Darkness did not surround Amina.
It consumed her.
There was no ground, no sky, no light to chase or shadows to fear—only endless weightlessness. Yet her feet felt anchored, as if chained to invisible regrets buried deep within her soul.
Amina opened her eyes.
She stood—not in the Void, but in a memory.
The sky above was Duskwind Blue. The fields stretched out golden and untouched. A hut stood behind her, humble and familiar.
Her village.
Before the fire.
Before the screams.
She heard laughter—her laughter—echoing through time. Her younger self ran through the tall grass, chasing a ribbon of light. Her mother stood nearby, humming softly as she stirred a pot over the hearth.
The scent of pepper soup filled the air.
"None of this is real," Amina whispered. "You're trying to distract me."
The wind changed.
Her mother turned. But the eyes that met Amina's weren't warm.
They were empty. Black voids, leaking shadow.
"But isn't this what you want?" the voice of the Void echoed from the imitation of her mother. "A second chance. A life untouched by flame."
The illusion flickered.
The grass burned.
The sky fractured.
Her younger self stood now with eyes of ash, clutching a doll charred to black. "You left us to burn, Amina. You ran."
"No," Amina stepped forward, tears in her eyes. "I was a child."
The illusion hissed. "But now you're a flame. And flames devour."
"I am not you!" Amina shouted, and the vision trembled. "I am the light that rose from the ashes. I carry their memory—not their chains."
Golden fire bloomed from her chest, wrapping around her like armor. The illusion screamed and shattered, splintering into shards of night.
The Void reeled.
Amina floated forward, her flame cutting through the black.
But then—it shifted again.
This time, she found herself face to face with Valec.
Not as he was now, but as he once had been.
Young. Innocent. Hopeful.
His eyes were filled with tears. His hands covered in blood.
"You could have saved me," he said.
"I wasn't there," Amina answered.
"You are now."
Behind him, the real Valec appeared—his spectral form barely holding shape. "This is where I was broken," he said, voice heavy. "Where I made the deal. Where I became him."
The chains that once bound him appeared at their feet, glowing with ancient sigils.
Amina looked at them both.
She reached down and touched the chains.
They burned—but she did not let go.
"I forgive you," she said. "And I won't let your story end in ruin."
The younger Valec vanished.
And the real one?
He gasped—somewhere far beyond the Void—eyes flying open.
Amina had found the chain that bound his soul… and cracked it.
The Void howled. The very fabric of the realm twisted.
"You carry too many flames, girl," it hissed. "One spark will turn to madness."
Amina stood tall. "Then I will be madness that frees. I will be fire that heals. I will be the memory you cannot erase."
And then—
She raised her hands.
The golden sigil of Amariel and the crystal-root tree ignited across the Void.
The realm screamed.
And from far above—
Kai and Lumeah felt the tremble of power.
"She's alive," Kai whispered.
Valec nodded.
"But she's not done yet."