Sleep used to be Kiara's escape.
Now… it was a summoning.
The moment her eyes closed, the world tilted — no softness, no descent, just impact.
She landed barefoot in ash.
A field of it stretched for miles. White-gray dust clung to her skin like frost. Her breath came in clouds, but the air wasn't cold. It was thick — with fire waiting to happen.
Above her, the sky cracked open in pulses of gold and violet, as if some cosmic heart was still trying to beat.
She turned slowly.
A figure stood at the edge of the ash field — cloaked in heat, face veiled in flickering light.
> "You came," the woman said.
Her voice was layered — a thousand voices behind one.
And Kiara recognized her without needing to be told.
Her bloodline. Her beginning.
> "Who are you?" Kiara whispered.
The woman stepped forward. Her feet didn't touch the ground. Every step she took brought new blossoms of burning flowers from the ash — black petals ringed in flame.
> "I am what you will become. If you're not careful."
"I was Solae. The one who loved fire too much."
---
The Truth of Blood
The air shifted.
Ash gave way to memories.
Suddenly, Kiara stood in Atheris.
But it wasn't the broken, fire-choked realm she expected. It was beautiful. Grand towers of onyx and gold, waterfalls of light that shimmered like liquid stars. Flame spirals moved through the sky like birds.
And then… chaos.
She saw a boy — a child, barely walking — screaming as flames poured from his skin, burning a temple to the ground.
His eyes glowed red.
His name was whispered on the wind:
Kaelith.
She turned. The woman — Solae — stood beside her, watching the scene unfold.
> "Your fire is different from his. Yours binds. His unravels."
> "But they reach for each other," Kiara said softly. "I feel it."
> "And if they ever touch," Solae said, "the seal will break. Not just his. But the world's."
---
Waking Fear
Kiara shot awake in her bed — breath ragged, heartbeat wild.
Her window was open.
Her skin glowed gold — faint cracks ran up her wrist, pulsing slowly like veins of molten light.
She staggered to her mirror.
There, burned faintly into her collarbone, was a mark.
A sigil.
It looked like a lock.
---
Kaelith
Her phone buzzed.
It was him.
> "You okay?"
She didn't answer right away. Her throat was dry. Her hand still shaking.
But then she typed:
> "I saw Atheris. And her. The one before me. I think I saw… your birth."
Three dots. Then his reply:
> "That's not supposed to be possible."
> "Well it happened."
> "You need to come over. Now."
---
The Pull of Fate
She threw on a hoodie, barely laced her shoes, and ran into the night.
Outside, the moon hung low and red.
The clouds above shifted like something watching from the dark.
Far below, deep in the ruins of an ancient temple sealed beneath Atheris, something cracked.
Something whispered:
> "She awakens. The seal weakens. Let the fire find her."