The fire cracked softly in the early light.

Kael sat motionless beside the flame, his sword resting across his lap. Rin lay a few feet away, still asleep, her breath slow and calm. Lux hovered above them, silent—watching.

But inside Kael, nothing was still.

A sudden scent—ash. Burning.

He blinked.

And the world shattered.

FLASHBACK

Screams tore through the sky.

Flames danced along broken buildings. Shadows moved like predators through chaos.

He was a child again. Running. Crying. Searching for a hand that would never return.

His father stood tall amidst the fire, sword in hand, shielding them. His mother’s voice—urgent, breaking—pushed him toward safety.

But from the smoke… a shape emerged.

Cool. Calm. Familiar.

“Vael!” the boy cried out.

And Vael looked back at him—with eyes that didn’t feel like home.

He didn’t raise his blade.

He didn’t defend.

Instead, he watched. Silent. Still. As Kael’s father was struck down before him.

“You still don’t understand,” Vael’s voice was like stone.

“To fix this world… we must break it first.”

And then he vanished into shadow, untouched by the carnage around him.

“You… left us…” Kael’s voice trembled, lost in the roar.

Kael gasped and snapped upright. The fire was still burning.

But something inside him had burned away with it.

Rin stirred, sensing the shift. She sat beside him quietly, her presence gentle but unrelenting.

“I saw your dream,” she said softly.

Kael turned away. “Stay out of my head.”

“I didn’t choose to. But… you should know. Some wounds only bleed when left buried.”

Her words cut deeper than the blade ever could.

She’d seen it. The betrayal. The helplessness. The silence.

Elsewhere, far above…

Vael stood in a crystal-lit room. A mirror shimmered before him, showing Kael’s face—haunted, furious, alive.

He smirked.

“Still running from blood, little brother?”

He leaned forward, voice cold.

“I run through it.”

A voice answered him from the mirror—a shadowy figure cloaked in void.

“Orders?”

Vael’s grin widened.

“Make him remember. And then make him bleed.”

Back in the forest, dusk had fallen.

Kael and Rin stepped out from the ruined shelter. For a moment, the world felt calm.

Until the sky screamed.

A shape dropped from the trees. Another crawled from the dark.

The Handler had come.

Twisted and cruel, he struck without warning.

Rin raised her hands—light formed a shield—but it cracked under the pressure. She was hit, thrown aside.

Kael’s instincts flared, but he hesitated. Not out of fear—but restraint.

He couldn’t lose control again.

But the Handler was merciless.

He seized Rin by the mind—crushing her with psychic force.

She screamed.

“She feels everything,” the Handler hissed. “Let’s make her feel you break.”

Something inside Kael snapped.

His blade ignited. His eyes turned to fire.

The Shadow Flame erupted.

Darkness and power swirled around him—untamed, hungry.

And for the first time…

He let it come.