Souls Online: Mythic Ascension

The first thing Ethan felt was heat. The lights had been too bright and he had been forced to close his eyes. When he opened them again, he was surrounded by fire.

It was literally a field of flames.

The ground beneath his feet crackled as if it were alive, every patch of earth glowing red like smoldering coals. The air shimmered, distorted by waves of heat that made it hard to breathe. His throat burned with every inhale, and the stench of smoke clung to his tongue.

The fire did not spread in random chaos. It moved as though it had purpose, walls of flame curling inward to corral him, forming a blazing cage that tightened with every passing moment. Ethan's heartbeat thundered in his chest as the realization struck that he had no idea how he had come here, no memory of stepping into this inferno.

He raised his arm to shield his face from the heat, but the flames did not consume him. They licked at his skin without burning, coiling around his legs as if testing him. It was unnatural, terrifying, yet strangely mesmerizing.

Somewhere beyond the crackle and roar, Ethan thought he heard a voice. It was faint, distorted by the fire, like someone calling to him through a storm. He turned, searching for the source, but the flames stretched endlessly in every direction.

The figure shifted, its blazing outline rippling like molten metal poured into a mold. The shape elongated, stretched, and then solidified into something unmistakable. A massive horse made of fire stood before Ethan, its mane and tail burning like ribbons of molten gold. Every breath it released sent sparks scattering into the air, and its hooves smoldered against the cracked ground.

The great beast lowered its head, molten eyes fixing on him with a strange, deliberate curiosity. Its voice came not from its mouth but from the air itself, a low rumble that resonated through the flames.

"She has dropped an interesting child into my domain it seems."

Ethan stiffened at the words. His eyes flicked from the flames dancing along the beast's mane to the molten gaze that never wavered.

"Are you calling me interesting? You are literally a flaming horse!"

The horse's burning chest rumbled, the sound like an endless bonfire fed with fresh timber. It tilted its massive head, and a wave of sparks rolled down from its mane.

"You are interesting," the creature replied, the air trembling with each word. "Not for what you see in me, but for what you carry inside yourself."

Ethan's frown deepened. He spread his hands helplessly, the heat curling around his fingers but never burning them. "Inside myself? I'm just me."

The horse stamped its hoof, and the ground cracked beneath it, molten lines spreading outward like veins of fire. "You are not just you," it said. "Three separate personas inhabit this body. Three voices. Three paths. And yet they do not fight. They move as one."

Ethan froze, the words twisting into him like a blade. His mouth went dry as his chest tightened, and for a long moment he could not breathe. When he finally managed to force out a sound, it came rough, almost broken.

"That's… how did you figure it out."

The flames around them flared higher, as if the horse's amusement stirred the inferno itself. Its molten eyes narrowed, glowing brighter with a heat that carried no mercy.

"I did not need to figure it out," the creature rumbled. "It is written into your very soul. Your essence sings with it, three voices carried on the same breath."

Ethan's hands curled into fists. His heart pounded harder, each beat echoing in his ears. "Then tell me," he demanded, though his voice trembled despite his effort to sound steady. "If you know so much, then do you know why they exist?"

The horse's mane flared, flames snapping high into the air as though they hungered for truth. Its molten eyes fixed on Ethan without pity.

"You broke yourself," it said. "You forged your soul into three pieces. One to protect the innocence you could not let go. One to remain loyal to your cause when everything else was stripped from you. And one… to embrace pure destruction, so the weight of rage would not consume the others."

Ethan did not flinch. His fists clenched tighter, his nails biting into his palms. He already knew.

"I did," he admitted, his voice low, steady despite the inferno raging around him. "I had to. If I hadn't, I would have lost everything. I would have lost myself."

The horse's eyes burned brighter, its heat pressing against him like judgment. "And so you chose to divide. To carry innocence, loyalty, and ruin within a single frame. A dangerous path, even for one such as you."

Ethan's frown deepened, but his gaze did not falter. "Dangerous, yes. But it was necessary. I couldn't be whole any other way."

The firestorm shifted, the air tightening with heat as the horse's voice rolled through the inferno.

"What could possibly compel a mortal to destroy themselves just to remain whole?" it asked, each word a crack of thunder inside the cage of flame.

Ethan did not hesitate. His fists loosened, but his gaze hardened like iron. "I did it for her. The girl who did everything to protect me when no one else would. I swore I would do the same. No matter what it cost, no matter what I had to become… I would protect her."

The horse's burning nostrils flared, sending out waves of searing sparks. Its molten eyes studied him with a weight that pressed heavier than the heat itself.

Ethan's voice dropped lower, steadier, almost casual despite the truth he revealed. "The church that raised me and Vivian… it's gone. Razed to the ground."

He lifted his head, meeting the creature's blazing stare without flinching. His tone sharpened, teeth gritting as the words left him like a growl. "I was the one who razed it. With my own hands I burned their sanctity to ash. I have no reverence for the divine. I never will."

The flames around him surged as though his confession fed them, towering higher, roaring louder. Ethan stood unmoving, his shadow swallowed whole by the firelight.

He bared his teeth, eyes narrowing with a resolve that cut through the suffocating heat. "I chose the name Dante because I already knew where I was headed. No matter what I do, no matter how much I fight… my road leads to hell. So I will walk it on my own terms."

The horse's burning chest rumbled again, but this time the sound was steadier, deliberate, as though it wanted Ethan to hold onto every word.

"Remember me, child. I am Hellion, God of Fire. My eyes will remain upon you."

The flames bent inward, almost bowing, before pulling back like a tide. Heat roared outward, and then the figure stood tall, fire trailing along its mane as though the declaration had been branded into the air itself.

Ethan blinked. His mouth opened, then closed again, then opened once more. Of course it would be Hellion. Out of every name in existence, it had to be that one.

"Seriously?" he muttered. His expression twisted into irritation as he dragged a hand down his face. "I tried calling myself that once and Vivian smacked me so hard my jaw popped. She said it was the dumbest name she'd ever heard."

Hellion tilted its massive head, molten eyes unblinking.

Ethan threw his arms up. "And now it turns out it's the actual name of a god. Great. Just great."

The horse exhaled, a plume of fire bursting upward like a pillar. It might have been laughter or simply amusement, but Ethan could already imagine Vivian's smug grin when she found out.

He groaned loudly, glaring up at the flames. "She is never going to let me live this down."

The fire rumbled in response, not denying it.