Kael lay in the healers' tent, his chest bandaged, skin pale beneath the flickering lanterns. The Flamebound healers moved swiftly around him, their hands glowing with soft golden fire as they mended the worst of his wounds.
Elyra sat beside him, her fingers laced tightly with his. She hadn't spoken since they'd returned from the Vale—not really. Her thoughts were still burning with visions from the Heart. Memories that weren't hers. Knowledge that felt too vast for one soul.
"You're staring," Kael rasped, a weak smirk on his face.
"I thought I'd lost you."
"You almost did," he admitted. "But I wasn't going to die before kissing you again."
She leaned down and pressed her lips to his, slow and lingering. For that moment, the war fell away.
Later, in the war council chamber deep beneath the Flamebound Sanctuary, Elyra stood before the gathered leaders of Astralis. The chamber blazed with the symbols of the ancient guardians—sigils etched in flame across the walls, burning without heat.
Lord Tharen, her father's former ally, eyed her warily. "You claim Ashar once bore the Flame?"
"I saw it," Elyra said, her voice stronger now. "He was one of us. Chosen. But something twisted him. He tried to wield the Flame alone. It broke him—and he broke it in return."
Whispers rippled through the room.
"And now?" asked General Serrin, arms crossed. "What is he?"
"A fragment," Elyra said. "But powerful. He's bent shadows into servants. He's coming."
"We're not ready," muttered one of the younger commanders.
Elyra raised her hand, and the fire flared across the chamber walls. "We don't have a choice. He marches at dawn. We have hours."
Lord Tharen hesitated. Then he said, "What do you need?"
She drew in a breath. "Every blade. Every spell. Every ally."
That night, Elyra walked alone through the Hall of Ashen Flame. The Heart's fire still burned inside her, a constant thrum beneath her skin. The weight of it frightened her—but it also steadied her.
Footsteps echoed behind her. She turned.
Kael, leaning on a cane, offered her a crooked grin. "You didn't think I'd miss the last stand, did you?"
"You're not ready."
"Doesn't matter. I'm not leaving your side again."
She wanted to argue, but the truth was—she didn't want to face the dawn without him either.
He reached into his cloak and pulled out a pendant: the Flamebound sigil split in two, now whole again.
"You dropped this," he said.
She took it, eyes glimmering.
"I think," he added, "the Flame are meant for you to rebuild what Ashar broke."
"Not me," she said. "Us."
He reached for her hand. "Then let's burn together."
Far to the east, in the heart of the shattered Obsidian Temple, Ashar stood atop a dais carved from molten stone. His followers knelt in a perfect circle, chanting in low, guttural tongues.
The last ritual was nearly complete.
"Too long have they hidden behind wards and symbols," Ashar said, his voice carrying like thunder. "Too long has the Flame chosen weak vessels."
He stepped into the center, slashing his palm open and pressing it against the obsidian altar. His blood sizzled, and the shadows around him hissed like living things.
"I will forge a new flame. One of ash. Of domination."
The ground split.
From the abyss rose his final weapon: the Ashen Titan—a creature of molten rock and soul-bound fire, forged from the bones of ancient Flamekeepers who had once stood against him.
His army roared.
Ashar raised his hands.
"Burn Astralis to its roots."
Back in Astralis, horns blared across the mountain passes. Elyra stood atop the eastern wall, Kael at her side, watching the black tide surge toward them.
The sky bled crimson. The final battle had come.
"We're outnumbered," Kael said.
"Then we'll outburn them."
From the Flamebound towers, magic crackled. Across the cliffs, archers and spellcasters braced themselves. The Flamebound army stood tall, banners blazing, hearts fierce.
Elyra lifted her sword—Veilcleaver—the blade reborn in the Heart's light.
"This is our moment," she shouted. "We fight not just for survival—but for all that was lost. For the Flame, for truth, for love."
The army roared.
Kael turned to her. "Ready?"
She smiled, fire dancing in her eyes. "Always."
The ground trembled as the Ashen Titan came into view, fire spewing from its chest.
Ashar stepped forward, his cloak trailing darkness.
"Let it begin," he said.
And the war for the Flame ignited.