The forest trembled with an eerie stillness. Trees that once stood firm swayed as if in fear, and the wind no longer whispered—it screamed.
Amina's legs shook beneath her as the figure stepped from the smoldering ruin that was once Valec. This wasn't just a remnant of darkness—it was something more ancient, more cunning, more evil than anything she had faced.
Kai helped her to her feet, his eyes locked on the creature's twisted form. "Who… who are you?"
The figure grinned, his face shifting like oil in water. "Names are for those bound by flesh. But since you insist, you may call me Ashkar, the Flame Eater."
Amina's heartbeat skipped. She had heard that name only once before—in a scroll hidden deep within the old monastery. A forbidden name, erased from the Order's records. A primordial being said to have been banished before the first Fire Guardians ever took their oaths.
Ashkar circled them slowly, the ground wilting beneath his feet. "Valec was a fool. He thought he was channeling the flame for power. But it was I who whispered in his dreams. I who opened the gate inside his mind."
"Why?" Amina demanded, her voice laced with rage and exhaustion. "Why corrupt him? Why destroy everything?"
Ashkar tilted his head, as if the question amused him. "Because your flame—your precious gift—is a lie. It burns to protect, yes, but it was born to consume. You think you can control it, girl? You are merely its vessel."
With a wave of his hand, a circle of black fire surrounded them, cutting off escape. The forest beyond vanished into shadow, and the only light came from the wavering flame within Amina's chest.
Kai stepped forward, defiant. "We'll never let you win."
Ashkar laughed, a sound that echoed with ancient malice. "You don't have to let me. You've already lost."
He raised a finger, and a ripple of energy lashed out, slamming into Kai's chest. The warrior flew back, crashing into a tree with a sickening thud.
"Kai!" Amina screamed, rushing toward him.
He groaned, blood trickling from the side of his head. "I'm… I'm okay…"
Amina stood, her hands clenched into fists, flames dancing at her fingertips. She turned to Ashkar with blazing determination. "You talk too much."
With a cry, she launched herself at him, her entire body alight with the true flame. Ashkar moved with unnatural speed, dodging each strike like a ghost.
"Good," he whispered. "Let it rage. Let it burn."
Amina's fire struck the ground, cracking stone and igniting the trees around them. The air turned molten as the battle surged into full force. She fought like a tempest—each move calculated, graceful, and burning with fury.
But Ashkar was not like Valec. He didn't just endure the flame. He fed on it.
Each blast of fire she sent only made him stronger. The black markings on his arms glowed brighter with every attack.
"You cannot win this way," he taunted. "Your flame is mine now."
Desperation clawed at Amina's chest. If she couldn't burn him, how could she defeat him?
Kai staggered to his feet, reaching into the pouch at his belt. "Amina!" he shouted. "Catch!"
He threw a small obsidian crystal—a shard taken from the heart of the Flame Temple. She caught it instinctively.
Suddenly, the fire in her hands dimmed, pulled inward by the shard's power.
The flame wasn't being extinguished. It was being focused.
Ashkar paused, frowning. "What trick is this?"
Amina closed her eyes, letting the energy flow through her—not as a weapon, but as a force of balance. She remembered what the Elder Monk had once told her: True fire isn't chaos. It's clarity.
When she opened her eyes, they no longer burned with orange light. They glowed white.
Ashkar lunged at her, but this time, Amina didn't strike. She absorbed his darkness, drawing it into the shard. The obsidian pulsed as light and shadow collided.
Ashkar screamed—a high, inhuman sound that cracked the sky.
"No! You cannot bind me!"
But Amina stepped forward, her voice calm. "You're not a god, Ashkar. You're a parasite."
She placed the shard against his chest.
A burst of blinding light exploded from them both.
When the light faded…
Ashkar was gone.
The forest returned. The shadows receded. The sky turned blue once more.
Amina collapsed to the ground, the shard now dull in her hand. Kai rushed to her side, pulling her close.
"You did it," he whispered.
"No," she murmured. "We did."
Two Days Later – Flame Temple
The High Council sat in silence as Amina and Kai stood before them.
"You faced Ashkar," Elder Thalos said. "The Flame Eater. A being we believed banished for eternity."
"He's not gone," Amina replied. "He's sealed. But he'll find a way back if we're not careful."
The Elders exchanged uneasy glances.
"What of the shard?" another asked.
Amina held it out. "It's no longer just obsidian. It's something else now—balanced. Neither light nor dark."
The Council nodded. "Then we must prepare. The war may be over, but the danger remains."
As Amina and Kai walked out of the chamber, she turned to him.
"Do you think we'll ever have peace?"
Kai smiled faintly. "Not while people like us carry fire in our veins."
She laughed softly, taking his hand. "Then let's be the ones who keep the flame alive—for the right reasons."
And behind them, deep in the heart of the Flame Temple, the shard began to pulse again.
A warning.
A heartbeat.
A flame that would never die.