The storm howled across Virell like a grieving god, snow swirled sideways, lightning split the sky in spirals, time itself seemed to fracture in the wind.
Lyra, Sera, and Riven ran across the obsidian ridge, breath steaming, their Flame signatures hidden beneath cloaks woven from spectral thread, gifts from Kaelen's old stash.
Behind them, the ground cracked open like an eggshell, a burst of Frostflame surged into the clouds, and the Temple of Frozen Time emerged from beneath the crust.
It wasn't built, it was unearthed, older than architecture, carved by memory, by will.
Each of its towers moved in slow orbit around a central spire, glowing with runes that pulsed like heartbeats.
"This place wasn't meant to be found," Riven said, eyes narrowed, "It remembers too much."
"So do I," Sera whispered, her fingers twitching near the sigil on her wrist.
They reached the threshold, a black gate embedded with seven fractured symbols.
Each one pulsed faintly.
Three were lit — Lyra's, Riven's, and now Sera's.
The others remained dark, dormant, waiting.
"Do we knock?" Lyra muttered, trying to lighten the mood.
Riven stepped forward, placed his hand against the middle sigil.
The gate didn't open, it unfolded.
Space peeled back like cloth, revealing a corridor of frozen starlight, walls lined with reflections of their past selves.
Lyra saw herself younger, alone, abandoned.
Sera saw herself older, proud, and walking away from dying friends.
Riven saw a version of himself standing among corpses with silver flames in his hands.
None of them spoke as they entered.
Inside the Temple, time no longer flowed forward.
It looped, staggered, spiraled.
Each step took them deeper and sideways.
Sera's breath formed music in the air, notes suspended like glass bells.
"What is this place?" Lyra asked, voice hushed.
"A memory prison," Riven replied, "Built by the First Starborn to hold what couldn't be destroyed."
A whisper echoed through the hall.
"She abandoned us."
The voice made Sera freeze.
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward — her, But not her now.
Her past self, wrapped in armor of frost and guilt, eyes filled with betrayal.
"You ran," the echo said, "You let them die."
"I didn't know," Sera whispered.
"You did," the echo snapped, "And now you'll remember."
The room shattered into memory.
Suddenly, they were in the past.
A battlefield of the original Starborn.
Sera's echo stood with six others — Lyra's echo, Riven's too, and four more with faces hidden behind cracked helms.
They fought Orryx the Still, back when he was beautiful, wrapped in voidfire and light.
Sera had turned away at the last moment.
Left them.
Abandoned her post.
The others fell screaming into the Rift.
Lyra watched it happen through her echo's eyes.
Riven closed his fists, feeling the old wound reopen.
"I ran," Sera said, trembling, "But I won't run again."
She stepped forward, hand glowing, and touched her echo's chest,".
The memory dissolved.
Back in the Temple's heart, the frozen throne cracked open.
Orryx emerged, taller than any man, his body made of mirrored fragments and swirling void tendrils, his voice like ice shattering bone.
"Ahh, the coward returns," he hissed, "Shall we finish what we started?"
Flame ignited.
Frost shimmered.
Time bent.
The battle began.
Riven moved first.
His Starflame burst outward, forming spears of anti-matter light.
Orryx caught them midair, twisted them into black glass, and sent them screaming back.
Lyra spun in, fire swirling around her like a dance, every step fueled by rage and memory.
She launched a cascade of Solar Flame, which Orryx consumed and spat back as voidshadow.
Sera closed her eyes.
She reached not for her Flame, But for her echo.
The echo stepped into her, Merged.
The Frostflame roared, and the entire chamber froze, Not just in ice, But in time.
Orryx slowed.
His voice fractured.
"This… is not the same… power… as before."
"No," Sera said, stepping forward, eyes glowing with ancient light, "It's what it should have been."
She struck.
Not with force.
But with remembrance.
Orryx screamed as his own past bled into him.
As the moment of his defeat returned.
And swallowed him whole.
The void shattered.
The throne crumbled.
And silence returned to the Temple.
Riven fell to one knee, breathing hard.
Lyra sat against a wall, her Flame flickering low.
Sera stood at the center of the chamber, Changed, Stronger, Awake.
"Three of seven," Riven said, staring at the now lit sigils on the wall, "The war is starting early."
"Good," Sera said, voice quiet, "Let it come."
Outside, the storm faded
But the stars were burning again.
And far across the Realms, the Void-King opened his eyes and smiled.