Seraphina's body lay still, but her mind was falling—deeper, faster—through darkness streaked with gold.
Flames danced around her, gentle and warm, like whispers. She was no longer on the battlefield. There was no Cassian, no Malrec, no pain. Only the fire. Only the light.
Then, a voice—soft, ancient, and unmistakably feminine—echoed through the void.
"Child of the Flame… why do you fear what you are?"
Seraphina turned, or at least she thought she did. In this strange space, there was no up or down. Just the pull of that voice.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice echoing like a song through the fire. "Where am I?"
"You stand within the soul of the Everflame. And I… I am its first bearer."
From the fire emerged a woman made of flame and light. Her hair shimmered like golden embers, and her eyes burned like suns. She was beautiful. Terrifying. Familiar.
Seraphina gasped. "You… you were in the mural beneath the Temple of Light."
"Yes. I was once called Elenra, Lightkeeper of the Dawn. When the world was torn by shadows, I carried the flame to hold back the night."
Seraphina's heart pounded. "But… you vanished. The stories said the first Lightbearer was lost."
"Not lost. Sacrificed. The Everflame demands much. It is not merely power—it is memory, it is will, it is the truth of the world."
Seraphina looked down at her hands, still glowing. "Then why me? Why now?"
Elenra stepped closer. The fire around her dimmed.
"Because you chose hope. You chose to protect, even when afraid. The flame responded—not to bloodlines, not to prophecy, but to your heart."
Tears welled in Seraphina's eyes. "But I'm breaking. I can't hold it anymore."
"Because you are still trying to control it like a weapon. The Everflame is not fire to be commanded. It is a song to be sung. It listens when you listen."
Seraphina closed her eyes.
She remembered Cassian's hand over hers.
Her mother's lullabies.
The people of Eldros raising torches in the dark.
The light was never hers alone.
She opened her mouth—and began to hum.
A melody rose around her, one she hadn't known she knew. The flame swirled in rhythm. It danced with her, not because of her. It didn't burn—it belonged.
Elenra smiled.
"Now you see."
---
On the battlefield
Cassian knelt beside Seraphina, her body limp, her skin glowing faintly with ember light.
"Please," he whispered, brushing hair from her face. "Come back to me…"
Suddenly, her body shuddered. A deep breath filled her lungs—and she opened her eyes.
But they were no longer just brown.
They were fire.
She rose to her feet slowly. Every wound had closed. The Everflame wrapped around her like a cloak of gold and scarlet.
Cassian stared. "Seraphina…?"
She turned to him. "It's okay. I'm not afraid anymore."
From the far end of the ruined field, Malrec reappeared, sensing the change.
He looked at her—and for the first time, he hesitated.
Seraphina took a step forward, fire trailing in her wake.
"This ends now," she said.
---