šÆ The Day the Silence Cracked
It began with a whisper.
Not of fire.
But of fear.
> "Did you hear?"
"She bonded with him."
"The girl with the golden fire."
"She took the Ember Oath with a no-rank."
"He's not a no-rank. He's the Crownless."
By mid-morning, the Ember Academy's halls rippled with rumors that Rael Soren ā the mysterious flameborn orphan ā had marked himself with an ancient soul oath, and tied a forgotten sigil into the leyline circle beneath the Academy itself.
And worse: the magic had accepted it.
> Which meant it remembered him.
---
š The Headmaster's Reaction
"Shut it down," growled Headmaster Verrick, slamming a fire-quill onto his war desk.
"But sir, the circuitā"
"I said shut it down. If the ancient web awakens, it connects the Academy to the Old Flame Crown, and we lose control."
"But the girlāLumieraāshe matches the archived rune signature. She was there."
Verrick's eyes narrowed.
"Then kill the match."
"But she's bondedā"
"Then kill him, too."
---
š„ The Gathering
Meanwhile, Rael stood in the Runic Archives, deep beneath the school, watching golden circuits glow faintly under layers of old dust.
Beside him, Lumiera leaned against a shattered pillar.
Behind him stood three others:
Bren Arlow, flame-molder, expelled noble.
Naevi, rune-reader, silent and scarred.
Jesh Ryn, storm-touched pyromancer, barely sane but loyal.
> "What you're suggesting," Bren said, "will get us all expelled. Or executed."
Rael turned, his eyes smoldering. "Only if we lose."
Lumiera smirked. "You didn't tell them the fun part yet."
Rael raised a brow.
> "That we're not here to survive," she said. "We're here to take it all back."
---
š§æ The Ember Vein
Naevi knelt near the cracked stone and tapped her finger to a buried rune.
"It's waking," she whispered.
"What is?" Jesh asked, scratching his neck with a blade.
"The Vein. The Ember Line. It was sealed a century ago when the Flame Crown fell. But it knows him."
Rael closed his eyes.
> "Let it rise."
He placed his palm over the symbol ā and the room shook. Runes sparked. Ashes swirled. The walls pulsed.
A long-dead magical circuit reconnected.
And in the shadowed corners of the Academyā¦ ancient things stirred.
---
š Council of the Branded
Far beneath even Verrick's chamber, a secret conclave of high-tier mages watched from flame-pools.
> "The boy has broken the dormancy."
"He is reforging the Crown Circuit."
"He cannot be allowed to ascend."
"Then bring out the Ash Viper."
"It hasn't been used sinceā"
"Use it."
In the dark, a hooded mage leaned forward, firelight flickering across his branded face.
> "Crownless rebellionā¦ then we shall burn his crown before he wears it."
---
āļø The Challenge
At dusk, on the dueling grounds, a noble named Kael Draven, heir to the House of Smoke, stepped forward with a scroll of blood-rune challenge.
"I, Kael Draven, call Rael Soren to a sanctioned Flame Duel ā on the charge of oath-corruption, relic trespass, and soul manipulation."
The crowd gasped.
Kael added, "If he loses ā he is to be severed from the flame."
Death would've been kinder.
Rael stepped forward.
"I accept."
---
š The Crownless Stands
That night, as the Academy gathered in silent horror and anticipation, Rael and Lumiera stood in the center of the flame circle ā hands brushing briefly.
"You don't have to prove anything," she said softly.
"I do," he replied. "Not to them. To me."
Above, in the sky, the second moon turned red.
Below, in his veins, Velisandre stirred and whispered.
> "Then burn for it, my king."
---
End of Chapter 15