THE FIRGETTON THRONE

The forest stretched in endless darkness as Seraphine followed Orien through the trees.

The fire they had left behind cast no warmth on her skin, only the lingering weight of his words.

Do you want to remember?

She had given him her answer. And now, there was no turning back.

The path was uneven, riddled with roots and fallen leaves, but Orien moved with the ease of someone who had walked this land for centuries. His long cloak billowed behind him, dark as the night itself, and Seraphine could feel the weight of his presence even in silence.

Every now and then, he would glance back at her with those golden eyes—not impatient, not expectant—just watching.

Judging.

She hated it.

Finally, she spoke. "Where are we going?"

Orien didn't stop. "To where your story began."

A chill ran down her spine.

She quickened her steps until she was beside him. "You're being vague on purpose."

His lips curled slightly. "And you are impatient."

Seraphine clenched her fists. "You act like you know me."

"I do."

She faltered.

Orien finally came to a stop at the edge of a ravine. Below, the land dipped into an overgrown ruin, the remnants of shattered stone barely visible beneath the creeping vines.

Seraphine's heart pounded.

It was familiar.

The air smelled of rain and old magic, heavy with the echoes of something ancient. Something that whispered her name.

She swallowed hard. "What… is this place?"

Orien exhaled.

Then he turned to her. "Your kingdom."

---

The Crown of Ash and Bone

Seraphine stared at him.

A beat of silence passed. Then another.

She almost laughed.

"My kingdom?" she repeated, disbelieving.

Orien's gaze did not waver.

She shook her head. "You're mistaken. I was raised in Elaris. I—"

"You were hidden in Elaris," Orien corrected, voice calm. "There's a difference."

Seraphine's stomach twisted.

She tore her gaze from him, looking back down at the ruins below. A kingdom? But all she saw was decay—crumbling towers and faded stone, swallowed by time.

A kingdom lost.

"Once," Orien murmured, following her gaze, "this land was called Valtheris. A city of starlight and silver, where the air thrummed with the power of the divine."

The name sent a shockwave through her bones.

She had never heard it before.

And yet, something inside her had.

She pressed a hand against her chest, struggling to steady her breath. "What… happened to it?"

Orien was silent for a long moment.

Then, in a voice as sharp as the wind, he said:

"You destroyed it."

The words hit like a dagger between her ribs.

Seraphine took a step back. "That's—"

A lie.

It had to be.

But the moment the denial formed on her tongue, a memory surfaced—

Flashes of fire. Screams.

A woman in black, standing over a shattered throne.

The vision struck like lightning, and suddenly her knees buckled.

Orien caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Easy," he murmured. "It's coming back, isn't it?"

Seraphine gasped.

She wanted to push him away, but her body refused to move.

It wasn't true.

It couldn't be true.

But—

But it felt true.

She had seen these ruins before. Not in dreams, not in stories, but with her own eyes.

She had stood in this kingdom.

And if Orien was right—

If she had destroyed it—

What was she?

---

The Curse That Never Broke

Seraphine struggled to breathe as Orien lowered her onto the grass. The weight of her memories—her lack of memories—pressed against her skull like a storm waiting to break.

He knelt beside her, watching her carefully.

After a moment, he said, "You were never meant to wake up."

She forced herself to focus. "What?"

Orien's expression darkened. "You were sealed away. Buried beneath time itself. But something—someone—interfered."

The entity in the ruins.

Its voice echoed in her mind. You shattered the world once. And you will do it again.

Seraphine's hands trembled. "Why?" she whispered. "Why would someone seal me away?"

Orien hesitated.

Then, softly, he said, "Because you are the last of the Starborn."

Seraphine's blood froze.

The title sent another shock of recognition through her.

She didn't know what it meant.

And yet, she did.

The Starborn. The ones who carried the light of the gods in their veins. The ones who had ruled not just kingdoms, but fate itself.

Her fingers dug into the grass. "That's impossible. The Starborn—"

"—are extinct?" Orien finished. "So history claims."

Seraphine felt lightheaded.

None of this could be real.

But the way her soul ached told her otherwise.

She looked up at Orien, her throat dry. "And you?"

He tilted his head, those golden eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

"A long time ago," he said, "I knelt before the last queen of Valtheris."

Seraphine's heart stopped.

His gaze softened.

"She was the brightest light I had ever known."

Something inside her shattered.

Because suddenly, she remembered.

Not everything. Not fully.

But she remembered him.

A wolf, standing beside a throne.

A name, spoken in whispered prayers.

Orien.

Not a stranger.

Not an enemy.

A guardian.

She pressed a trembling hand against her lips. "I… I knew you."

Orien gave her a small, bittersweet smile. "Yes."

A sharp ache filled her chest.

She had known him.

She had trusted him.

And then, somehow—

She had forgotten him.

---

The Truth That Burns

The night stretched long and silent between them.

Seraphine couldn't bring herself to look away from the ruins below.

Her kingdom.

Her crime.

And yet, everything still felt incomplete. Pieces missing. Shadows lurking at the edges of her mind.

She swallowed hard. "You said I destroyed it."

Orien nodded.

"But why?" she whispered.

His gaze darkened.

And when he spoke, his voice was a whisper of smoke and sorrow.

"Because you weren't trying to destroy it."

Seraphine's pulse pounded.

Orien took a step closer, golden eyes gleaming in the dark.

"You were trying to save it."

Her breath hitched.

And suddenly, the world tilted.

Because if she had been trying to save it—

What had gone wrong?