The last thing Amina remembered was the clash.
Flame meeting flame.
But Elira's fire didn't burn—it froze the soul.
Now, she awoke in darkness. The air was bitter and sharp, tasting like frost and iron. Her limbs were bound—not with ropes, but with threads of frozen light that hummed with ancient power.
Her breath came in short puffs of mist.
Where was Kai?
Where was the shard?
Her mind swirled with fractured memories—the blinding white of Elira's eyes, the echo of power beyond anything she'd known, and the sound of laughter laced with venom.
Then came a voice.
"You awaken quicker than most. Impressive."
Amina raised her head. Elira stood across from her in a chamber of ice. No doors. No exits. Just pillars of frost rising like teeth from a frozen sea.
"What do you want from me?" Amina demanded.
Elira's eyes sparkled like dying stars. "Everything."
She stepped forward. "You're still clinging to the notion that power comes from control. But real fire… true fire… devours."
"You froze an entire village," Amina growled. "That isn't fire."
Elira tilted her head. "No. That is what happens when fire forgets how to feel."
Elsewhere – The Edge of Velhara
Kai limped through a forest of ash and silence. He was alive—but barely.
His side burned where Elira's magic had grazed him. Not even Amina's white flame had hurt that much.
The shard. He had to get it back.
He stumbled upon a cave, hidden beneath a collapsed tree. It wasn't much, but it gave him cover. Inside, he found strange markings—ancient symbols etched into stone. His heart skipped a beat.
The language of the First Flame.
He remembered the scrolls. They'd said only a chosen few could read it.
He reached out.
The symbols flared to life.
A voice echoed inside his head.
"If you would awaken the Ember King, prove you carry no shadow."
Kai's breath caught. The Ember King. A legend older than Ashkar, older than even Elira.
A god of balance.
"Then show me," Kai said aloud. "I'll do whatever it takes."
The wall split open.
Back in the Ice Prison
Elira circled Amina like a hawk watching a trapped dove. "You think I'm the villain," she whispered. "But I'm your mirror. You carry flame, but you've never let it truly burn."
Amina's bonds pulsed. Pain wracked her body. Her flame refused to answer.
"I am not like you," she gasped.
"You're exactly like me," Elira said, kneeling before her. "You just haven't broken yet."
She leaned closer. "But you will."
Elira stood, and with a wave, summoned a wall of ice. Inside it: scenes from Amina's past—her mother's death, her failure at the Flame Trials, her exile.
"I will tear you apart, piece by piece," Elira said. "Until what remains is strong enough to rule."
"I will never be like you."
Elira's smile faded. "Then I'll show you what happens to those who cling to weakness."
With a flick, she disappeared into a pillar of ice, leaving Amina alone—shivering, exhausted, but burning with defiance.
She closed her eyes. Reached inward.
And called the shard.
In the Ember Cavern
Kai stood before a vast throne of blackened stone.
It was empty.
But the ground beneath him quaked, and fire erupted from the cracks.
A voice thundered from the void.
"You seek to wield me?"
Kai dropped to one knee. "No. I seek to free her."
Silence.
Then:
"You would give your life?"
"Yes."
A pause.
Then laughter.
Not cruel. But amused.
"Very well, flame-bearer. Let the Ember King walk once more."
The throne ignited.
Kai screamed as fire consumed him—not in pain, but in awakening.
Ice Prison – Moments Later
Amina's eyes snapped open.
The shard blazed in her chest.
The bonds around her melted into mist.
She rose, hair flaring like a phoenix reborn.
Elira reappeared just as the ice chamber began to crack.
Amina faced her, eyes burning white.
"You want to break me?" she said coldly. "You'll have to try harder."
Elira narrowed her gaze. "So it begins."
Flame Temple – Same Time
The Flame Map shattered entirely.
The council fell into chaos.
Elder Thalos stood, tears in his eyes.
"It is time. The Flame War has begun."