Chapter 22 – The Fire Doesn’t Lie
LYRA
They didn't ask.
They summoned.
Kairo came to my door that morning, eyes heavy with guilt, and told me the Council wanted me tested.
"Tested" was just a prettier word for "judged."
The pack elders were calling it a Trial by Flame.
I didn't even know what that meant.
Only that it had never been done for someone who wasn't fully wolf.
Which meant they weren't expecting justice.
They were expecting a spectacle.
---
They gathered in the outer ring of the training grounds. The flames were already lit.
Three torches.
Three judges.
And me, standing barefoot in the dirt, in front of a crowd of wolves who didn't know whether to fear me or burn me alive.
Kairo stood behind the council. Silent. Watching.
Elyna was nowhere in sight.
My heart sank.
---
Elder Merek, the oldest of the pack, stepped forward.
"You are accused of unknowingly or willfully releasing destructive power that led to the death of Elder Voro," he said. "Do you accept trial by flame?"
I could barely speak.
But I nodded.
---
They brought out a metal bowl.
Inside was a black stone — charred, smooth, humming faintly with heat.
"Touch it," Merek instructed. "If the flame reacts, the truth will show itself."
I didn't move at first.
Because I could feel it.
The stone was calling me.
Or maybe the thing inside me was calling it.
---
My hand hovered over the bowl.
Then I closed my eyes…
And touched it.
---
Nothing happened.
At first.
Then, without warning—
A surge of heat exploded from the bowl.
Not outward.
Upward.
Straight into the sky, the flame shot into a pillar of light — red, bright, flickering — before disappearing completely.
The fire didn't burn me.
But the ground beneath me cracked open.
And I swear I heard something whisper:
> "She is not the cause.
She is the key."
---
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Merek dropped the torch in his hand.
Another elder muttered a prayer.
Someone whispered, "What is she?"
And that's when she spoke.
The voice I hadn't heard in days.
Riven.
Only it wasn't in my ears.
It was in my mind.
> "You've awakened it now. They'll never see you the same again."
---
Kairo pushed past the circle.
He didn't speak. He didn't ask.
He just walked to me and pulled me close — in front of everyone.
And for once, I didn't pull away.
Because I couldn't stop shaking.
---
Later, in his room, I sat on the edge of his bed.
My hands still felt hot.
Not burning.
Just… alive.
---
"Why are they so scared of me?" I asked.
Kairo leaned against the doorway, arms folded.
"Because they can't control what they don't understand."
"And you?"
He met my eyes.
"I've stopped trying to understand you," he said. "I'm just trying to protect you."
---
I stood, walked over, and looked up at him.
My voice dropped to a whisper.
"And what if I really did kill him, Kairo?"
He paused.
And then said something I didn't expect.
> "Then I'll bury the truth.
And carry the sin myself."
---
But the moment shattered—
A sudden knock.
Urgent. Rough.
It was Ren.
His voice barked through the door.
"Kairo. We have a problem."
---
We followed him to the south border of the territory.
And what we found waiting…
Wasn't another pack.
Or a lone wolf.
It was a symbol.
Carved into the tree.
A circle of flame with a broken crown.
---
Kairo cursed under his breath.
I looked at it, heart pounding.
> "What is it?"
He looked at me, his eyes unreadable.
"It's not a message," he said.
"It's a claim."