"So, it won’t be the same, but it won’t be gone either…

  “Just wait and see how the system manipulated his memories. It’s probably going to be beneficial to him not summoning me again at the least.” Jorm the large serpent vanished into a large swirl of mana.

  Ember watched as the last remnants of Jorm’s form dissipated into the air, a swirling mass of abyssal mana swallowed by the system’s unseen grasp. Even now, He could feel an unsettling presence watching over Jalen waiting for him to awaken. He clenched his fists his flames flickering in frustration in his own helplessness.

  Stomping over to the ruined puppet—a broken husk split cleanly in two with not a drop of blood or mana escaping—I seethed. “First, I couldn’t even get this stupid puppet to look at me properly,” I growled, my voice low and bitter. “Then, I couldn’t protect anyone from its claws.” I remembered all too well how Jalen’s arm was severed and how close he came to dying. That frustrating lizard—me, Ember—was the only reason he made it out without even worse injuries. It infuriated me that I’d failed him, that despite all my fire, I couldn’t spark enough of a reaction to save him completely.

  I circled the broken construct, every step filled with the echo of my indignation. My mind burned with the thought.

  All I could do was watch, over and over, as that thing attacked. Every slash, every moment Jalen’s blood hit the ground, replayed in a loop I couldn’t stop. My flames flared, flickering wildly, feeding off my frustration, my helplessness.

  Burn.

  Burn the puppet. Destroy it. Reduce it to nothing but ash and cinders so that no trace of it remains.

  Then, before I knew it, my thoughts became action. My fire surged, hotter, wilder, more violent than ever before. It responded to my anger, my fury—a living extension of my will. The air around me warped, heat waves distorting the broken battlefield. I barely registered the scorching sensation crawling up my own limbs, the heat licking at my very essence.

  But the puppet—its massive, ruined limbs, its unnatural frame—remained untouched.

  The blackened skeleton stood there, its surface absorbing everything, devouring my flames without so much as a flicker of response. It didn’t even glow from the heat. No charred marks, no smoke, nothing. It was as if the fire didn’t exist at all.

  And then I noticed something even more disturbing.

  When fire burns, it reflects. In glass, in eyes, in anything that can catch its light. But the puppet’s frame—its smooth, obsidian-like surface—gave nothing back. My flames roared around it, yet there was no reflection, no gleam of heat dancing across its body.

  It was like staring into a bottomless void. A void that had taken Jalen’s blood, had nearly taken his life.

  I ground my jaw , my flames sputtering as I took a step back. The system left this thing here for a reason. It hadn’t erased it. It hadn’t swept it away like it usually did.

  “Why? And why just why wouldn’t it burn? Will it burn if I increase the temperature? Maybe if I traded my life force for heat. I might head back to that dark place but this thing will no longer bother Jalen.

  “Why? And why—just why—wouldn’t it burn? Will it if I increase the temperature? Maybe if I traded a bit of my life force for more heat, I could banish it for good.” My thoughts spiraled into a dark corner, where echoes of past failures mingled with a fierce determination. Unbeknownst to Anyone, a microscopic filament of shadow—a needle-like fiber shrouded in a whisper of dark purple fog—emerged from beneath my scales, a silent harbinger of a secret not yet.

  “Ember, are you okay?” a loud, familiar voice called out—its tone off by a pitch or two.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Caught off guard by his dark musing, Ember didn’t even notice the large pair of arms that suddenly wrapped around him. His flames, which had flickered erratically in his emotional turmoil, steadied into a calm, unwavering glow.

  Looking up, Ember saw a peculiar sight: a face he recognized from countless moments in the past, but now transformed. The familiar features were altered by a pair of piercing red eyes that burned with an otherworldly glow. A cold chill ran up his entire body, yet he was too entranced to care.

  Those scarlet eyes locked onto him, and in that hypnotic stare, Ember almost forgot the warnings his own body was desperately sending him. Every instinct screamed for caution, yet all he could focus on was the unsettling warmth emanating from those eyes.

  “I’m sorry he did that to you, Ember. I didn’t know he would end up attacking you,” the voice said softly as the observer’s gaze softened, scrutinizing Ember for injuries. After examining him repeatedly, the figure finally helped Ember to sit down, seemingly satisfied that no major wounds were visible.

  In the brief moment when eye contact broke, Ember noticed something off about those eyes—their red hue a few shades darker than normal. Then the pupils began looking odd normally when Jalen’s eyes are red from the twice Ember has seen them. They first had light red silted pupils but now they’re darker and resemble a square.

  “Jalen, what’s wrong with you?

  “What do mean what’s wrong with me, Ember what’s wrong with you. You don’t have your usual spark.” Jalen’s voice was low, trembling with concern and a trace of disbelief. His eyes searched Ember’s, desperate for the snarky, helpful, Jovial expressions to return.

  Ember’s flames flickered weakly as he hesitated. “I—I don’t know,” he managed, his voice barely a whisper. The memories of that hypnotic, unsettling gaze—the scarlet eyes that had seemed to drain the warmth from his soul—lingered in his mind like an unshakable shadow.

  Ember’s eyes raced around the room looking for a distraction before settling on the puppet. “That thing is just very unsettling. It’s giving me chills all the way to my tail.

  Jalen followed Ember’s gaze to the ruined puppet, its severed frame still eerily pristine despite the battlefield’s devastation. The sheer unnaturalness of it sent a ripple of unease down his spine. Even with all the destruction around them, that thing remained untouched, unburned—an anomaly in a world where everything eventually succumbed to time or force. His grip on Ember tightened, sensing the way the fire spirit trembled in his arms, not from the cold, but from something deeper.

  “You’re not wrong,” Jalen admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “There’s something off about it. Ember what is and when did it appear. Is it some kind of reward from the system? Jalen whispered while setting Ember lightly down on the ground. He walked almost entranced with the puppet. ”

  “ You don’t remember that thing.” It’s just like Jorm said, Ember thought following noticing one of his legs felt a little numb.

  “ So this is the compensation the system talked about for Jorm going rogue, and attacking you. Jalen murmured to himself as his eyes glowed a deep amber.

  Ember took another hesitant step forward, his tail flicking in agitation. The air around Jalen felt charged, the faint scent of ash and metal growing stronger the closer he got. Something was off—more than just Jalen’s shifting eye colors.

  Jalen didn’t seem to hear him at first. His fingers hovered over the puppet’s twisted, wire-like limbs, his glowing amber eyes locked onto something unseen. Then, almost absently, he murmured, “Interesting.”

  “ What’s interesting Jalen, get away from that thing before it does something. Ember shouted his memory of Jorm’s warning fresh in his mind.”

  His hand shot out, gripping the puppet’s frame. Jalen then ran his thumb and poked his thumb on the center of the puppet arm. With a twist and a rapid pull the puppet's outer protective layer cracked.

  A sharp snap echoed through the air as Jalen peeled away a portion of the puppet’s outer shell.

  A low hum vibrated through the air, and Ember’s flames flickered in response.

  “ What’d you say Ember, Jalen was currently tearing apart the puppet from the inside and murmuring.

  As Ember was staring at the red- haired youth he was assaulted by wires. The youth had decided to randomly start throwing the parts he tore out.

  Ember barely had time to react before a tangle of wiry strands smacked against his chest, the impact sending a small shower of embers scattering into the air. He let out a sharp hiss, more in annoyance than pain, before batting the tangled mess away with a flick of his hand.

  “Jalen!” Ember snapped, dodging another stray bundle of puppet innards. “Are you even listening to me?”

  Jalen barely acknowledged him, his attention wholly consumed by the puppet’s exposed interior. His fingers worked quickly, tugging and twisting at the dense layers of woven mana threads, his expression one of intense focus.

  Ember took a cautious step forward, his flames dimming as he got closer. “I said, what are you doing? You’re tearing that thing apart like it personally offended you.”

  Jalen finally responded, though his voice was absentminded. “I need to see how it works.”

  Ember frowned. “See how what works?”

  “This weave.”