The Core District was nothing like Kael imagined. It wasn’t just ruins—it was a wound.

The crater stretched for miles, surrounded by twisted towers and rivers of molten glass. Lightning crawled across the ground where Pyronite once flowed. The air shimmered, bending light into impossible colors. Even from a distance, Kael could feel the heat pressing against his skin like invisible hands.

“This is where it started,” Lira whispered. “The first Pyronite reactor. The first explosion. The birth of every Resonant.”

Kael stared at the center, where a massive spire of crystallized flame jutted from the earth. “And the Federation built their fortress on top of it.”

She nodded grimly. “They called it the Sanctum Core. Rumor says the Flame Division guards something deep inside—a containment chamber.”

Kael felt a pull, faint but unmistakable, drawing him toward that center. The closer he moved, the stronger it grew, like gravity made of fire.

“Kael,” Lira warned, “your readings are spiking. You’re resonating with it.”

“I know,” he said, voice low. “It’s calling me.”

They crossed the broken plain, using the remnants of old bridges as cover. Patrol drones hovered above, their red lights sweeping the smoke. Kael focused on suppressing his heat signature, his new wrist guards pulsing as they absorbed stray energy.

When they reached the base of the spire, the ground throbbed beneath them like a living heart. Lira activated a portable console, scanning the perimeter. “There’s a hidden entrance—maintenance access, two levels below surface.”

Kael found the shaft half buried under molten debris. Together they pried it open, revealing a spiral staircase descending into crimson light. The air grew hotter with every step, until breathing felt like swallowing fire.

At the bottom waited a door of solid Pyronite crystal, veins of light pulsing across its surface. Kael reached out, his palm trembling as the glow matched his own heartbeat.

The door recognized him. With a low hum, it split open, releasing a wave of warm air and faint whispers—voices layered over one another, ancient and burning.

Inside was a vast chamber. The walls were alive with flowing magma, and in the center hovered a sphere of liquid flame suspended in midair. It pulsed like a star, its light reflecting in Kael’s eyes.

Lira stared in awe. “That’s it. The original Flame Core.”

Kael stepped closer. The whispers grew louder, forming words he could almost understand. Remember us. Remember the beginning.

Images flashed through his mind—an ancient civilization harnessing the planet’s fire, a tower of light collapsing, oceans of molten energy devouring the earth. He staggered, clutching his head.

“Kael!” Lira caught him before he fell.

He gasped, voice shaking. “It’s alive… and it remembers me.”

Before she could respond, alarms blared. Red lights swept across the chamber. Federation troops poured in through hidden passages, led by Dareth—his armor scorched but intact.

“Step away from the Core,” Dareth commanded. “It doesn’t belong to you.”

Kael turned, flames dancing in his eyes. “Maybe not. But it’s part of me.”

The Core pulsed once, reacting to his words. The energy in the room spiked, shaking the ground. Lira shielded her face from the brightness.

Dareth braced himself, shouting over the roar. “You’ll destroy everything if you keep resonating!”

Kael looked at the floating sphere—the fire that had haunted his dreams—and whispered, “Maybe that’s the point.”

The chamber exploded in light.