Emberdeep was safe… but only for now.
Ariya couldn't sleep. The walls of the cave felt like they were pressing in on her. Her dreams were filled with fire and screaming, and eyes that saw too much.
She needed more than hiding.
She needed control.
🔮 A Name Older Than Fire
The next morning, the rebel leader pulled the trio aside.
"I've called for someone," he said. "Someone who trained the first Fireborn queens. Someone who may be able to help… if she chooses to."
Lyra raised an eyebrow. "That sounds ominous."
"She's not a rebel. Not a mage. She's something else."
Kael folded his arms. "And if she says no?"
The leader looked at Ariya.
"Then you're not ready to fight the king."
They traveled east for days, through frost-tipped woods and high cliffs, until they reached a place untouched by time:
A stone circle atop a mountain peak.Wind howled. The air shimmered with raw power.
And in the center of it all stood a woman wrapped in midnight blue.
🧙♀️ The Master: Vaelra of the Skyfire
She looked no older than 30, but her eyes were ancient.She didn't greet them. Didn't smile.
Only said:
"If you've come for strength, leave.If you've come for truth, stay."
Then she turned and walked into the fog.
Ariya followed her first. Kael and Lyra hesitated… but went after her.
What followed wasn't training.
🌩️ The Training of the Divine
Vaelra's "lessons" were impossible.
🔥 Ariya:
She was thrown into a room filled with smoke and mirrors. No fire. No ring. Only her fear.
"If fire comes from rage, it will burn you.If fire comes from purpose, it will obey."
She screamed. Burned. Failed.
But each time she rose again, something inside her grew sharper.
🗡️ Kael:
His task was silence. Not just stillness—but vanishing from the world.
He had to walk across a hall filled with magical traps—blindfolded, barefoot, unarmed.
"Your power is not speed. It is knowing.Every blade waits for the right moment."
He bled. He bruised. He endured.
And by the third night, he moved like a shadow the light could not catch.
🦊 Lyra:
Vaelra said nothing to her. Just pointed to the cliff's edge and said:
"Jump."
Lyra laughed. Then realized Vaelra was serious.
She jumped.
She fell.
But she didn't hit the ground.
The air caught her.
Or… she caught it.
"Your gift is unseen," Vaelra whispered later."Don't waste it trying to be obvious."
Lyra didn't say anything. She just smiled wider than before.
🗨️ Later That Night
The three of them lay under the stars, too tired to move.
Ariya's fingers still shook with heat.
Kael's knuckles were raw.
Lyra had twigs in her hair and dirt on her face.
"This lady's insane," Lyra muttered.
"She's right though," Kael said. "I feel different."
Ariya stared at the sky.
"I feel like… I'm becoming who I was meant to be."
🕊️ Vaelra's Warning
Before they left, Vaelra gave them one final message:
"You're not the first to try and change this kingdom.
You won't be the last.
But you may be the only ones who survive it."
And then she looked directly at Ariya.
"Your flame is not yours alone.Others will burn for it—whether you like it or not."