Time passed like wind over embers—softly, but with purpose.
The sky no longer burned.
The gods were gone—or sealed once more—but this time, not by force.
By choice.
By will.
By fire that remembered.
---
In the ruins of Eldenhold, now known simply as The Hollow, the Whispering Gate stood silent.
Its final message etched into stone:
"The cycle is broken."
No prophecy.
No command.
Just truth.
Kaelis stood before it, hand resting lightly on the cool surface. She could still feel the pulse beneath her fingertips—the echo of what had been, and what might yet be.
She was no longer just Marked.
She was no longer just human.
She was *Shaper.
And she was alone.
Riven was gone.
Not dead.
Not truly.
He had become part of the fire itself.
A whisper in the flame.
A memory carried by the wind.
---
Across the land, the changes came slowly—but they came.
The Council of Flame dissolved, its power fractured.
The Ember Circle rose from secrecy into guidance, teaching those who awakened to their gifts—not as gods, but as people.
Dragons did not return in full, but traces of them remained—whispers in dreams, flickers in the sky, memories walking among mortals.
And everywhere, fire burned differently.
Brighter.
Freer.
More alive.
Because the world had chosen its own path.
And nothing would ever be the same again.
---
Seyra stood atop the highest tower of Emberreach, wings fully unfurled at last.
She did not belong to dragons.
She did not belong to gods.
She belonged to herself.
And now, so did the sky.
With one final glance at the city below, she leapt.
And flew.
Not toward the past.
But toward whatever lay ahead.
---
Kaelis returned to the cavern beneath the mountain.
The ember-altar still pulsed, though weaker now.
Vorathax was gone.
Perhaps truly gone this time.
Or perhaps waiting.
She knelt before the mural where Talen and Vintrinx had once stood.
Now, new figures had appeared beside them.
One with fire in his eyes.
One with will in her hands.
Riven.
Kaelis.
They were not replacements.
They were remembrance.
She touched the stone gently.
"I won't let it happen again," she whispered.
Then she turned away.
And walked into a world without gods.