The moment the valley calmed, the air shimmered—like reality itself had become water. Liora took a cautious step back as the earth trembled beneath her feet. The circle they'd restored cracked again, but this time not from destruction.
A portal opened in the air. Not one of shadow or flame, but of blinding light, its edges lined with burning glyphs older than language.
Elestria gasped. "That's no ordinary gate."
Ashara whispered, "That's the Veil."
Kael drew closer, shielding Liora with his arm. "Is it safe?"
"No," Thalen replied. "But it's necessary."
From the portal stepped a figure wreathed in light—a woman clad in robes of glowing silk, her eyes twin suns. She radiated no heat, but Liora's ember responded instantly.
"Who are you?" Liora asked.
"I am the Flame Between Worlds. The one who watches from the spaces the gods abandoned."
Ashara stared. "You're a Guardian?"
"No. I am what remains when Guardians fall."
The woman turned to Liora. "You have rekindled what was broken. You walk the road of true flame. But the Queen prepares to open a gate of her own. One that will consume not just this world, but all worlds tethered by ember."
Kael stepped forward. "The Obsidian Flame."
The guardian nodded. "It cannot be allowed to ignite."
"What must we do?" Liora asked.
"Follow me," the guardian replied.
They stepped into the Veil.
The world shifted.
They emerged on a shattered plain where sky bled color and stars wept embers. Time warped in waves. Mountains floated upside-down. Rivers ran backward.
"This is the In-Between," the guardian said. "A realm that exists between endings and beginnings. It is where the Queen will strike next."
They pressed forward. Every step drew them deeper into the unknown. Liora felt her ember pulse harder with each breath. Her vision blurred with memories not hers—flickers of Queen Iridell's past.
"She's trying to anchor her flame here," Liora said. "It's unstable. And dangerous."
Ashara gasped. "Look!"
Ahead stood a monolith, black and gleaming, etched with spiraling glyphs. And beside it, a growing fissure of shadow.
Elestria raised her hand. "She's already begun."
A burst of energy knocked them all back as a second figure stepped from the monolith's side. Queen Iridell. Her form flickered like a candle in wind.
"You followed me," she said. "Fools."
Liora stood, defiant. "We came to stop you."
Iridell sneered. "You came too late."
She struck.
The ground shattered. Fire and void clashed in violent dance. Kael shielded Liora, pushing her aside as a wave of violet fire rolled over them.
Ashara launched a barrage of wind-laced lightning. Thalen's frost flared. Elestria's song sang sharp.
But Iridell was not alone.
From the fissure, shadows emerged—echoes of lost bearers, corrupted by her flame.
"We have to close the rift!" Liora shouted.
The guardian raised her hands. "Then forge the seal anew. Bind your pact one last time."
The group formed a circle, surrounding the rift. Their flames—fire, frost, spark, wind—merged into a single pillar of light.
Liora screamed as her ember surged.
Time stilled.
A blinding burst of flame shot into the fissure. The corrupted shadows howled as they burned.
Iridell screamed, her body fracturing.
But just before she shattered, she grabbed the edge of the monolith and dragged herself through.
"She's going to the heart of the In-Between!" the guardian warned. "If she succeeds, she will remake the flame in her own image."
Kael gritted his teeth. "Then we follow her."
Liora's eyes blazed. "To the final flame."