Chapter 25: Echoes in the Flame
The city breathed again.
The skies, once torn open by Hollow-light, had returned to their usual silver-gray haze. Citizens came out of hiding. Magic wards flickered back to life. The damage was immense, but the breach had been sealed.
At least for now.
Inside the Vantier Tower, the atmosphere was anything but calm.
Aria stood in the council chamber, her uniform scorched and tattered. Ash sat beside her, arms crossed, still wearing a shoulder sling. Echo remained outside, by choice. She didn't want to face them.
Not yet.
The World Council had convened via projection — tall, flickering silhouettes of the Five: Chancellor Rouen of the North, Lady Vire of the Sea Cities, Elder Tyros of the Flame Pact, General Orrik of the Bastion, and the Emissary of the Outer Ring, veiled in crystal shadows.
And none of them were pleased.
"You acted without permission," Rouen snapped. "You compromised international wards."
"You brought Echo out of containment," Vire added. "You allowed two unstable subjects to engage a Class-Z breach node."
Aria didn't flinch.
"If we hadn't, there wouldn't be a city left to argue over."
"Your personal involvement in the experiment taints your judgment," Tyros said coldly. "Your bloodline has always been reckless."
Ash bristled beside her. "And yet you all stood still while Cinder tried to rip the world open."
General Orrik leaned forward. "Watch your tone, boy."
"I'm not a boy anymore," Ash said quietly. "And neither is she."
The Emissary spoke last — calm, emotionless. "We do not deny your results. But results are not authority. The Flame Pact and its High Wards were created to prevent exactly this: one heiress taking global magic into her own hands."
Aria's jaw tightened.
"She's not just some experiment," she said. "Echo is a person. A child of the breach, yes — but one with will, choice, and power that saved millions."
"And that power makes her dangerous," Tyros hissed. "The rift may be closed, but the key still exists."
Silence.
Then the Emissary delivered the verdict.
"Echo must be turned over to the Council."
Later, in Aria's private quarters, the rage boiled over.
"Are we just going to hand her over?" Ash asked, pacing. "Let them dissect her again? Bind her to another cage?"
Aria stared at her gloves, then removed them — revealing the burn across her palm. A gift from the mirror chamber. "We have no choice. If we refuse, we'll be exiled. Stripped of protection. We'll be hunted."
"Then we run."
"Echo doesn't deserve to run," Aria whispered. "She deserves to live."
Echo entered the room quietly, her eyes hollow.
"I heard," she said. "They want to take me."
Aria stood. "We won't let them."
Echo shook her head. "Maybe they're right."
"No," Ash growled. "They're afraid of you — because they don't understand you."
"They're not the only ones," Echo murmured.
Ash walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You saved all of us, Echo. That means something."
She looked up at him.
And smiled — small, but real.
Night fell like a veil of ash.
And Aria stood on the top balcony, watching the horizon.
Cinder was out there.
Alive.
Planning.
He had failed to breach the veil fully — but not for lack of vision.
And now, the Council had placed a bounty on the girl who saved them.
Cowards, she thought. You're willing to sell the future just to maintain your illusions of control.
Aria turned when she felt Echo's presence behind her.
The girl walked to the edge, gazing at the stars.
"They're going to try again," Echo said softly. "The Council. Cinder. All of them. No one sees me as a person. Just a risk."
"You're not wrong."
Aria stood beside her.
"But you're not alone anymore."
Echo's hand drifted to her chest — over the place where the breach mark had once pulsed. Now, it shimmered faintly, like dying embers.
"I'm not a gate," she whispered. "I'm a flame."
And from that flame…
Hope was born.
Elsewhere — in the depths of an abandoned sanctum beyond the fractured Rim — cloaked figures gathered around a central brazier.
Their leader stepped forward, raising a blade etched in celestial fire.
"The girl lives," he declared.
A chorus of voices echoed: "The Balance must be kept."
"She is the first in a thousand years who carries the dual fire. If she awakens fully—"
The blade descended.
"—she must be extinguished."