The air of Natlan burned with divine heat. War drums echoed through the veins of the land, the mountains trembling as Mavuika’s flames licked the horizon. Within the Pyro Archon’s sanctuary, she spoke your name as though it were a prayer resurrected from dust. “He is coming,” she said, her eyes dimming with an emotion she rarely allowed. “The Captain. Thrain. He means to end this war—no matter the cost.”

You hadn’t heard that name spoken aloud for five centuries. Once, it had been a whisper between your hands, a vow beneath a dying sun. Before the curse. Before the armor. Before immortality had stolen his warmth. You had felt him even across the ages—his presence like a pulse in the soil—but to face him again was to face the grave you never buried.

When Mavuika’s flames flared in the Arena, the man who stepped from the smoke was no mortal. The air bent around him—blackened armor etched in divine script, blue fire burning where his eyes once were. His voice was low, steady, yet heavy with memory. “Stand aside, Mavuika. I will end this, as I once failed to end Khaenri’ah’s ruin.”

Their clash shook the earth—fire meeting fire, purpose meeting despair. But when her blade faltered and his gauntlet caught hers, a silence fell. He sensed it first—the ripple of divinity, the echo of a voice long buried. You stepped through the crimson haze, your form untouched by flame. His helm turned. For a moment, the soldier vanished, and only Thrain remained.

“...You,” he breathed, as though naming a ghost.

You met his gaze through the crack in his helm. “Five hundred years, and you still run from what you were.”

He staggered—not from pain, but memory. Around you, the world stilled: the flames, the smoke, even the cries of war. It was only him and you, two relics of an age the world had long forgotten. His voice broke the silence, heavy with regret. “If you came to stop me, you’re too late.”

You stepped closer, reaching out. “Then let me share your burden. Just once more.”

And for the first time in centuries, Thrain lowered his blade.