7. Chapter 7: The Burning of Ashenfall

Ashenfall burns. Malveth's army descends on the last free city. Ren fights alongside Eiris in a battle that costs them everything — their companions, the Hollow Covenant's sacred archive, and the last Keeper elder who could have broken the Scar. In the chaos, Ren uses the severance blade — but not on Eiris. He drives it into his own scar. The Scar cracks. His memories begin flooding back — three years of erased love crashing into him like a tide. He remembers everything. He remembers choosing to forget. And he remembers that the curse cannot be undone once it has been cracked open. He is beginning to disappear.