[Subterra – The Timeless Depths Beneath Creation]
Reyansh followed Adityan into the deepest part of reality—a hollow world that existed beneath time itself. Here, memory had no grip, and light itself flickered like an uncertain flame.
Before them lay a massive obsidian gate, chained by divine symbols so ancient that even the goddesses had long forgotten their meaning.
Adityan placed his hand upon it.
> "Beyond this gate sleeps the one even Ash feared."
> "The First Flame That Devoured Suns—Vaikraas."
Reyansh hesitated. "And you want to wake it?"
> "No," Adityan whispered, smiling. "You will."
---
[Ashraya – Divine Observatory]
At the same moment, Ash stirred in his throne.
A pulse, darker than any he had felt in 18,000 years, echoed through his core.
> "He found it…"
Ash stood, and the throne cracked beneath him.
The goddesses appeared in silence—Prithvi, Agni, Jala, Vaayu, and the others.
They had all felt it too.
> "Adityan has crossed a line," said Goddess Agni. "Even you never dared awaken Vaikraas."
Ash said nothing. Only turned to the east.
> "Tell them," he whispered. "Tell Akarshan and the others to stop Reyansh… before he lights that flame."
---
[Meanwhile – Within the Obsidian Gate]
Reyansh's hands glowed with stolen divine sigils.
He chanted words that twisted the space around him.
The gate trembled.
Behind it, a faint growl rose—one that made even Adityan step back.
> "Why… does it sound like it's awake already?"
The runes exploded.
The gate burst open.
And from within stepped Vaikraas—a skeletal dragon of flame and shadow, its eyes twin suns burning in a dead skull.
> "WHO… DARES… WAKE… THE FIRST FIRE?"
Reyansh bowed.
> "I am your liberator."
Vaikraas stared… and laughed.
> "Then you are my first meal."
---
[Ash's Warning]
Ash's voice rang across the skies, reaching Akarshan and his friends:
> "He's awakened Vaikraas. If you let it reach the surface… the world burns."
They nodded in grim silence.
And the descent into the Caverns of Flame began.
---