The chamber trembled as fire surged along the walls, forming ancient runes that pulsed like a heartbeat. The voice that had warned them faded into the silence, leaving only the weight of its final command:
"Choose who falls. Or all shall fail."
Kael stood before the Flameheart, the relic suspended in golden fire, unreachable.
Serenya's voice was quiet. "It's not just testing strength. It's testing our bond."
Selira nodded, eyes narrowed. "Old magic feeds on choice. Sacrifice. It wants to know how far we'll go."
Suddenly, the floor split open in a perfect ring around them, forming a molten chasm. Three narrow platforms rose from the lava, each with a glowing sigil.
Kael frowned. "A ritual circle."
Before anyone could speak, the chamber shifted again.
From the molten pool, three figures emerged—wreathed in flame, but unmistakably human-shaped. One bore Kael's face, one Serenya's, and one Selira's. Each a perfect mirror… but burning with something dark and hollow.
Kael's double drew a sword of black flame. "You fight to claim a legacy born in fire," it said coldly. "But you haven't yet faced yourselves."
Serenya's mirror stepped forward. "You fear your own power. That's why you hold back."
Selira's shade sneered. "You hide behind logic. You'd burn the world to avoid being vulnerable."
Kael stepped onto his platform, jaw tight. "We fight them. And win."
Serenya hesitated. "If we attack them, we're attacking part of us."
"That's the point," Selira said, already stepping onto hers. "This is the Trial by Flame. We either master our inner fire, or it consumes us."
The runes on the ground flared. The combat began.
—
Kael clashed with his shade in a storm of gold and black fire. The false Kael fought without hesitation, without mercy—everything Kael had tried to suppress.
"You doubt yourself!" the doppelgänger spat. "You think being noble makes you weak."
Kael growled, parrying the strike. "No. Doubt keeps me grounded. It reminds me I'm not above the fire—I serve it."
With a final surge, Kael forced his blade through the shadow's chest. It burst into golden embers.
—
Selira's duel was quicker. Her shadow moved like a viper, darting with cruel precision.
"You feel nothing," the shade hissed. "That's your power—and your curse."
Selira smiled bitterly. "I feel too much. I just don't show it."
She ducked low and drove both daggers into her mirror's heart. It crumbled to ash.
—
Serenya hesitated.
Her reflection didn't attack. It stood with hands out, burning softly.
"You're afraid of what your fire can become," it said gently. "Afraid it will destroy everything you love."
Serenya's throat tightened. "I've already seen what it can do. I nearly burned my own mother."
"Then embrace it," the shade said. "Shape it. Or it will shape you."
Serenya inhaled—and let go.
She stepped forward, merging with the reflection rather than striking it. Flame surged around her, not in violence, but in harmony.
Her mark blazed.
The other two turned as her platform lit up like a star.
The lava stilled. The runes dimmed.
And the Flameheart's fire opened, revealing the sword's hilt, now cool to the touch.
Kael stepped forward and reached for it—but when his hand closed around it, the blade did not ignite.
Instead, it glowed faintly, pulsing in time with three heartbeats.
Kael turned to the others, realization dawning. "It's not just mine."
Serenya stepped up beside him. "It belongs to all of us."
Selira raised an eyebrow but placed her hand on the hilt. "Three heirs. One flame."
The sword flared with white-hot fire. The sigil above the chamber blazed fully for the first time in centuries: Three flames intertwined.
The Bastion had accepted them.
Far away, in the Obsidian Spire, Queen Virelya felt the shift in the flame-lines.
She opened her eyes and whispered, "They've awakened it."
She turned to the figure beside her: a tall man in silver armor, eyes burning with unnatural fire.
"Send the Ash Guard. Burn the Bastion. Bring me their heads."
The man bowed, smile cruel. "With pleasure, Your Majesty."