Brent sat alone beneath the old willow tree behind the cottage, twilight spilling golden fire across the fields. His arms ached. His body screamed. But within his chest, his Core pulsed stronger than ever before—its resonance laced now not only with flame and light, but the divine memory of Her.
The Echoborne Sentinel.
A title earned in pain.
A title forged in defiance.
He closed his eyes, letting his breath settle. And as it did, the System's presence—that ever-flickering ember inside him—spoke again.
[System Update: Inheritance Protocol - Flamebond Sync 94%]
You are now able to catalyze suppressed genetic channels.
Family lineage purification available.
Condition: Emotional resonance required.
Target: Lysa Emeris
The Moment He'd Waited For
Inside the cottage, his mother stirred a thin soup with tired hands. His father polished old farming tools—not for work, but for defense. They had already heard the rumors. Vaelrick was coming.
And Lysa—his younger sister—coughing quietly by the hearth, her skin pale and eyes distant.
The same Black Tar Lung that had plagued her since infancy.
A disease no doctor, no mage, no remedy could touch.
Until now.
Brent knelt beside her, holding her frail hand in his calloused one.
"Hey, Lysa," he whispered. "Can you trust me?"
She blinked up at him. "I always have."
His heart ached.
System Activation – Purification Thread Initiated
Soul link established: Lysa Emeris
Detected obstruction: Centurial Poison Residue – Voidroot Variant
Lineage Suppression: 98%
Initiating: Ancestral Cleanse
Brent channeled his Core, the merged flame-light twining with gentle pulses of memory. He felt the corruption within her—a sickness not natural, but engineered. Dark tendrils wrapped around her lungs like claws, ancient and unnatural.
He summoned the Echo within him—Her warmth, Her purity—and pressed it into his sister's core.
The darkness screamed.
But the light didn't burn—it restored.
Cleansed.
Freed.
Lysa gasped, her body arching. Brent held her as her cough turned from wet, sticky hacking to full, clean breaths.
And for the first time in years—she smiled.
System Notification: Soulbond Detected – Sibling Tier (Purified Flame Lineage)
Flame Core: Lysa Emeris – Type: Healing Ember
Hidden Lineage Trait Activated – Blood of the Silvertorch
Brent stood, breathing heavily, when the Keepersarrived.
Three robed figures stood at the edge of the property, veiled in translucent cloaks of woven starlight. The local Flame Wardens—long silent watchers of the land.
One stepped forward, voice deep, eyes shadowed.
"You've awakened the Echo. The Gate has chosen you."
Brent nodded, wary.
The Keeper's hand raised slowly. A small vial of black tar drifted into the air—sealed in crystal.
"This poison has slept in your bloodline for centuries, Brent Emeris."
His heart stopped.
"What?"
The Keeper continued. "It began with your ancestor, Galen Emeris. He refused a marriage pact to the Elaris line. In revenge, the patriarch of their house—Vaelrick's grandfather—embedded a generational curse using Voidroot elixirs. Subtle. Long-lasting. Designed to prevent your family from ever awakening their power."
Brent clenched his fists. "So my family was never weak. We were just poisoned."
The Keeper nodded. "Until you."
The Decision to Leave
That night, as the stars wheeled silently overhead, Brent stood with his parents, Lysa, and Rae beside a cart packed with everything they could carry.
He'd built protective wards around the house—ones that would delay intruders but not stop them.
His mother wept as she buried keepsakes she couldn't take.
His father stared at the sky, eyes clouded with pride and sorrow.
And Lysa, bright-eyed and walking on her own for the first time in years, gripped her brother's arm tightly.
"We'll come back," Brent whispered. "I swear it."
But far to the south, Vaelrick watched flames dance in a black-glass mirror, his son's ashes embedded in his gauntlet.
And next to him, something stirred from the shadows—
A cloaked figure with violet eyes and a familiar, chilling smile.
A voice long thought consumed by the Gate.
"Father…" it rasped. "I've found a way back."
Kalen Elaris.