The air crackled with tension as Amina emerged from the veil of mist, her robes torn and her face marked with soot. Each step she took left scorch marks on the ground. The temple walls around her trembled, resonating with the uncontainable force now swirling in her chest.
Kai was already there—kneeling by Ashar, whose body lay still beneath the collapsing archway.
"Ashar!" Amina gasped, rushing forward. "No—don't you dare—"
"He's not gone," Kai interrupted, his voice hoarse. "Not yet. But his flame… it's fading."
Amina dropped to her knees, pressing her fingers against Ashar's temple. A flicker of warmth greeted her. Weak, but present. A sob broke from her throat.
Kai looked at her, guilt swimming in his eyes. "I failed him. I was supposed to protect him."
"No," Amina said softly. "We all were."
Suddenly, the ground split with a thunderous roar. Flames shot upward in blue and crimson arcs. The sigils lining the temple walls flared to life, burning away centuries of dust and concealment. From deep below, a hum rose—a thrum of awakening.
Valec.
He was rising.
"No time," Kai muttered, standing. "We have to move."
But Amina didn't budge. Her hand hovered over Ashar's heart. "I can save him," she whispered, her voice trembling. "If I channel the memory of Amariel… if I become her fully…"
"Amina," Kai said, stepping toward her. "You don't even know if you'll survive that."
She met his eyes, fierce. "If I don't try, Ashar dies. And the rest of us… we'll follow."
Kai opened his mouth to argue, but a scream tore through the walls before he could speak. Lumeah.
The scream wasn't pain—it was rage.
Lumeah's hair whipped around her like a halo of fire as she faced Valec—no longer a husk of darkness, but a living, breathing tempest. His chains had shattered. His arms, covered in ancient glyphs, were stretched wide as if embracing the destruction.
"I remember you," he said, his voice velvet over steel. "The little guardian… still clinging to hope."
"You remember wrong," Lumeah replied, summoning her glaive. "I don't cling. I fight."
She lunged—but Valec caught the blade midair, his hand absorbing the heat. With a twist, he sent her flying into the stone wall. She crashed with a grunt, but stood almost immediately.
"You've grown stronger," he mused. "But not strong enough."
A swirl of black flame gathered in his palm.
Back in the chamber, Amina felt it—his power spreading like ink in water, tainting the roots of the world.
She closed her eyes and breathed.
Inside her mind, Amariel stood at the edge of a cliff of stars.
"You're afraid," the ancient voice said. "That's good. It means you understand the cost."
"I don't want to lose myself," Amina whispered.
"You won't," Amariel said. "But you must burn away everything that keeps you from truth."
The light in Amina's chest exploded.
Her body lifted from the ground, bathed in pure blue fire. The room filled with wind and heat as Ashar's eyes fluttered open.
"Amina…?"
She smiled through her tears. "Told you I'd come back."
The temple cracked above them.
Kai grabbed Ashar's shoulders. "Can you walk?"
Ashar coughed, then nodded. "I can fight."
Lumeah landed a strike, cutting across Valec's side. He grunted—more impressed than hurt.
Then came Amina.
She arrived like a comet, her aura illuminating the battlefield in a sphere of blazing azure. Valec turned, sensing the power immediately.
"Ah," he said. "You wear her fire well."
"I wear my fire," Amina replied, launching forward with a cry.
Their clash sent shockwaves through the earth. Fire met shadow, memory met vengeance. Every time their powers collided, pieces of the temple collapsed.
Kai and Ashar joined Lumeah, holding off Valec's corrupted sentries.
In the midst of it all, Amina pushed harder, digging into her past lives, into Amariel's love, loss, and failure.
"Why?" she shouted mid-strike. "Why did you betray the Flame?"
Valec growled. "Because the Flame chose wrongly! It gave power to the weak and cast aside the broken. I was cast aside."
Amina struck him hard across the face, blue fire etching a mark into his skin.
"You were never cast aside," she said. "You ran from the truth!"
Valec roared—and then… faltered.
His flame flickered.
For a split second, a memory surfaced in his eyes: a boy at the Flame's altar, begging for guidance… and receiving silence.
And that hesitation was all Amina needed.
She raised her arms, channeling the entire memory of Amariel, her soul merging with her present self, and cried out a single word in the lost tongue of firebearers:
"Revela!"
A torrent of truth exploded outward—memories, visions, hidden betrayals. Everyone in the chamber saw them.
And one name echoed through them all.
Kai.
Everyone turned.
Kai's face had gone pale.
"Wait—" he began.
But Ashar was already moving, drawing his blade. "You lied to us."
Lumeah's eyes widened. "What did you do?"
"I—" Kai looked around. "I did what I had to. I made a deal. To keep us alive!"
Valec smiled darkly, even while weakened.
"So," he rasped. "The traitor was never me."
Amina stood frozen.
Her heart thundered—not from fear, but from revelation.
The true war hadn't started.
Not yet.