Gate of Memory Flame
The Nightglass Sect was silent.
Not peaceful—waiting.
In the heart of its obsidian halls stood the sealed gate—tall, cold, and carved from black bone and frozen fire. It pulsed softly with unreadable runes, humming like a heartbeat buried deep underground.
Whisper-Seer Yao stood before it.
Her expression unreadable.
> "This is where Ashen Fang sealed what he could not burn," she said.
> "Your flames are the key."
---
I stepped forward.
My Void Flame danced in my palm, cold and calm—steady as thought.
Beside me, Qing'er raised her hand. Her White Flame flared with a strange rhythm—almost like breath.
We locked eyes.
Nodded.
Let our flames meet.
The runes flared.
And the gate opened.
---
Inside the Gate
The world shifted.
We stood no longer in Nightglass—but in a memory realm, a space made of smoke, fire, and flickers of thought.
Everything around us was incomplete—stone that didn't cast shadows, trees without leaves, buildings that flickered like dreams.
Qing'er's voice trembled.
> "This place... it remembers us."
> "Or... we remember it."
I reached out to touch a flickering lantern—and pain bloomed across my chest.
A memory stabbed into my mind.
---
Flash – Unknown Time
A laboratory. A man in black robes.
Ashen Fang.
He stood over a glowing pool of flame. Inside, a young girl curled—white-haired, eyes closed.
> "The White Flame needs a vessel," he whispered.
> "Not to destroy... but to remember."
Behind him stood a second figure, in a mirror mask.
> "And the Void Flame?" the figure asked.
Ashen Fang didn't turn.
> "That one... must be broken first."
---
Back in the present, I staggered back.
Qing'er held my arm.
"You saw it too?" I asked.
She nodded, pale.
> "He made me. And he made you a container."
The world around us began to twist.
A staircase of flame rose in the distance, leading to a burning temple above a lake of ink.
A voice echoed from the sky.
> "To claim truth… you must survive the Trial of Reflection."
> "Flame against flame. Self against self."
---
We climbed.
Each step burned hotter. Not physically—but spiritually.
On the 13th step, Qing'er collapsed, gripping her head.
"I can hear her," she whispered. "The flame inside me… she's screaming."
I knelt beside her.
"Let her scream," I said. "But don't let her silence you."
She looked up at me, eyes flickering white.
"I'm scared."
"So am I."
We stood.
And walked together.
---
At the top, the temple doors opened with a groan.
Inside, a throne of ash.
And upon it—
A shadow.
Tall. Familiar.
Ashen Fang.
Or… part of him.
A soul fragment, preserved by flame.
He opened his eyes slowly.
> "So... the flame children come at last."
---
We stood in silence.
He studied us—like a blacksmith inspecting broken tools.
> "Qing'er," he said, voice smooth like old smoke. "Prototype One. You grew stronger than expected."
She clenched her fists.
"I'm not yours."
"You're not anyone's," he replied. "That's the point."
He turned to me.
> "And you. Carrier of the Void."
> "I never meant for you to survive."
I stepped forward.
"Yet here I am."
> "Here you are," he agreed. "Flawed. Incomplete. And still... dangerous."
He rose from the throne.
> "Show me what my mistakes have become."
---
Trial of Reflection
The floor vanished.
We stood in a world of mirrors, endless and silent.
And from every reflection—copies of ourselves stepped out.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Each one twisted, corrupted by guilt, fear, pride.
One version of Qing'er had her eyes sewn shut.
One version of me had no mouth, no voice.
They attacked.
---
It wasn't a fight—it was a struggle for identity.
I struck down a version of myself who never left the palace.
Qing'er screamed as she burned a version of her that obeyed Ashen Fang's every command.
Blood. Fire. Grief.
Until only one of each of us stood.
Us.
Together.
---
Ashen Fang's soul fragment clapped slowly.
> "Better than expected."
> "Still not enough."
He raised a hand.
The throne of ash erupted.
And from it rose a final guardian—
A being made of both White and Void Flame, shaped like neither of us—but bearing both our faces.
It looked at us.
> "I am the flame that should have been."
> "And you... are its rejection."
---
It charged.
We fought as one.
Our flames intertwining, pulsing in rhythm.
Void and White collided with the guardian's blazing core.
It screamed, not in pain—but in sadness.
> "Why did you leave me incomplete?"
> "Why did you survive… without me?"
Qing'er hesitated.
> "What is it?"
I realized then.
It wasn't a guardian.
It was a third version.
The one that could have been born if both our flames had merged perfectly.
A being stronger than us both.
Ashen Fang's true dream.
A living fusion.
---
We struck together—White and Void blazing.
And the fusion guardian shattered.
Light scattered.
And the throne burned.
Ashen Fang's fragment faded.
> "The truth is now yours…"
> "But truth has a cost."
> "It always does."
---
After the Trial
We returned to the real world.
Collapsed outside the sealed gate.
Whisper-Seer Yao knelt beside us.
> "You survived the Gate of Memory Flame," she said. "You now carry answers."
Qing'er opened her eyes—glowing faintly.
"I saw myself... and something else."
I nodded.
"So did I."
But before we could rise—
The ground shook.
The gate behind us crumbled into ash.
And from its remains—
A small, glowing crystal floated out.
Not white. Not void.
But silver.
And inside it—
A third flame pulsed.
Alive.
Watching us.
---
[SYSTEM UPDATE]
> Trial of Reflection: Completed
Soul Fragment of Ashen Fang: Dissipated
Hidden Flame Identified: [???]
New Flame Detected: "Unity Flame" – Origin Unknown
Risk Level: Catastrophic
Next Directive: Secure Containment
Synchronization Required: Qing'er + MC – 100%
---
To be continued…
---
✍️ Author's Note – by [Author Name from Shadows of the Last Light]
🔥 Chapter 29 hit deep:
The Gate of Memory Flame opened, revealing Ashen Fang's secrets
Qing'er and the MC entered a world of reflections and fought their worst selves
The soul fragment of Ashen Fang showed us that they weren't just experiments—but failed combinations
And the cliffhanger? A third flame—the Unity Flame, born of both of them—has awakened