Kael stood in the middle of the circle, her fingers wrapped tightly around the obsidian dagger. The walls of the old train car had transformed—glyphs of flame and wind now glowed, alive and breathing like embers in the dark.

“Focus,” said the man with ember eyes. “You’re not holding a weapon. You’re holding a memory.”

Kael frowned. “What’s that even mean?”

“Your flame isn’t learned—it’s remembered. Locked inside you. You just need to unlock it.”

He stepped back. “Now burn it.”

A figure stepped from the shadows—a construct of frost and shadow, its hollow eyes glowing. Kael’s breath hitched. It looked exactly like the things that attacked her in the alley.

Her fear sparked.

Her fire exploded.

Flames burst from her palms, wild and hot, lighting the train car like a bomb went off. But it was uncontrolled—scorching everything, even forcing her mentor to shield his face.

The construct melted into steam—but so did half the wall.

“Impressive,” he muttered, coughing. “But reckless.”

Kael dropped to her knees, panting. “I didn’t mean to—”

“I know. That’s the problem.” He crouched beside her. “The Ember-born aren’t just weapons. They were warriors. Strategists. Leaders. Your flame saved the world once—but it nearly destroyed it, too.”

Kael looked up. “Then why bring it back?”

“Because the Frost is rising again. And you’re not alone.”

He stood and walked to the far wall, pulling down a folded map marked with five glowing sigils.

“Five warriors. Five elements. Reincarnated like you. Scattered across the world. If you don’t find them before the Frost King does...”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

Kael stared at the glowing symbols. One pulsed in the East, near an abandoned coastal city. Another shimmered in the far North, deep in frozen territory.

“Where do we start?” she asked.

The man smiled. “With her.”

He pointed to the symbol glowing near the coast—an ocean-blue sigil surrounded by crashing waves.

“Her name is Lira. Water-born. She was your closest ally in the last war... and the first to fall.”

Kael grabbed her backpack, eyes blazing with fire and purpose.

“Then let’s bring her back.”

---

Inside a throne of ice, the Frost King studied a frozen mirror. Kael’s fiery outburst played across its surface like a memory.

“She remembers too quickly,” he murmured. “Much faster than before.”

One of his generals stepped forward. “Shall I send the Hollow to intercept her?”

The Frost King shook his head. “No. Send the Shadeborn.”

The general hesitated. “That… thing nearly wiped out our own forces last time.”

A slow, chilling smile spread across the king’s face.

“Exactly.”