The night wind howled like a wounded beast, rattling the wooden shutters of the abandoned watchtower where Amina and Kai had taken refuge. Shadows from the flickering lantern danced across the cracked stone walls, casting fleeting glimpses of their exhaustion.
Kai stood by the narrow window, his hand clutched around the hilt of his dagger. His eyes scanned the darkness below. "They've stopped moving," he said in a low tone.
Amina, wrapped in a soot-stained cloak, looked up from the rune-covered parchment spread before her. "For now. But we both know Valec's shadow-spawn don't rest for long."
Kai turned, the shadows revealing the worry behind his mask of calm. "We're running out of time."
Amina nodded. "Then we make the time we have count."
The parchment held more than just old glyphs—it pulsed faintly with blue light. Amina reached into her satchel and drew out the flame shard Amariel had given her. As it neared the parchment, the glyphs shimmered, rearranging themselves.
Kai approached slowly. "What are you doing?"
"Unlocking the truth," Amina murmured. "The shard isn't just a weapon—it's a key."
A sudden hum vibrated through the tower. The floor beneath them lit up in a perfect circle. Amina's heart pounded as she recognized the glyphs—an ancient sigil of memory recall.
"We're not alone," Kai said, drawing his blade.
"I know," Amina whispered.
The room exploded in light, and the world shifted again.
---
They were no longer in the watchtower. The stone walls dissolved into a swirling storm of images—memories not their own. Echoes of a forgotten realm reverberated around them.
In the center of it all stood a woman with glowing eyes and a voice like thunder—Amariel, in her true form.
"You seek the truth?" she said, her gaze piercing through Amina. "Then know this—Valec was once the flame's guardian."
Amina gasped. "What?"
Kai's hand tightened on his weapon. "That's impossible. Valec is destruction incarnate."
Amariel's form flickered. "No. He became destruction when love was twisted into betrayal. When I failed to choose. When the balance was broken."
"Failed to choose what?" Amina asked, stepping forward.
"Between flame and shadow. Between him… and another."
Kai flinched, as if the answer pierced something inside him.
The scene twisted, showing a younger Valec—kind, noble, fierce with purpose—and beside him, Amariel, torn between affection and duty.
Kai stared at the vision. "This… this is real?"
Amina clenched her fists. "He loved you."
"Yes," Amariel said softly. "And when I chose the flame over him, he sought to take it by force. His pain birthed the Darkfire. But deep inside him, the guardian remains."
The memory faded.
They were back in the tower—but something was different.
The sigils beneath them cracked.
And a voice echoed from the shard.
"She knows now. We move at dawn."
---
Far beneath the earth, Valec sat upon his throne of molten bone, eyes closed, lips unmoving. But in his mind, a storm raged.
"She saw it," he whispered.
From the darkness, a presence slithered closer. "Shall I prepare the army?"
Valec opened his eyes—one burning red, the other dim gold.
"No. Let her come. Let her understand."
"But what if she chooses to save you?"
Valec's laugh echoed like falling stones. "Then the world will burn for a different reason."
---
Back at the tower, Kai sat apart from Amina, staring at the broken sigils. His thoughts were a storm.
He remembered the visions too well.
Amariel's hesitation.
Valec's fall.
And most of all—his own role in the war that followed.
He had never told Amina the truth. About what he was. What he had done.
But soon… he wouldn't have a choice.
Amina stirred, her fingers resting on the shard, her face pale with conflict.
"Do you think he can be saved?" she asked quietly.
Kai turned away. "What does it matter?"
"It matters to me," she said, louder. "Because I'm the one who has to face him. And because… I think I saw a part of him that's still human."
"He's not," Kai said sharply. "And neither am I."
She looked at him then—really looked.
And for the first time, saw the flame buried beneath his skin.
"You're—" she began.
Kai stood. "Don't. Not now."
But it was too late.
The truth had begun to burn.