Chapter three.
Ayo fell.
Not through space. Not through time.
Through memory.
Zina's rune-crushed orb hadn't just shown a vision — it dragged him into one.
He was now walking barefoot on red sand, under a black sun. Around him stood thirteen masked figures in a perfect circle. They didn't move. Didn't speak. Their shadows, however, danced like fire.
From the sky, a woman descended. Her eyes were gold. Her skin shimmered like obsidian soaked in starlight.
"You are late," she said. "The flame in you was meant to wake generations ago."
Ayo clenched his fists. "Who are you?"
"I am the part of you that remembers," she said. "Your true name is not Ayo. It is Ayọ̀rindé — Joy has returned. You are last of the flamekeepers. Son of the one who defied the gods."
The sky cracked.
And she whispered, "You must choose: burn the city... or save it."
---
Back in Orisha City
Ayo gasped, blinking. He was back. Kneeling on the floor of Zina's old transport truck. Rain slammed against the windows.
Tobe hovered over him, panicked. "You were out for six minutes, bro. That's not a nap. That's a death warning."
Zina lit a stick of incense. "You saw her."
Ayo nodded. "The woman of fire. She said I was a flamekeeper."
Zina stared hard. "Then the city is more doomed than we feared."
---
The Warning
Zina opened a hidden compartment in the truck's floor. Inside was a metallic scroll, etched with glowing lines. Ayo felt it hum in his bones.
"This is the Ash Manifesto," she said. "It names every bearer of the blood-scar since the Collapse."
Tobe whistled. "That's ancient tech."
"More than tech," Zina said. "It's alive."
She pressed it into Ayo's hands. "You're in this now. They will come for you — the Syndicate, the Souleaters, maybe even the Orisha themselves."
Ayo looked up. "Why me?"
"Because only a flamekeeper can awaken the city's heart — or destroy it."
Suddenly, a scream echoed outside.
Zina was up in seconds, gun drawn.
Tobe peeked through the side vent.
"Uh… guys," he said. "We've got company."
The Syndicate had arrived.
---
Ambush
They hit fast. Drones first, buzzing through the rain. Then cloaked agents leapt over shipping containers, weapons drawn. Zina fired a sonic pulse, taking out two.
Ayo ducked behind a crate.
His chest throbbed.
His hand lit up — a flicker of flame dancing across his fingers.
For a second, he hesitated.
Then he stood.
Raised his arm.
And let it burn.
The fire shot out like a whip, slicing through a drone mid-air. The force knocked him back, but the agents paused — stunned. Just enough time for Zina to grab him.
"NOW!" she shouted.
They ran.
Into the dust. Into the shadows.
Into war.