. A pulse. A direction. As if her hand suddenly had a compass buried in the skin… and it was pulling her somewhere.

She grabbed her jacket, shoved the scorched cloth into her backpack, and ran.

---

The city’s abandoned train yard was the kind of place people avoided. It had been shut down for years, rusting and overrun with graffiti and bad memories. Kael had never been here before—but her hand burned hotter with every step.

At the center of the yard stood a rusted train car, covered in ash and soot. Her hand pulsed like a drum. She climbed aboard, forced the door open—

—and nearly fell inside.

The train car was hollowed out, turned into a bunker. Symbols glowed on the walls. Maps, ancient scrolls, weapons lined with firestone. In the corner, sitting in an old leather chair, was him.

The man with ember eyes.

“You followed the flame,” he said, not looking up from the map on his lap.

“You left a burning brand on my doorstep!”

“I needed to know you were ready.”

Kael clenched her fists. “Ready for what?”

He finally looked up. “To survive.”

He gestured to the wall. Kael followed his gaze—and froze. A massive mural was burned into the metal:

Five figures stood in a circle. Each with a different glow: Fire. Water. Earth. Air. Shadow.

In the center, a tower made of light and dark… cracked down the middle.

“This is you,” he said, pointing to the fire figure. “You’re Ember-born. Reincarnated from a warrior who once sealed away the Frost King. That brand? It’s calling you to reunite with the others. If you don’t—”

“Let me guess. World ends?”

“No.” He stood, walking toward a black case. “Worse.”

He opened it, revealing a curved dagger made of black obsidian and pulsing red lines.

“The Frost King doesn’t want to end the world, Kael. He wants to freeze it. Stop time. Lock all things in silence. No pain. No progress. No freedom.”

He handed her the blade.

Kael took it, feeling warmth surge through her. Like it knew her.

“Lesson one,” the man said, pulling out his own blade. “Control your fire… or it will control you.”

---

Inside a mountain of ice, a different figure stirred.

Female. Pale. Eyes like starlight.

“She’s awakened,” the Frost King whispered to his lieutenant. “The fire girl breathes again.”

“What shall we do, my king?”

The Frost King smiled. “Let her come. Let her gather her little ‘champions.’”

He turned, frost swirling around him.

“I want to break them together.”