Kael felt it then.
A fracture.
Not in the world.
In himself.
The Ember Core pulsed—but resisted alignment.
For the first time, it did not respond cleanly.
Lira felt it immediately. "Kael, what's happening?"
"I don't know," he admitted.
Nyra stepped closer. "It's reacting to them."
Aelira narrowed her eyes. "Or they're interacting with its structure."
Seris moved into defensive stance. "We end this now."
But Kael raised a hand again.
"Wait."
Riven snapped, "We don't wait for system-glitch gods!"
Kael ignored him.
"…You said fire is an interface," Kael said to the figure.
"Yes."
"Then what happens if I stop interfacing?"
Silence.
A subtle shift.
The figure tilted its head.
"Clarification required."
Kael closed his eyes.
The Ember Core pulsed violently.
Then—
He did something none of them expected.
He stopped feeding it structure.
Stopped shaping it.
Stopped guiding it.
For a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then—
The flame inside him flickered.
And changed.
Not stronger.
Not weaker.
Different.
Unformatted.
The figure's gaze sharpened instantly.
"Unexpected deviation," it said.
Seris stepped back slightly. "Kael… what did you just do?"
Kael opened his eyes.
"…I stopped answering it."
The forest trembled.
For the first time—
The system did not immediately respond.