The bolt of dark energy splintered into the air like a thousand knives, but Amariel didn't fall. She stood, blood running in rivulets from the wound in her chest, but her face remained serene, as if she knew something they didn't.
"You can't—" Amina's voice broke, her knees threatening to give way beneath her. She couldn't look away from the devastation. "You can't die. Not again."
Amariel turned her head slowly, and though her lips did not move, Amina could hear her voice inside her mind.
You've always misunderstood, child. I cannot die. But I can burn.
The words sent a shiver through Amina's spine, and the flames that wrapped around Amariel's body flared brighter, sharper, as though alive with purpose. The darkness of the Nameless Voice swirled around them, coiling like a serpent, but the Flame Eternal's presence held firm. She would not be undone—not so easily.
But Amina could see it in her eyes—the way her body wavered like the very fire that fed her. She was at her limit. This battle was too great for even the one who had birthed the Hollow Flame.
The Nameless Voice stretched its form out before them, and with it came an overwhelming, suffocating presence. The shadow within it was older than time, older than the Flame itself.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with," the Voice said, its words dripping with malevolent glee. "You think you can extinguish me by shattering the Hollow Flame, but you are merely releasing me. I was never meant to be bound."
Amina's heart pounded as the ground beneath her feet began to crack, the very earth protesting against the weight of the force that had arrived. The Nameless Voice wasn't just an entity of dark energy—it was a force of uncreation, a sickness that spread through the world like rot, eating away at the threads of existence itself.
"We weren't supposed to be here, Amariel," Amina whispered, feeling helpless. "Not like this."
Amariel's lips twisted into a half-smile, her eyes still glowing with burning resolve. She lifted one hand, and the cracks in the chamber's walls seemed to respond, glowing with the same ancient energy. "The flame never forgets its purpose. And neither do I."
The world around them began to flicker. The mirrors shattered, their broken pieces flying outward like shrapnel. The echoes of the past—old, forgotten memories—whispered, but they were drowned out by the growing roar of the flame.
Valec reached for his blade, his grip tightening as he moved forward, though his body was still weak from their earlier battles. "Amariel, if you don't stop him now—"
She raised her hand sharply, and the fire around her burst into a brilliant wave of light, silencing him. "You do not understand. This war is not for victory or defeat. It is for the survival of what remains. What I must do now will be beyond any of your power."
Her voice faltered for a split second, a shadow of doubt flickering in her eyes. "But it may cost all of us."
Kai, standing at the edge of the group, stepped forward. His voice was raw, still hoarse from the corruption he had fought within himself. "Then let us face it together. The Hollow Flame is not just yours to control, Amariel. It's ours too."
She hesitated.
For a brief moment, Amina saw a flicker of her, the woman who had once been whole—the woman who had once believed in the fire's balance, in the flame's potential for both destruction and rebirth. But that woman was distant, buried under layers of regret and shattered resolve.
The Nameless Voice hissed from the shadows. "Enough with your sentimentalities. You're too late. The flame that you've tried to control, the flame you fed, is mine now. It always was."
Amina's heart raced. "You think the Hollow Flame belongs to you?"
The Voice's laughter split the air. "I was the first spark. The first death. The flame has no master, no master but me."
Amariel's expression turned cold, her hand still held aloft. "Then let it burn."
With a single motion, she released the full force of her power. The flames surged outward, hotter than ever, consuming the air, warping the very fabric of reality. But this time—this time, the flame was not for purification. It was for annihilation.
The Nameless Voice roared in fury, its form splitting into jagged shards of shadow as it fought against the flame. The battle was no longer just a clash of powers, but of wills, of histories, of futures. But the Voice's grip on the Hollow Flame was too strong, and its presence grew larger with every passing moment.
Amariel faltered, the flames around her dimming slightly.
Valec reached out, grabbing Amina's arm. "We need to help her. Now."
"But how?" Amina demanded, feeling the weight of the world pressing down on them. "She's the only one who can fight him."
"No," Valec said, shaking his head. "You've always had the power, Amina. Don't you see it?"
She turned to him, confusion clouding her thoughts. "What are you talking about?"
"You—you are the key," he said. "You're more than a part of Amariel's flame. You are the next step. You were always meant to be."
Amina's breath caught. "I… don't understand."
But then, a voice—Amariel's voice—whispered to her through the flames.
"You will be the one to choose."
The world froze. Amina's mind burned with clarity as the flames around her intensified, curling toward her as if reaching for her, as if calling her to take control.
This is it, she thought. This is the moment.
She could see it now—the path ahead. The power that had been dormant inside her, the power that had flickered at the edges of her being, was alive now, ready to be wielded. It wasn't just fire. It was creation. It was destruction. It was balance.
She raised her hand.
And the flames obeyed.
The world around them trembled.