The path changed.
Where there had been cliffs and ash, now there was green. Soft moss. Singing trees. Flowers that blinked when touched. Even the sky felt closer, like it had lowered itself to listen.
Elira stepped carefully.
"We're not in the Circle anymore," she said.
"No," Niro whispered. "You're in the heart."
"What heart?"
He didn't answer.
They walked through a tunnel of vines. Colors swirled in the leaves—red, blue, silver, even shades they didn't have names for. The air smelled like something forgotten and beautiful.
At the end of the path was a door.
Plain wood.
One word carved into it:
Elira.
Her breath caught.
Kesh blinked. "Okay, that's creepy."
Solin clutched her arm. "What's in there?"
"I don't know," Elira said.
But she did.
She just didn't understand yet.
She pushed the door open.
Inside was a room.
Not magical.
Not strange.
Just a small cottage room.
A bed. A table. A chair.
And a girl.
Sitting at the table, reading a book.
She looked up.
She had Elira's eyes.
Her face.
Her everything.
Elira's heart thudded. "Who are you?"
The girl smiled. "I'm you."
"No you're not."
"Yes I am. I'm the part you left behind."
Elira stepped closer. The others stayed outside the door, silent, watching.
"What does that mean?"
"I'm the first flame," the girl said. "The true one. The one who lit all the rest."
Elira shook her head. "That's not true. I'm just—"
"Human?" the girl said. "Yes. And because of that, you feel. That's what makes you the Flamekeeper."
"But I don't have powers. I'm not strong."
"You are. You gave your strength away so others could carry it."
Elira's chest felt tight. "Then why do I feel so small?"
The other her stood.
"You're small the way a match is small. But one spark starts it all."
She reached out, and Elira touched her hand.
Light burst between them—not fire, not magic, but memory.
Elira saw her past.
Her mother's laughter.
Her father's last words.
The fire.
The running.
The night she promised to never let the world break someone the way it broke her.
And then—now.
The journey.
The flames.
The friends.
The Circle.
Elira gasped and let go.
The other her smiled. "Now you know."
Elira whispered, "I am the last flame."
"No," she said. "You're the first. The heart. The keeper."
The room faded.
The cottage blinked away.
Elira stood outside again, her friends around her.
Niro bowed his head. "She's ready."
Varn nodded once.
Myn wiped her eyes.
Solin sang.
Isen smiled.
Kesh punched the air. "That's my best friend!"
Elira held the lantern.
It didn't flicker anymore.
It blazed.
Seven fla
mes.
One Circle.
One heart.