Chapter 16 – The Voice Within

Jackie couldn't sleep.

Not from fear—but from clarity.

Everything felt heavier now. The night pressed against her skin like a weighted blanket. The air whispered. The mark on her shoulder pulsed like a second heartbeat.

And then…

She closed her eyes.

And opened them somewhere else.

---

🜂 The Dreamflame

She stood in a place that wasn't real—but felt truer than any memory.

The sky was a churning goldfire storm.

Black sand burned beneath her bare feet. A great tree—dead, petrified, split by lightning—stood in the center of the world. From its branches, scales hung like fruit. Glowing. Whispering.

One of them fell.

When it hit the ground, it cracked open like an egg—and from the light stepped a woman cloaked in flame.

Golden scales. Fire-wreathed eyes. A face so familiar it made Jackie's breath catch.

> "Jazira," she whispered.

The woman smiled sadly.

> "Jackie."

Her voice sounded like wind through firewood. Soft. But powerful.

> "You've done well to come this far."

Jackie clenched her fists. "Why me? Why now? I didn't ask for this."

> "No one asks to be chosen by fire. It simply burns those strong enough to carry it."

The tree crackled behind them.

> "You saw what they did to me. But do you understand why they feared me?"

Jackie nodded. "Because you were powerful."

Jazira stepped closer.

> "No. Because I was free."

> "Power they could have forgiven. Purpose? They could twist. But I had freedom. I chose who I protected. Who I spared. I refused to burn for someone else's agenda."

Jackie stared.

> "They will come for you," Jazira said. "Some to destroy you. Some to use you. Some to call you savior. But none of them will ever let you simply be."

Jackie swallowed. "So what do I do?"

Jazira raised her hand. Flames danced across her palm.

> "You don't have to be me. You don't have to follow the ashes of my mistakes."

> "But if you must burn… make sure it's for something you believe in."

She touched Jackie's forehead.

And whispered something ancient, in a language her waking mind didn't know.

But her soul did.

---

Jackie woke up choking on tears.

Her body glowed faintly in the dark, a golden ember under her skin.

And for the first time since this began…

> She didn't feel alone.