The Library Below

The entrance to the Library Below was hidden beneath Solmere's oldest tower — sealed by three layers of flame-bonded runes.

Only a flamebearer and a twin of the Gate could open it.

Elara and Aelira stood before the stone door, their palms pressed to opposite glyphs. With a flash of gold and silver light, the runes melted away like wax, revealing a spiraling stair into shadow.

Miraen hesitated at the threshold. "They say the Library is alive. It doesn't just hold memories — it remembers them."

Kael smirked, one hand on his blade. "Books with teeth. Just what I needed."

But Elara was quiet.

The air inside felt thick, ancient — as if every breath weighed more than the last.

As they descended, light from their flames flickered against shelves that stretched endlessly. Some books floated. Others hissed when touched. One whispered Elara's name as she passed.

"This is wrong," Aelira muttered. "These records… they weren't destroyed. They were locked away."

And then they found it — a blackened tome sealed in crystal, pulsing faintly with obsidian light.

The title was written in a language older than any they'd seen, but Elara understood it without translation:

"The Flame That Hungered."

As she reached for it, the room shivered. Chains of light clanged down from the ceiling, trying to pull the book back.

A voice echoed:

"You seek the Hollow. Know that she seeks you in return."

With effort, Elara broke the seal.

The book opened — not with pages, but visions.

A girl with dark eyes and silver hair stood alone in a world of ashes. While others were born with flame to protect, she was born with flame to remember — every war, every betrayal, every soul lost to ambition.

She tried to warn the flamebearers… but they feared her.

So they cast her into the void.

"Her name was Seris," Elara whispered. "She wasn't evil. She was left behind."

The vision ended.

But in that moment, something looked back at her through the pages.

A cold voice wrapped around her mind like smoke:

"Elara… now you see. The world burns not because of me — but because they feared truth."

Elara staggered back, breath trembling.

"She's not just angry," she said. "She's awake."

Aelira shut the book with a trembling hand. "Then we've already run out of time."