Long ago.
Before the towers fell. Before the Phoenix King lost his name.
The city was called Veltharys a cradle of crystal domes and silver water, hidden beneath the still surface of a sacred lake. No war had touched it. No flame dared reach it.
Because it was protected.
By her.
By Aelira.
She stood at the center of the temple garden, her arms raised in invocation. Petals fell around her like snow. Light danced on the water's surface, casting a calm spell over the domed sanctuary.
And from the shadows… Kael watched her.
He wasn't a king yet.
Not truly.
Just a man wrapped in prophecy, raised by flame, haunted by omens.
But she looked at him like none of it mattered.
Like he was only Kael.
That night, beneath the surface of the lake, they lay together.
Not as warriors. Not as cursed and cursed-bearer.
But as lovers, for what they believed would be the final night before war.
Aelira pressed her forehead to his.
"You don't have to do it. The fire doesn't have to define you."
Kael whispered, "It already has. The Order won't stop. If I don't burn them, they'll bind me. They'll bind you."
Her fingers trembled. "Then let me go. I'll seal my magic. I'll disappear."
His silence broke her.
Because they both knew he couldn't.
The city fell three days later.
Not from invasion.
From within.
From Kael.
He opened the seal himself. Let the lake boil. Let the sunfire consume the domes and temples. He told himself it was mercy. That Veltharys was corrupted. That it had bound her to the old flame.
But the truth?
She had tried to flee.
And he had called her back.
Not because he hated her. Because he loved her too much to let go.
The flashback ended.
In the present, Kael gasped.
The vision cracked through his mind like lightning and now, he remembered.
The priest stood before him once more, his fire dimmed.
"Now you understand." His voice echoed like falling ash. "You weren't betrayed, Kael. You were the betrayer. And that is why the Harbinger hunts her now—not to destroy her. To awaken her."
Kael turned toward Sarya's crumpled form, her breathing shallow, blue fire still flickering at her fingertips.
She wasn't just a reincarnation.
She was the last ember of the one he destroyed to save himself.
And now… he may have to choose again