There was no sound at first—only a shift.
Light receded. Space twisted. And then the Axis Gate expelled them into a sky that wasn't a sky at all.
Above, the stars bent backward into bleeding spirals. Below, blackened ruins shimmered beneath heat mirages. What remained of Oron Karth jutted from the ground like grave markers—shards of obsidian towers, their edges seared and fused by a forgotten war.
And yet the air pulsed—not just with memory, but with warmth.
Ethan staggered to steady footing, boots crunching on bone-dust. Aelira landed beside him, eyes wide. "We're between realms," she murmured. "This... isn't just Oron Karth. It's infused. Something else bled into it."
The System flickered in Ethan's vision:
[SYSTEM ALERT: Realm Fusion Detected – Oron Karth (Deep Echo) / Vael'tharis (Slumbering Flame)] Warning: Spatiotemporal anchors unstable. Identity feedback possible. Proceed with extreme caution.
The city ahead was fractured not just in form—but in time. Shadows repeated old battles in the periphery of vision. Flames flickered with no source. And at the center, a forge sat buried inside a throne-shaped crater, still glowing.
Ethan felt a pull—not just forward, but inward. His System bond buzzed erratically.
Aelira clutched her chest. For a moment, a halo of solar flame wreathed her head. It vanished before she could speak.
Then came the voice. Low, regal. Familiar.
"Back again. Or perhaps… finally arrived."
From the ruins emerged a figure in mirrored armor—Kaelen Varros. Or a version of him, shaped by memory, flame, and the burden of a crown.
Ethan stepped forward.
"I'm not here to wear your throne," he said. "I'm here to end what you started."
Kaelen smiled. "Then enter the forge. And see which of us breaks first."
[Ethan Cross - Status: Twinheart Sovereign] Vitality: 98% Mind-Sync: Stable Core Thread: Awakened (Phase II) Abilities: • Echo Recall – Manifest past selves from memory-linked zones • Flamebind – Channel Vael'tharis fire through bonded anchor • System Override (Passive) – Resist environmental interference up to Class B anomalies • Thronebound Link – Access hidden functions in fractured Thrones
Companion Link: Aelira • Flame Crown (Dormant) • Astral Thread Sync: 84%