Chapter Five: Between Fire and Fate

Elira didn't sleep.

After the attack, the hotel staff claimed to remember nothing. The Shadow who had appeared vanished as quickly as he came, leaving no trace except the scorch marks on the floor and the bruises along Kael's ribs. Elira sat in the corner of her room, knees pulled to her chest, eyes locked on the door as if she expected it to shatter at any second.

And maybe she did.

She had felt it again—that strange power inside her heart stirring like a beast awakened. It hadn't obeyed her. It hadn't protected Kael. It had only burned inside her chest with a heat that scared her.

A soft knock startled her.

"Elira," Kael's voice came through the door, gentle, like a whisper of wind brushing a flame. "Can I come in?"

She hesitated, then quietly said, "Yeah."

He stepped in, his black shirt clinging to him from the fight, collar slightly torn. A dark bruise was beginning to bloom on his jaw. She hated seeing him hurt. She hated feeling helpless even more.

"I just needed to see you were okay," he said, his voice husky. "You disappeared after it happened."

"I wasn't sure if I was... safe," she admitted, eyes dropping. "Or if you were."

"I'm always safe if you're still breathing," he said without hesitation.

She looked up, startled by the intensity in his eyes.

He crossed the room in a few steps, then sat beside her on the floor. The warmth of his body calmed her storm just a little.

"You shouldn't be near me," she whispered. "Not after what happened. They'll come again. Stronger."

"I don't care."

"You should."

Kael tilted his head, studying her. "You think I came here for a mission and fell by accident? I knew who you were the moment I saw you, Elira. I felt the Heart the first time your hand brushed mine. That heartbeat? It called to me. I ignored orders for you."

Her breath caught. "Why?"

He leaned closer, his hand brushing hers lightly. "Because you're not just the key to the Heart, Elira. You are the Heart. And I was never meant to destroy it. I was meant to protect it."

Elira's throat tightened with emotion. For a moment, it was just the two of them in that quiet space—no Shadows, no soldiers, no pasts chasing after them. Just a girl with power she couldn't control, and a boy sent to end her bloodline, who instead chose to fall in love.

His fingers brushed her cheek gently. "You're trembling."

"I'm scared," she confessed.

Kael hesitated, then leaned in—his lips brushing her forehead softly, lingering there. "Then let me be your shield."

A rush of emotion swelled in her chest, heat blooming where his lips had touched. For the first time in her life, Elira wanted someone to stay. To fight. To believe in her.

But before she could speak, a sudden crack split the air outside.

Kael rose immediately. "That was the wards breaking."

Elira scrambled to her feet. "They're back?"

"No," he said grimly. "Something worse."

Outside the room, the hallway was bathed in an unnatural red glow. Smoke curled through the air, and from somewhere deeper in the hotel, a high-pitched hum vibrated through the walls.

Kael gripped her hand. "Stay behind me."

They turned the corner to find the lobby of the hotel ablaze—flames licking the walls, but not spreading like normal fire. They hovered in the air, almost suspended, magical and cruel.

Three cloaked figures stood in the center of the room, each wearing a glowing crimson stone around their necks.

"Welcome, Guardian," one sneered at Kael. "And to the Vessel of the Heart—how radiant you look in fear."

Kael stepped forward, summoning a blade of pure energy from his palm. The shadows from the fire danced along the floor as the air charged with raw magic.

"You won't take her," he growled.

"You can't stop the prophecy," another voice echoed. "You're standing in the eye of fate."

Elira clutched her chest. The crystal inside her burned again—but this time, the burn responded to her thoughts. Her anger. Her fear. Her longing to protect him.

"I don't care about prophecies," she said through gritted teeth. "I'm done running."

One of the figures lunged.

Kael intercepted, their weapons clashing in a burst of sparks. The floor trembled. The hotel moaned, as if the building itself were in pain. Elira's eyes blazed with light—silver and violet swirling in her irises as the Heart reacted.

She raised her hand, and for the first time, power surged out.

A beam of blinding light struck one of the attackers, sending them flying into the wall with a thunderous crack. The other two faltered, staring at her in awe—and fear.

Kael's jaw dropped as he looked back at her. "Elira…"

"I felt it," she whispered. "I felt the power choose me."

Suddenly, the walls rippled—and a hidden door behind the fireplace creaked open.

The three attackers vanished in smoke, retreating as quickly as they came, but Kael knew what that door meant.

He turned to her. "That's it. That's the hidden door."

"The one to your world?" she asked breathlessly.

He nodded. "They've opened the gate. The real war is about to begin."

And as Elira looked into the swirling void beyond the door, she knew: her destiny wasn't just about carrying the Crystal Heart.

It was about protecting it from a world that would do anything to control her.