The Ashbone Desert stretched before them, an endless sea of dunes bleached white under a merciless sun. The air shimmered with heat, and the wind carried the faint, mournful howl of a land long dead. Lee adjusted the scarf over his face, the True Flame's warmth in his chest a small comfort against the desert's oppressive glare.
"Cheerful place," Kaela muttered, squinting at the horizon. "Bet the local taverns serve sand soup."
Tharok hefted a waterskin, his warhammer slung across his back. "Save your jokes for the scorpions. Heard they're the size of dogs here."
Lyria consulted a crumbling map, her fingers tracing glyphs only she could decipher. "The Earthsoul lies beneath the Sandsinger Oasis—or what's left of it. The desert wasn't always this… barren."
Ignacia's scars pulsed faintly, her gaze distant. "The Forgeborn once tended this land. The Earthsoul was a gift to the first druids, a pact between flame and earth. But the Void's corruption turned life to dust."
Lee's shadow stretched long behind him, darker and sharper than it should have been. He flexed his hand, the Flame's light flickering under his skin. *What happens when the shadows catch up?*
---
### **The Last Outpost**
The group reached a crumbling outpost at the desert's edge—a cluster of mudbrick huts huddled around a dried-up well. A sun-bleached sign read *"Sundown Hollow: Last Water for 100 Miles."* A lone figure emerged, her face wrapped in linen, eyes sharp as flint.
"Turn back," she rasped. "The Sandsinger's gone. Only ghosts and greed remain."
Lee lowered his scarf. "We seek the Earthsoul. Can you guide us?"
The woman laughed, a dry, cracking sound. "Guiding fools to their graves is bad business. But if you're set on dying…" She pointed to a skeletal camel tied to a post. "Take Jabir. He'll smell the water you won't find."
Kaela eyed the camel's ribs. "Charming. What's your price?"
The woman's gaze lingered on Lee's Flame-marked armor. "A story. Tell me how it ends."
---
### **The Hollow Sands**
Jabir led them into the wastes, his hooves kicking up plumes of ash. The dunes shifted endlessly, erasing their tracks. By midday, the heat was unbearable. Tharok's hammer dragged grooves in the sand, and Lyria's spells could barely conjure a trickle of water.
"Something's wrong," Ignacia said, her scars dimming. "The earth here is… silent."
A rumble answered her. The sand erupted, and a colossal worm surged skyward, its maw ringed with teeth like shattered swords. Kaela yanked Lyria aside as the worm dove, swallowing a dune whole.
"Jabir's not paid enough for this!" Kaela shouted, sprinting as the worm gave chase.
Lee summoned the True Flame, its light searing the creature's hide. It recoiled, burrowing into the sand. Tharok slammed his hammer down, triggering a shockwave that flung the worm into the air. Lyria's spell froze its thrashing tail, and Ignacia's molten punch shattered its skull.
The corpse dissolved into ash. "An echo," Ignacia panted. "The Void's memories given form."
Lyria knelt, sifting the sand. "We're close. The Earthsoul's pulse is beneath us."
---
### **The Sandsinger's Dirge**
At dusk, they found the oasis—or its corpse. The bones of ancient trees clawed at the sky, their branches petrified into jagged stone. A pool of black water bubbled at the centre, its surface reflecting stars that didn't exist.
Kaela edged forward. "Inviting. Think it's poisonous?"
"Yes," Lyria and Ignacia said in unison.
Lee approached the pool, his shadow writhing on the sand. The Earthsoul's call thrummed in his bones, a deep, resonant hum. "It's below us. But how do we reach it?"
The sand shifted. A figure rose from the pool—a woman woven from ash and memory, her eyes glowing like buried coals. "Only the worthy may enter the Earth's embrace," she intoned. "Prove your heart is not yet dust."
---
### **The Trial of Stone**
The ashwoman gestured, and the oasis dissolved into a labyrinth of stone pillars. Each bore carvings of Eldoria's history: Forgeborn forging the Flame, druids nurturing the earth, the Void's first invasion.
**Tharok** faced a pillar of war, its carvings depicting giants clashing. "I've fought enough battles," he growled, placing his palm on the stone. It crumbled, revealing a path.
**Kaela** confronted a pillar of thieves, a mirror of her past. "I steal for survival, not greed," she declared. The pillar split, her reflection winking.
**Lyria** stood before a pillar of forgotten knowledge. "I seek truth to heal, not control," she whispered. The stone glowed, etching new runes into her skin.
**Lee** faced the final pillar—a Forgeborn offering the Earthsoul to the druids. The ashwoman appeared beside him. "You carry both flame and shadow. Which will you choose?"
Lee placed his hand on the pillar. "Balance."
The labyrinth collapsed, revealing a stairway into the earth.
---
### **The Heart of the World**
The chamber below was a geode of crystalline light, walls shimmering with veins of gold and emerald. At its heart floated the Earthsoul—a gem the size of a skull, its surface swirling with the colours of a thousand storms.
Ignacia fell to her knees. "It's… beautiful."
A rumble shook the chamber. The crystals dimmed as a shadow engulfed the Earthsoul—a figure clad in Forgeborn armour, his face a hollow void. "I am Drannor, the last guardian of the Earthsoul. The Void promised me vengeance against those who buried my kin. Now… I am its herald."
Lee drew *Ignis Fury*, the blade's constellations flaring. "You don't have to do this."
Drannor laughed, the sound like a grinding stone. "You think you're the first Flamebearer to resist? Your predecessors *begged* for death."
**The Shattered Pact**
The battle was cataclysmic. Drannor wielded the Earthsoul's power, hurling boulders and fissures of dark energy. Tharok and Kaela dodged debris, their strikes ineffectual against his armour. Lyria's spells ricocheted off his shield, and Ignacia's molten blows only scarred the earth.
Lee clashed with Drannor, their blades sparking. "The Forgeborn's legacy isn't vengeance! It's *protection*!"
Drannor's void face twisted. "Lies! They abandoned to face the Void!"
Lee's shadow stretched, merging with Drannor's darkness. For a moment, he saw the guardian's memories—a Forgeborn betrayed, left to guard the Earthsoul as the world forgot him.
"You're not alone," Lee said, the Flame's light-piercing Drannor's armour. "Join us. Help us mend what's broken."
Drannor hesitated. Then, with a roar, he plunged his blade into his own chest. The Earthsoul flared, its light purging the Void from his body. "Take it… before I falter again."
---
### **The Price of Balance**
Lee grasped the Earthsoul. Power surged through him—the weight of mountains, the patience of stone. His armour fused with the gem, the True Flame, now a triad of light: gold, blue, and green.
But his shadow deepened, clawing at his heels. Ignacia gripped his arm. "The Flame's power is merging with your soul. If the shadows overtake you…"
"I know," Lee said quietly.
Aboveground, the sky darkened. The Devourer's silhouette loomed on the horizon, a black hole swallowing the stars.
Kaela smirked, though her hands trembled. "Guess we're out of time."
Tharok hefted his hammer. "Then let's give it a welcome it won't forget."
As the group marched toward the Devourer, Lee's shadow stretched ahead, a silent omen. The True Flame blazed, but in its light, he wondered—would he be the spark that saved Eldoria, or the wildfire that consumed it?