Stormspire rose like a jagged blade against the sky.
Once a watchtower. Now a ruin wrapped in thunder.
The annual lightning storm had begun.
Rain slashed sideways across the hill. Clouds coiled like beasts in the heavens, pulsing with light.
Tara and Felix Runeward stood at the base of the spire, cloaks soaked through, eyes locked on the peak.
"This is insane," Felix muttered. "Even for us."
Tara grinned, wind whipping her braid. "We were born insane."
They ascended the broken stairs, boots skidding on wet stone, sigils pulsing on their palms.
"Don't slip," Tara said, laughing breathlessly.
"If I die," Felix panted, "you owe me your potion stash."
"You're not dying."
A beat.
"Because we made a pact," she added.
They reached the summit just as the thunder shattered the air.
At the peak, a pedestal of scorched obsidian waited.
Charred. Cracked.
But at its center: a jagged emberglass shard, glowing like a second heartbeat.
The final fragment of the Ember Crown.
Tara reached out—then hesitated.
Felix narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"
"I think it wants something."
The wind screamed louder.
And then—
The lightning struck.
BOOM.
White fire poured from the clouds, hitting the pedestal in a single blinding pulse. The shard levitated, burning bright.
Sigils blazed across the twins' arms.
A voice echoed in both their minds:
"Twinborn of flame and fracture.
One must bear the fire.
One must carry the cost."
They looked at each other.
Felix stepped forward.
"I'll do it."
Tara grabbed his wrist. "No. I will."
They stood still, the storm above them roaring like a god.
Then—together—they stepped into the light.
And the shard split in two.
One half floated to Tara's palm.
The other to Felix's.
When the light faded, the storm had quieted.
No more thunder.
No more lightning.
Just two siblings standing in silence, fire coiled gently around their shoulders.
"Guess we passed," Tara whispered.
Felix nodded. "Guess so."
They turned toward the path down, twin shards glowing at their backs.
Chronicle Entry – Stormspire Fragments Claimed
The Runewards have answered the storm's trial.
Two shards. One choice. A pact unbroken.