Frostbound Flame: Legacy of the Forbidden Clans

Chapter 28: Chapter 5: The Ashes of Trust



Location: The Blight-Ridge Pass — Two days from Vaer'MorathTime: Dusk, 7th Day of the Heptasoul Flare

The desert was behind them.

And yet, Aika couldn't stop glancing back.

The sands had grown quiet again—no echoes of time distortions, no haunted chains falling from the skies. Only wind. Only silence.

But silence, Aika had learned, rarely meant peace.

They had left the ruins three days ago, carrying the battered body of Seris, who now lay unconscious on the back of Ren's Skyfang. Her veins still shimmered faintly with silver light — time magic poisoned by overuse. The wounds weren't physical. They were woven into her existence.

Ren rode silently ahead, every so often glancing over his shoulder toward Rael, who trailed behind Aika, head low.

He hadn't spoken much since the battle.

He barely spoke at all.

The Weight of the Brand

Rael's mind was a storm.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Kaien's memory — the flickering flame, the voice echoing through a sealed space that was nowhere and everywhere.

"You are not me."

"But you are the choice I never had."

He didn't understand.

Why did he see Kaien's final moments as if he'd lived them?

Why did the soul-brand on his chest flare every time Aika was near?

Why did the Clock-Twin call him anomaly?

He stared at his palms.

Golden fire crackled silently over his fingertips.

He clenched them into fists.

He was dangerous.

And if he wasn't careful… he might become something even worse.

Campfire and Confessions

They stopped just before dusk, setting up camp beside a crumbling shrine swallowed by ivy and crystal fungus. The Blight-Ridge had once been a border between realms — now, it was wild, unpredictable, tainted by residual elemental fallout.

Aika sat apart from the others, sharpening her frost-laced dagger on a stone. The motion was mechanical, rhythmic — a habit inherited from her mother.

Rael approached slowly, awkwardly, a blanket in hand.

She looked up, suspicious. "What's that?"

"You're shivering," he said simply.

"I'm ice elemental," she replied coldly. "I don't shiver."

He set it beside her anyway.

"I do," he said. "And you keep walking ahead like you don't care if we leave you behind."

Aika didn't respond immediately.

Then, quietly: "I was taught not to depend on people who might vanish tomorrow."

Rael sat down near the fire, careful not to be too close.

"I don't want to vanish."

"Good," she said. "Because I don't want to be the one who has to stop you if you lose control."

He looked at her.

There was no malice in her words.

Just honesty.

That was scarier than anger.

Ren's Warning

Later that night, Ren walked over, cloak draped lazily around his shoulders, and dropped beside Rael with a sigh.

"Just so we're clear," Ren began, voice low, "I don't trust you."

Rael didn't reply.

"But," Ren continued, "you helped us against that time-glitch freak, and you didn't run. So… for now, you're not the enemy."

Rael raised an eyebrow. "That's generous."

Ren leaned closer.

"I've seen people crack under far less. Mages who turned into monsters because of pressure, because of bloodlines, because of choices made for them."

He paused.

"I saw my uncle die that way."

Rael looked away. "I don't know who made me. I don't even know if I'm real."

"Doesn't matter," Ren said. "Real or not, the world's going to come at you. So stand up, or fall out of the way."

He stood, flicked a flame from his knuckles, and walked off.

Rael stared into the fire.

Was he meant to be Kaien's successor?

Or his replacement?

Seris Speaks

At midnight, a soft voice cracked the silence.

"Rael…"

He turned.

Seris lay on her side, eyes half-open, voice rasping. Time still shimmered around her, distorting her image every few seconds — she'd appear younger, older, then correct again.

Aika and Ren rushed to her side.

Seris reached for Rael's hand.

"You need… to go to the Echoing Vault."

Aika frowned. "What is that?"

"Where Kaien's memory is locked… his plan, his regrets… and his flame's true name."

Rael whispered, "I don't want his burden."

Seris closed her eyes briefly. "It was never his burden. It was… hers."

They leaned closer.

"Who—?"

Seris opened her eyes.

"The Ice Maiden of the First Flame. The woman Kaien died for."

Aika's breath hitched.

"Wait. My mother?"

Seris passed out again.

The Hollow Flame Rises

Far away, beyond the ruined coastlines of the Deadwind Gulf, a figure in white sat on a throne made of gears and glass.

He wore a newly forged mirror mask, but his voice was that of a youth — cold, calculating, inhuman.

"The Heptasoul chose again."

A dozen cloaked figures knelt before him — each bearing the mark of the Hollow Flame, twisted versions of Kaien's original insignia.

"The anomaly must not reach the Vault.The Flame must remain broken.And the dragon… must never wake."

The figure stood.

A new Clock-Twin was born.

And the countdown… had begun again.

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