The morning air was cool and sharp as Kazi stepped out of the hidden sanctuary. The city above felt different now, colder somehow, quieter despite its usual buzz. Maybe it was her, or maybe it was the mark shifting her perception. Either way, she felt exposed.

Rhazir followed a few steps behind her. His hood was up and his hands were in his coat pockets. "It's a long way to the next site," he said. "You sure you're ready?"

"No," Kazi admitted, "but when has that ever stopped me?"

He smirked. "Good answer."

They walked in silence through back streets and alleyways, away from the glow of neon signs and late-night traffic. Rhazir explained that the Ember Line's next resonance point, the place where Kazi's fire mark would be strongest, wasn't on any map. It pulsed in cycles, appearing only when called.

Kazi glanced at her arm. The tattoo shimmered faintly, pulsing like a compass needle with no clear direction.

"How will we know we're close?" she asked.

"You'll feel it," Rhazir said. "Your mark will burn hotter. And if there's someone else nearby, another awakened, it might react to them, too."

That thought was unsettling to her. She then remembered the boy she saw in her vision. He seemed… calm, almost serene. But power didn't always come with good intentions.

Kazi and Rhazir took the next train out of the city of Novara, Kazi staring through the window at the forested hills rolling by. The further they traveled, the more the mark itched, like it was waking up in waves.

They disembarked near a forgotten town called Ashano, a place time had nearly erased. The forest had crept in slowly over the years, wrapping its roots around crumbling brick buildings like a patient predator. Trees burst through rooftops, their branches stretching where ceilings once stood. Nature wasn’t just present here; it had reclaimed the town entirely.

"This is it?" she asked.

"This is where the Ember Line touches the surface," Rhazir replied.

They pushed deeper into the woods, guided by nothing but the rising hum beneath Kazi’s skin. No trail marked their path, no signs pointed the way; only the pull of something ancient and insistent.

As they pushed along, the forest parted.

Before them lay a wide clearing, unnaturally bare. A perfect circle of scorched earth stretched outward, untouched by time. No grass. No weeds. Just cinders and silence.

At its center stood a lone stone pillar, charred and cracked from heat long spent. And beside it… a girl.

Young. Barefoot. Her tangled black hair whipped in the breeze, and her eyes burned with the same amber fire that flickered in Kazi’s mark.

Kazi froze. her breath caught in her throat.

"She has the mark," she whispered.

Rhazir held up a hand toward the girl. "Wait!"

But it was too late.

The girl turned to face them; her glowing eyes locked onto Kazi with an eerie calm. Her expression was unreadable… empty.

Fire began to gather in her hands, pulsing with growing intensity.

The mark on Kazi’s arm ignited, burning bright.