The Judicator raised both arms, and the world split.
Not by violence—by revelation.
Amina, Valec, and Kai suddenly stood within a boundless void lit by floating embers. There was no sky, no ground—only memories wrapped in flame, drifting like stars.
"What is this place?" Kai asked, clutching his blade.
"The Trial of Flame," the Judicator intoned. "To carry the eternal fire, one must pass through their deepest truth."
He looked at Amina.
"You, born of compassion, must face your anger."
Then to Valec.
"You, forged in vengeance, must confront your innocence."
"And Kai?" Amina asked, her voice trembling.
The Judicator's gaze lingered on him, slow and ancient.
"He must choose where his loyalty truly lies."
---
Amina's Trial: Fire Beneath Calm
She was alone again. The void twisted and pulled her into a memory—one she had buried so deep it felt like fiction.
The orphanage.
She was twelve.
Blood on her hands.
Sister Nara, lifeless at her feet.
"No," Amina whispered. "This isn't real."
But the fire in her chest disagreed.
"You snapped," the phantom of her younger self said. "You hated. You burned her. And you liked it."
Tears stung Amina's eyes.
"I was scared," she said.
"You were angry."
A mirror formed before her.
In it, Amina saw herself—eyes aflame, smile cruel.
Was that who she really was?
Was that who Amariel wanted her to become?
The mirror shattered.
Amina stood taller.
"I'm not her. I felt anger… but I choose peace."
The fire receded from her hands, forming a blue flame that hovered before her heart.
---
Valec's Trial: The Child of Ash
Valec's vision blurred.
He stood in the ruins of his childhood home.
Ash everywhere.
He was six again, watching his parents burn, helpless.
Amariel's silhouette hovered behind him.
"They left you. Weak. Worthless," she said.
He screamed, "They loved me!"
"But they couldn't save you."
"No one could!" he roared.
He turned to see himself—older, crueler, the version the world feared.
That version smirked. "You became me to survive."
Valec looked down at his hands, then clenched them.
"Then it's time I stop surviving… and start living."
The monster version of himself dissolved into smoke.
A warm, golden ember remained in his chest.
His eyes welled up—not with fury, but grief.
---
Kai's Trial: The Hidden Oath
Kai faced two doors.
One glowed with the crest of the Flameguard.
The other—marked with a sigil no one else had ever seen.
He reached toward the unknown one.
From behind it, his brother's voice whispered: "They'll never accept you."
"I don't need their acceptance," Kai muttered.
"You need purpose," the voice urged. "Serve the old gods. Serve the hidden path. Let the flames die."
Kai stepped back, trembling.
Then… he looked at the Flameguard door.
"You were my oath. You still are."
He stepped through.
And the door behind him crumbled into dust.
---
The Judgment
The three emerged from the void, changed.
Each held a different ember.
Amina's burned blue—pure, balanced.
Valec's burned gold—wounded, but hopeful.
Kai's shimmered silver—resolute.
The Judicator watched.
"Three passed. Only one must carry the Flame."
Amariel's voice cut in from the void. "Let them fight. That's how we decide."
Amina looked at Valec, then Kai.
"No," she said. "We decide—together."
Valec met her gaze. "You'd still trust me?"
Amina nodded. "Yes. Because I saw who you were before the fire."
Kai added, "Then maybe… we don't need a single Flamekeeper. Maybe we share it."
The Judicator paused.
Then smiled.
"A choice not made from power, but unity. Very well."
The embers shot into the sky, merged—and became a tri-flame: blue, gold, and silver.
The sky lit with it.
But far away, beneath the world's surface...
Something else opened its eyes.
A presence darker than Amariel.
Older than the Judicator.
Watching.
Waiting.