Chapter 23 Descent Into Flame

• The seal cracked with a sound like breaking thunder, echoing through the ancient stone of Ashmire’s ruins. Dust fell like snow. The earth trembled. And at the center of the ruined hall, where the Heartfire had surged strongest, a rift now yawned open—dark, searing, and impossibly deep.
• Elara stood at the edge of it, the hem of her cloak fluttering in the dry heat that pulsed upward. The crack glowed faintly with molten red light, its edges etched with sigils that shifted when looked at too long—primordial symbols, older than wolf or man, older even than flame.
• She turned once, her eyes meeting Kael’s. His jaw was clenched, his fists trembling at his sides.