Miku_Peachy

In the peaceful village of Liora, Elara Wynne lives a quiet life mixing potions and healing herbs. But when a strange celestial mark appears on her hand and creatures from forgotten legends begin to hunt her, Elara is thrust into a world of magic she never knew existed.

Kael Thorne, a knight of the lost order, finds her just in time. Cold, duty-bound, and harboring secrets of his own, he reveals that Elara isn’t just anyone — she’s the last descendant of the Aetherblood line, gifted with an ancient power feared and worshipped by kingdoms.

As war brews and factions rise, Elara must awaken her hidden powers before the darkness consumes everything — including the knight slowly unraveling her heart.

Whisper of Aetheria

Elara collapsed as the tremor hit.

The shard at her neck flared with blinding light — and her mind was no longer in the frozen cavern.

No sky. No ground. Only light — pulsing, alive, shifting like flame and snow.

The girl with silver hair. Pale skin. Eyes like mirrors of her own.

They faced each other across the void, neither speaking.

Elara's flame flickered wildly inside her. Not in fear — but in recognition.

"No," Aelira replied, voice cold but clear. "You're what I might've been. If they hadn't left me behind."

Elara stepped forward. "You're not alone now. We can find another way."

Aelira tilted her head. "Hope. Such a soft thing. I burned mine long ago."

"I didn't choose this either," Elara said. "But the Gate—"

"The Gate lies," Aelira interrupted. "It offers power and demands obedience. It doesn't want balance, Elara. It wants control."

Elara paused. "Then why chase it?"

Aelira's eyes narrowed. "Because if I claim it first, I can remake the legacy. No more Seers. No more chosen heirs. Just one flame — mine."

Images spiraled around them — visions of the past and future. Of Aelira's birth in shadow, Elara's in light. Two paths twisted by fate, both destined to converge.

Aelira's expression softened for the first time. "You don't understand what it's like… to be forgotten before you ever had a name."

"I don't," Elara whispered. "But I can stand with you. We don't have to be enemies."

For a moment, just a moment, the fire between them pulsed in unison.

Both girls stumbled as the shards inside them pulsed violently.

Aelira's final words echoed like fire on wind:

"Choose, Elara. Burn with me… or be the flame they extinguish."

And then Elara was back — on the icy ground, gasping, the shard scorching her skin.

Kael held her shoulders, eyes wide. "You vanished. What did you see?"

And for the first time… she wasn't sure what side of the fire she stood on anymore.

The Mirror Within