Chapter 14: The Truth in Fire

Seraphina clenched her fists, heart pounding as she met Raziel's gaze. No more riddles. No more shadows.

"If this ring was mine," she said, voice steady despite the storm inside her, "then tell me everything. No more games, no more half-truths. I want the truth, Raziel."

A flicker of something crossed his silver eyes—reluctance, or maybe something deeper.

He exhaled. "The truth is not kind."

"I don't need kindness," she shot back. "I need answers."

Raziel studied her for a long moment before finally nodding. "Then prepare yourself, Seraphina. Because once you remember, there will be no turning back."

Before she could react, he lifted his hand.

Dark energy coiled around his fingers, twisting in the air between them. The temperature dropped, the shadows thickening, wrapping around her like unseen hands.

Seraphina gasped as a sharp pain stabbed through her skull—

And suddenly, she wasn't standing in the forest anymore.

—❖—

A battlefield.

Fire rained from the sky.

Screams filled the air, the clash of steel against steel echoing all around her. Bodies lay broken on the bloodstained earth. The scent of death and smoke choked her lungs.

Seraphina—or Elara—stood in the heart of it, blade in hand, her armor slick with blood. Not all of it was hers.

She turned—and her breath caught.

Raziel.

Not the one she knew now, but the one from before. His dark cloak was tattered, his silver eyes wild with fury and desperation. He fought like a demon possessed, cutting through enemies with ruthless precision.

And then—

"Lysander!"

Her voice rang out in the chaos.

A figure in golden armor stood across the battlefield.

Lysander.

His golden eyes were unreadable, his sword dripping with black ichor—the blood of demons.

The memory sharpened, clarity rushing in like a flood.

This wasn't just a war.

This was a betrayal.

Lysander raised his hand. Power crackled around him, a deadly light growing in his palm. He wasn't aiming for the enemy.

He was aiming for Raziel.

"No!" Elara—Seraphina—moved on instinct, stepping between them, but it was too late.

Pain exploded in her chest.

She looked down. A spear of golden energy had torn through her armor, through her heart.

Lysander had killed her.

Raziel's roar of fury shattered the world.

The last thing she saw was his silver eyes burning with rage and grief—

Then darkness.

—❖—

Seraphina's body jolted as the vision shattered. She gasped, stumbling back into the present, the cold air of the forest sharp in her lungs.

Her hands trembled as she looked up at Raziel.

Her voice came out broken. "He killed me."

Raziel's expression was unreadable, but his jaw was tight, his fists clenched. "Yes."

The truth hit her like a blade to the gut.

Lysander—her closest ally, the man she had trusted—had been the one to strike her down.

"Why?" she whispered.

Raziel hesitated. "Because he didn't love you. He loved your power."

The words sent a chill through her.

She wanted to deny it. Wanted to say Lysander wasn't capable of such a thing.

But deep down, something inside her already knew the truth.

Her entire world had just shifted.

And nothing would ever be the same again.

—❖—