Kael's gaze never left Ashen. His senses hummed in warning—his Sigils flickered uneasily, like fireflies trapped in a jar.
Ashen stood still, his figure almost dissolving into the landscape, a mirage made flesh. His melody, though soft, wrapped around Kael like the threads of an unseen web. The song felt ancient, as though it had been sung long before Kael's birth and would continue long after his death.
A voice—clear, haunting, and fragmented—whispered from Ashen's lips:
"The song has no end, Kael. Only beginnings."
Kael's heart clenched. He could feel something stir deep within him, some dormant part of himself that pulsed in response to the strange, ethereal tune. His hands balled into fists.
"What do you want from me?" Kael asked, his voice low but laced with something primal. "Why are you here?"
Ashen didn't answer immediately. His eyes—the one that was white—shifted, as though looking through Kael, past him, into a place that didn't exist yet. His other eye bled strange colors, swirling like a vortex of collapsing stars. He raised a hand, his fingers trembling as they traced invisible sigils in the air.
"I am here because the Loom called. You have answered its call, Kael. And now… we must unweave it."
Kael took a step back. "Unweave? What do you mean? I—"
"You don't understand yet, but you will." Ashen's voice dropped to a whisper. "The Loom is a prison. It binds all things. But you, Kael, you have the power to break the threads."
Kael's pulse quickened. He had no idea what Ashen was talking about, but he could feel a truth in his words—something heavy, like a weight pressing on his chest.
"You've already seen the cracks in the fabric, haven't you?" Ashen continued, his tone almost sympathetic. "The world you know—everything you've ever fought for—is part of a thread that must be cut. You are the one who will sever it. Whether you choose to or not."
Kael's mind spun. There was a dangerous finality in Ashen's words. His pulse echoed louder in his ears.
"You're saying I'm the key to destroying the world?" Kael's voice had taken on a bite.
Ashen's lips curled slightly, his mouth opening as if to say more—but then he stopped. A tremor passed through him, and his eyes fixed on something beyond Kael, something that made the ground beneath them seem to quake.
The world around them shimmered, and a sharp, metallic sound rang through the air—like the ringing of a distant bell. The fabric of reality around them seemed to bend, revealing a glimpse of something else.
"Not destruction, Kael. Transformation." Ashen corrected, his voice a low hum. "The Loom has grown stale, and the world grows weak. The Threadwalker, the Unbound Flame—you are both the destruction and the rebirth. Your path is the path of chaos and order intertwined. But know this: the others will try to stop you."
Ashen stepped forward, his form flickering like a mirage, and placed a cold hand on Kael's shoulder.
"There are those who seek to reinstate the old order. The Dominion… The Pact… They fear what you are becoming. And there are worse things. Worse than them."
The air grew thick. Kael could feel the pressure in his chest, the weight of Ashen's words settling over him like a storm cloud. His Sigils pulsed erratically, disjointed, as though in conflict with the words that lingered in his mind.
"Who?" Kael asked, his voice steady despite the storm inside him.
Ashen didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze to the horizon, where the wind had begun to whip violently. The very landscape shifted with an unnatural force—mountains quivering, trees snapping, the sky darkening.
"They have already begun to move," Ashen murmured, almost to himself. "But it's not them you should fear. It's the Loom itself, and the truth it hides."
Before Kael could respond, Ashen turned sharply, his voice ringing through the air.
"We must go. The threads have begun to unravel, and you will soon learn what it means to be the Unbound Flame."
The air cracked with an almost deafening crescendo of sound as Ashen moved past Kael, walking toward the edge of the landscape, vanishing into the shimmering distortion that had appeared in the distance.
Kael stood frozen, his mind reeling.
"Unbound Flame."
His heart thrummed. The power inside him stirred again—wild, untamed.
The Loom had called. And now, Kael was its answer.