Snow crunched beneath Kai's boots as the trio approached the cliffs of Frostvale. The wind howled like a beast warning them away, but Kai's grip on the Eternal Flame never faltered.
Seris led them up a hidden path carved into the icy mountain. Crystalline frost coated every surface, glowing faintly with magical residue.
"The Archive lies beneath this glacier," she said, brushing away a layer of snow from a stone slab. Runes shimmered beneath her touch.
Lira narrowed her eyes. "And you're sure this isn't a trap?"
Seris met her gaze without flinching. "If I wanted you dead, I'd have let the cult do it in the last valley."
Kai placed his hand on the slab. Heat surged from the sword at his back, and the runes flared red. The glacier cracked down the middle with a deep groan.
With a slow grind of ancient stone, a passage opened — wide, dark, and humming with power.
"Welcome to the Blood Archive," Seris whispered.
The air inside was colder than death. The corridor pulsed with red veins of ancient magic, like the glacier itself was alive. Symbols lined the walls — twisted, wrong, like someone had rewritten reality.
As they moved deeper, memories surged in Kai's mind — not his own, but echoes of past lives. Pain. Fire. A scream that never ended.
He staggered.
"Kai?" Lira reached for him, concern flashing across her face.
He shook it off. "I'm fine. The Archive… it remembers me."
Seris turned. "You were here once, weren't you? Before the world fell?"
Kai didn't answer.
Because he had been here. In his second life. And he had died in this place — burned by a power even his sword couldn't contain.
At the end of the hall stood a black obelisk, cracked and pulsing. Chains of magic bound it, like a prison that still breathed.
"This is it," Seris said quietly. "The Obsidian Core. The cult feeds it blood to awaken… something ancient."
Kai stepped forward. The Eternal Flame vibrated violently, almost as if resisting.
"No," he muttered. "Not again."
He raised his sword—and the obelisk pulsed.
A wave of shadow burst from it, slamming into them.
Lira was knocked back, crashing into the wall.
Seris cried out, her body wrapped in dark tendrils.
Kai dropped to one knee, shielding himself with his blade as whispers tore into his mind.
"Welcome back, Flamebearer..."
A voice echoed through the chamber — ancient, deep, and laced with venom.
"Did you think you could escape us by dying?"
Kai's eyes flared with fury. The Eternal Flame ignited, bathing the chamber in red fire.
"No," he growled. "This time… I'll burn you before you awaken."
The shadows shrieked as the fire surged, cutting through them. Seris collapsed to the ground, coughing, the tendrils vanishing.
Lira pulled herself up, sword drawn, blood on her lip.
The obelisk cracked — a jagged fracture crawling down its center.
But something stirred inside.
Something that hadn't finished sleeping.
Kai raised his sword again, sweat pouring down his brow. "We need to destroy it before it opens fully."
Seris, still gasping, nodded. "There's a seal buried beneath its base… but you'll need to touch the Core."
Kai didn't hesitate. He stepped forward — toward the same fate that once killed him.
But this time, he wasn't alone.