Chapter 23
The wind before dawn was sharp, tasting of ash and rain.
They stood at the rift's edge, where the Blight bled into the world, a black wound tearing the forest apart. It pulsed like a sick heart, veins of darkness crawling across the ground, turning the grass to dust, twisting the trees into skeletal claws reaching for the sky.
Evin stood at the front, blade drawn, his breath misting in the cold air as he stared down the dark. His shoulders were tight, every muscle coiled, ready.
Mira stood beside him, her charms tied to her belt, hair braided and pinned back, her eyes cold and clear as she surveyed the battlefield. Her lips moved silently, prayers layered over every breath.
Liora clung to Aeris's sleeve, her bell chiming softly even in the heavy silence. She wore the small fox pendant Aeris had carved for her, her small face pale but steady.
Aeris felt the ember burning beneath his ribs, steady but restless, eager to leap from his flesh into the dark, to burn, to consume, to protect. It pulsed in time with the rift's breath, as if the two were already calling to each other across the divide.
"Will we come back from this?" Liora asked quietly, clutching the fabric of his robe.
Aeris looked down at her, at the way her small hand trembled, at the fear in her storm-grey eyes that she tried so hard to hide. He forced a smile, brushing her hair back from her face.
"We will," he lied softly, because she needed to hear it.
Liora swallowed, blinking hard before she nodded, letting go of him, stepping back beside Mira.
The rift opened wider, darkness spilling outward like liquid night, and the creatures began to crawl from its mouth—twisted things of bone and shadow, eyes like burning coals, limbs too long, claws scraping across the blackened ground. They screamed as they came, a sound like splintering glass.
Evin was the first to move, charging forward with a shout, blade flashing in the dawn light. He struck hard and clean, severing limbs, cutting down the first wave as Mira lifted her hands, chanting under her breath. Her charms burned with pale light, symbols flaring as she cast barriers and healing light across the field.
Liora raised her hands, voice lifting in song, the bell on her waist chiming as light gathered around her, a clear, golden glow that burned back the dark.
And Aeris…
Aeris stepped forward, the ember rising within him, spilling heat into his veins, into his breath, into every step.
"Steady," he whispered to it, "not yet."
The ember pulsed, hungry.
The battle tore across the forest, light clashing with shadow as they fought. Mira's charms snapped and burned out one by one, leaving her breathless and pale as she pressed her hand to a wound on Evin's arm, healing it with trembling fingers. Liora's song faltered, her small body swaying as exhaustion bit deep, but she kept singing, her light flickering as she fought to hold it steady.
Evin bled from a cut on his cheek, sweat and blood mixing as he swung his blade again and again, forcing back the tide, but for every creature he cut down, two more crawled from the rift.
Aeris felt the ember straining, reaching for the rift, for the Blight, wanting to burn it clean.
Not yet. Not yet.
He lifted his hands, flames curling around his fingers, bright blue and white as he sent them crashing into the darkness, burning away the creatures that tried to slip past Evin's blade, protecting Mira as she knelt beside Liora, shielding the girl with her own body.
The air was thick with ash and the scent of blood, the forest around them groaning under the weight of the rift's presence, leaves withering, branches breaking, the sky darkening as the Blight reached higher, like smoke choking the dawn.
Aeris's breath came hard, each inhale sharp with smoke and the tang of iron. The ember inside him was roaring now, beating against his ribs like a caged animal.
"It's time," it whispered.
Not yet, he told it.
But he knew.
He glanced at Mira, her dark eyes meeting his, wide and scared, her lips forming the word no before she could stop herself.
He looked at Liora, at the girl who had given him laughter in the darkest days, who had reminded him that there was still beauty in a world breaking apart.
He looked at Evin, who had become his brother, the silent shield that had kept them all alive when the world turned cold.
And he knew.
The rift pulsed, a wave of darkness crashing outward, knocking them back. Mira fell to her knees, clutching Liora to her chest as the girl screamed, the light around her flickering violently. Evin stumbled, his blade skidding across the dirt as he hit the ground.
Aeris stood.
The ember rose within him, spilling light through the cracks in his skin, his veins glowing as the power filled him, as the heat became unbearable.
"It's time," the ember said.
"Yes," Aeris whispered.
He stepped forward, past Evin, who reached for him with bloodied fingers, shouting something Aeris couldn't hear over the roar in his ears.
He stepped past Mira, who screamed his name, tears cutting tracks down her ash-streaked face.
He knelt by Liora for a single heartbeat, pressing a burning hand to her cheek.
"Remember the dawn," he whispered, his voice soft and calm.
Then he turned to the rift.
The ember exploded from him, light and flame spiraling outward in a column of blue and white fire, roaring as it struck the rift, as it met the Blight and consumed it.
The darkness screamed, the creatures writhing as they burned, as the light tore them apart, as the Blight recoiled, pulling back, fighting the cleansing flame that devoured it.
Aeris stepped into the rift, his body burning, his skin cracking with light, his eyes glowing like twin stars.
"If I must burn, let it be to light your way."
The rift shuddered, the darkness twisting, fighting, clawing at him as the ember met it, as the two forces collided in a storm of light and shadow.
Aeris lifted his arms, the ember pouring from him, flooding the rift with light, with hope, with fire that would cleanse the world of its sickness.
"Sometimes, to heal, we must let go of what we were."
The darkness screamed, the rift trembling, breaking apart as the light burned through it.
Aeris closed his eyes.
"I am not afraid."
And he let the ember consume him.
When the light faded, the rift was gone.
The forest was quiet, the wind moving softly through the leaves, carrying the scent of ash and rain.
Mira crawled forward, her hands trembling as she reached for him, for what was left.
Aeris lay in the grass, the light flickering across his skin, the ember pulsing weakly beneath the cracks in his chest.
Liora stumbled to him, tears streaming down her face as she clutched his arm, her small hands shaking.
Evin fell to his knees beside them, his sword forgotten, his eyes wide and empty.
Aeris opened his eyes, the glow fading, leaving only the pale blue of dawn in their depths.
He smiled, soft and tired.
"Did I keep you safe?" he asked, his voice a whisper.
Liora sobbed, nodding, pressing her face against his arm.
Mira held his hand, tears dripping onto his skin, her lips moving in silent prayer.
"You did," she whispered.
"Even if the world forgets me, remember that once, I was here."
His breath caught, his eyes fluttering as the ember pulsed one last time, a single bright light in the dawn.
"Thank you," he whispered, looking at them, at the world, at the dawn breaking over the trees.
Then the ember flickered, and Aeris's breath left him, soft as a sigh.
They sat with him as the dawn rose, as the birds began to sing, as the wind moved through the leaves, as the world took its first breath in a world free of the rift.
Liora held his arm, refusing to let go, her small body shaking with sobs.
Mira pressed her forehead to his, whispering soft words that only he could hear.
Evin bowed his head, tears slipping down his face as he clenched his fists in the grass.
As the sun rose higher, the ember within Aeris's chest flickered, a single pulse of light, soft and golden, before fading.
And then, in the dawn light, the ember flickered again, pulsing once, twice, before settling into a soft glow.
And in the leaves, in the wind, in the warm hush of the dawn, they felt him there.
Never truly gone.