CHAPTER FIVE:The Flames Remembers

Kael

The sword pulsed in his hand — warm and cold at once, like holding a memory that burned.

Light coiled around his wrist like a tether, and with it came a rush of knowing.

Not just facts.

Truth.

He saw himself in other lives — commanding starships, bleeding in kingdoms made of ash, kissing Elianah under moons that no longer existed.

He had always protected the Flame.

But now, something had changed.

The Flame… feared.

Elianah

Kael staggered back, the sword still glowing in his grip.

Elianah caught him.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded, though sweat glistened on his brow. "I saw too much. And not enough."

Thorne stepped forward, eyes fixed on the blade. "You unlocked it."

Kael looked at him. "What is this sword?"

Thorne circled the pedestal. "It's called Liora. The Flame's memory given form. Forged in the First Light, by the one who loved her most."

Elianah blinked. "Loved her?"

Thorne turned to her, expression unreadable.

"Elianah… the Flame is not just fire or power. She's a soul. You. In your first form, you were the Flame given flesh. That's why Asaniel fell."

"Because he loved me?"

"Because he wanted to own you."

She stepped back, shaking her head. "I don't remember any of this—"

"You will," Thorne said. "Because the Flame remembers. And she's waking up inside you."

Vision

The sword flared again.

This time, it pulled Elianah into the vision.

She stood on a mountaintop beneath black suns. Her armor shimmered like stars. Her hands bled from holding together a dying world.

Kael — no, Vaeron — stood beside her. Thorne was there too.

And across from them… a man with white eyes and a crown of thorns.

Asaniel.

> "I loved you first," he said. "Before you chose them. Before you became less."

> "I didn't choose them," Elianah said. "I chose freedom."

> "Then you chose war."

Present

She gasped, staggering from the vision.

Kael caught her again. "What did you see?"

Her voice trembled. "He's coming. Asaniel. He's found a way back."

Thorne's jaw tightened. "Then we're out of time."

The Awakening

Suddenly, a low hum filled the chamber.

The murals began to move.

Every painted battle, every sealed memory — all of it animated by unseen magic. The roots along the walls writhed and pulled back to reveal a massive stone door etched with seven sigils.

The middle sigil — the one glowing — was shaped like a flame held by two hands.

Elianah approached it.

The symbol shimmered.

Then the door spoke — a voice ancient, feminine, and full of sorrow.

> "Alarienne. Do you still burn for what was lost?"

Elianah didn't hesitate.

> "No. I burn for what must be saved."

The door opened.

And behind it: a staircase of molten glass, leading up into a light so bright it sang.

Kael took her hand.

Thorne drew his blade.

"Let's end what we started," Elianah said.

And they stepped into the light.